Backyard Petting Zoo (Trial Edition)

Oh, Nature! We are stuck in a hotel all day, but are we deprived of our outdoor friends? No, siree. Please say warm hello to Cow Moth:

Cow Moth has stayed with us for two days now and is officially adopted. He invited two of his pals, Furry Moth and Preying "Manty" Mantis, for a nightcap.

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Trial: Shelving

We have gone to an entirely different state for trial and the associates at Nu, Nu, & Nu LLP have already been deprived of their shelving. We have commandeered an entire floor of a hotel, and used some of the rooms for offices. There are 3-4 people per office. In my office, there are 3 other associates (including Cl. Panic and L. Woods). We only had ONE shelf for the four of us who are sharing an office. But, guess what? A partner "needed" extra shelving so we were deprived.

However, the very resourceful Cl. Panic and L. Woods would not be stopped! Check out our new and very unique set of shelves:
Associates 1, Partners 0

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Goodbye, Chuck !!

2007-2009

Today, Chuck passed away. He had been battling popeye for about a week, and gasping. I think it might have been tuberculosis. He just gave out. Poor guy. I was a bad mom. I will be bringing him home to bury under a tree. Photos will be posted later (closed casket).

I will miss seeing his black face every morning. He really connected with a lot of people at NNN. I only told a few people today, but so many more expressed their condolences and their grief when word got out. Chuck touched many people.

In honor of Chuck, I have set my Outlook to say "Chuck" whenever I get email.

I miss you already, sweetie!!

UPDATE...

Here are two of Chuck's last photos taken less than a month ago:

This evening, we had a small burial ceremony in the back porch. I did the burying. Mr. Nonny Nu looked on. Chuck was a good kid. We hope you like your final resting place, boy.

Goodnight, Chuck.

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Pen Conspiracy, Part II

See Pen Conspiracy, Part I.

Sir Walter Scott once wrote:

Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
when first we practice to deceive.
Marmion, Canto vi. Stanza 17.

Conspiracies are very much alive at Nu, Nu, & Nu, LLP. Why, just the other day, I reached for a yellow highlighter in my pen receptacle and found this instead:
Notice anything strange? Yes, it's a green highlighter camouflaged as a yellow highlighter. My first thought was that the ink had expired. Yes, I know. Mr. Nonny Nu will no doubt have a comment about me being a dingaling.

At the time, I was dumbfounded, but I quickly regained my composure and thought, "Who the hell could have done this?" I recalled that Cl. Panic had recently done some experimentation on Sharpie highlighters and that I had left a comment expressing skepticism at his abilities on his post. I also knew that we have a colleague at NN&N who shares a passion for pens. (Let's call her the L. Woods, just for kicks.)

I immediately took the yellow green highlighter down the hall to L. Woods, who expressed complete surprise:
nn--Dude, check this out!!
LW--What is it?
nn--It's a yellow highlighter that has green ink in it!!
LW--No way! Lemme see...
*LW hands nn a sheet of paper**
*nn lays down a thick green highlight out of the yellow highlighter*
LW--omg, that's cool.
nn--Isn't it?
LW--Totally! Where did you get that??
nn--I found it in my pen thing! I bet Cl. Panic did it.
LW--Why would he do that?
nn--Hm...you know what?? I specifically said on the blog that I didn't believe he could do this!

After this conversation, I walked back to my office and turned off my computer for the night. At that point, I heard a scream come from the L. Wood's office. Then she called my desk phone. But, seeing as how I was done for the day, I thought I'd just drop by her office on my way out. When I got there, she was BRIGHT RED with laughter and embarrassment.

LW--OMG, nn, can you delete the email I just sent you without reading it, PLEEEEEEEEZZZZZZE???? I meant to send it to someone else but sent it to you by accident. PLEEEEEEZZZZZEEEE?
nn--Um, what is it about?
LW--*sigh* Okay, I'll tell you, but you can't let Cl. Panic know that you know because I'll lose my super spy status.

With very little torture involved, L. Woods spilled the beans. Here's the email, folks:
Yes, it's practically Spy vs. Spy here at NN&N. Very interesting. However, I did receive this as a birthday present this morning!

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The Sharpie Liquid Accent ConspiracyI call shenanigans!by Cl. Panic, guest blogger

I'll start by saying that I'm a pretty big fan of all things Sharpie. And the folks as Sanford have been great about replacing their products on the rare occasion that they fail prematurely.

Those who know Cl. Panic know that Cl. Panic is a bit of a pen nut. Not enough of a pen nut to have a blog about pens, but enough of a pen nut to read the blogs of others that are more pen-nutty (or creative) than I.

As it turns out, I really like the Sharpie Liquid Accent highlighters. Nice bright colors, free-flowing ink, and no stuttering to slow death -- the mostly-clear barrel lets you now when you're about to be highlighter-less. Unfortunately Nu, Nu & Nu, LLP doesn't stock such high-end fare in the supply cabinet. Just cheap-ol' no-name highlighters that fade from fluorescent yellow to dingy, washed-out yellow after a few days on paper.

Not surprisingly, my penchant for the Liquid Accent is shared with at least one co-worker, and at least one bigger pen-nut. After reading a comment over on Good Pens, I decided I'd try to refill one of the Liquid Accent highlighters. You'd know, save the earth and all.

Refill you ask? How in the hell . . . . Well, I have a bottle of Noodler's fluorescent ink that I've been using in a refillable fountain pen to annotate really boring TPS reports and to prepare for my meetings with the Bobs. It rocks. And so that comment got me thinking: I have a bottle of ink and an empty Liquid Accent. This can't be so hard . . . .

Out came the pliers (this thing was NOT easy to open) . . . wait. Hold on. What the hell? It turns out that the Sharpie Accent has a false bottom. Or false middle. Or whatever. And not in a good "the money's hidden under the false drawer bottom" kind of way.

It just so happens that the false bottom is hidden by the trendy graphics on the barrel of the highlighter! I inserted a straw into the cavity to illustrate the treachery (ironically marking the end of the barrel with a black Sharpie).



It turns out that these run out of ink so quickly not just due to my over-highlighting, but because they come from the factory about half full!

I call shenanigans.*

The clever black barrel design. The nearly impossible-to-open end cap. All part of the great Sharpie conspiracy? The world may never know.

* Granted my now-empty Sharpie Accent wasn't a recent purchase. Perhaps the Sharpie folks have since changed their ways. But given the wide-spread occurrence of Grocery Shrink Ray, I somehow doubt it.

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Chuck at Work

Due to several attempts on Chuck's life, we have made the painful decision to let him leave the nest and strike out on his own. When Stubbie passed away, Chuck had expressed interest in a career at Nu Nu & Nu, LLP. Here is his big chance.

The new Nu residence wasn't working out for Chuck. He was initially placed upon the living room's fireplace mantel, which is his usual spot. Unfortunately, Skillet was caught a few times on the mantel cozying up to Chuck, and that made Chuck somewhat uncomfortable. One day, Skillet's intentions became plain when she was caught on the mantel peering into Chuck's room and her right arm was wet. That's when we had to move Chuck. But, the only safe place was a built in bookcase in the corner of the house where there wasn't a lot of light or foot traffic. At that time, Chuck started becoming lonely and depressed. So, Mr. Nonny Nu sent in Chuck's resume and Chuck got the job.

Chuck's first day was mostly orientation, and you could tell that he was sad. In fact, the first words out of Stubbie's Godmother this morning were, "He looks sad." I think he will snap out of it once he gets settled in and makes some new friends. It was a good sign when he ate a late lunch.

Good luck, Chuck!

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What's going to be in Nonny Nu's office?by Cl. Panic, guest blogger and bearer of gifts

Our friendly rabbit isn't usually one to brag. But over a Nu, Nu & Nu, LLP, she was recently promoted to Grand Moff of Sector Group Delta. Along with the distinction comes the promise of long hours and Cup-O-Noodle feasts.

To recognize her achievement, and since she'll be in need of companionship, I intend to present her with this gift on Wednesday at noon (GMT-8).

But since everything on TWoNN requires a twist ... the TWoNN community is eligible to steal the package (white elephant style) by guessing its contents (in the comments) before Wednesday.

食粥食飯睇你.

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Happy Belated Birthday to Green Thumb McGillicutty!!!!

"Dearest" Green Thumb,

We at Nu, Nu, & Nu, LLP were engulfed in charting work this weekend and I just completely forgot to flip the calendar and missed your birthday. Please accept my "most heart-felt" "apologies!" I am also "very sorry" that you cannot partake in the charting "festivities" since you are on "maternity leave." But, oh, well, maybe next time, right? To make up for my lateness, I have used four exclamation points instead of the usual two in the title of this blog post. Plus, please help yourself to the TWO chart cakes below!

"Love,"
nn

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Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Did you know that Chinese people don't eat salads? Well, by that, I actually mean that salads are not authentic Chinese cuisine. Vietnamese people eat all sorts of salads though, and since my family is half Vietnamese and come from Vietnam, we grew up eating this salad (which I am having for lunch today).

Ingredients:
1 cup cabbage shredded
1/3 cup shredded chicken (just plain chicken, no spices)
1/8 cup onions sliced thinly
10 leaves mint coarsely cut

3 tablespoons water (warm)
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce (to taste)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon Sambal Oelek ground fresh chili paste (the one with the green plastic cap and rooster)

The ingredients for the dressing are listed in the order in which they should be added. Combine the sugar and water first (the water should be warm so that the sugar will melt easily). Then add the lemon juice and vinegar. You should taste each step to see that it tastes right, but most of you will not know what it's supposed to taste like anyway so I'm really only talking to my sisters, who already know how to make this dish. *sigh*

But, the point is that when you get proficient at this, it's really a dressing that is to your taste, so the amounts won't really matter. In fact, I don't really know if those are the correct amounts or even the amounts I used. I only approximated what I used, so you will have to experiment on this yourself.

Please remember to TOSS THE SALAD, and then lit it sit for about 5-10 minutes before you eat it so that the veggies soak up the flavors.

I was invited to Green Thumb McGillicutty's house for dinner a couple weekends ago and this is what I brought! There was a lot of leftovers, though.

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What Happened?

It almost seems like I dropped off the face of the Earth--I know! But, I have been so busy with work since coming back from Boston that I have honestly not had time to blog. Sorry! Things seem to be calming down, though, so there should be more happening here.

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Please Pray for Stubbie

He hasn't been feeling well, lately. For about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, he hasn't really been eating much. Today, when I came in, I noticed that one of his little fins (not the big ones) was missing. (It's the tiny one on his right that is just below the main fins on his sides that he uses to move himself around.) Also, he looks kinda bloated, and he is listing to the right. Here's a video. Near the end, I think you can see him listing to the right.



I just don't know what to do! Stubbie's Godmother suggested that maybe he doesn't like the office's filtered water and I should go back to giving him dechlorinated tap water. I'm going to try to change out his water little by little today to see how he does.

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Water Consumption

Do you drink enough water? I am absolutely positive that I don't. I have tried several methods, including filling a large jug and trying to finish it by the end of the day. I never stuck with any method, and I might go days drinking only a few coffee cups of water. So, I have been trying to do a bit better.

My new method is getting a new cup each day (well, I've only done this two days now) and then jotting down on the cup how many cups I finish. These are just regular sized office coffee cups, so I figure I should at least be drinking 6 a day. So far, it hasn't happened yet.

Day 1
Day 2

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INVITATION: Cake with Ghetto FOBulousby Cl. Panic (guest blogger)

For those of you who know where my office is located in "real life,"
you're invited to join Mr. FOBulous for cake at 2:00 pm. Today.

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That Goodness for Small Favors

Just a quick note to you all. Last night, I pulled an all nighter again, and worked on a 162 page document. You know, back in high school, I never thought I'd think of a 200 page limit as a negative. Anyhow, just now, I look at the document and it's only 112 pages.

O M G.

I was almost the guy depicted--screwed. But, no. Lucky rabbit, right?

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Hillbillies--SV Style

Lawn parking is the practice of parking a vehicle upon a lawn. It is most commonly found in lower-income areas or during assemblies at a location without ample proper parking spaces for the number of persons assembling. While lawn parking is socially acceptable in some areas and on some occasions, lawn parking in inappropriate places may make the natives confused and restless. Lawn parking isn't just an American phenomenon; lawn parkers are also flourishing in Canada. It has become such a widespread concern that legislation has been created to eradicate this silent killer of class. It is one of, perhaps, only a few issues upon which church agrees with state.

So what does lawn parking have to do with me, some chick living in the Silicon Valley? Today, I came to work and noticed that someone practiced lawn parking at my place of business. I know what you're saying right now. "What? In a business district? Of Silicon Valley? No way." Unfortunately, my pets, it's true. Lawn parking is alive and well and has come to the SV. But, seeing as how we're "the shiznit" (How was my delivery?), lawn parking SV style is a bit more classy. Check it out, fools*:
No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is a 650i lawn parked at my work. But, I think there's a good reason for it. You see, the building I work in is owned by a software company and I think the car is being used for some sort of raffle. Here are other views:


* Sometimes, I suspect that my compulsive adherence to proper grammar rules can cramp my naturally cool style.

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Restroom Stalls

Is it just me? Or, does anyone else have a favorite restroom stall at work? Mine is the third on the right (well, there aren't any on the left). There are five total (the last one is a large handicap one). Don't know why, but I just feel like this one is the one that is the least conspicuous but isn't all the way in the back (which is scary). I tend to use the mid-forward ones in public places. I just feel funny having a tiled wall as one of the walls instead of a "stall wall," so I don't like the first or the last ones. I definitely don't like the ones that can be seen from the door. The ones in the back are dangerous looking and the ones too much toward the front are often more used than the others (therefore, more dirty and poorly supplied). So, yeah, I like the mid-forward ones.

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Officemade Soft-Boiled Egg Experiment

In keeping with my New Year's resolution of getting into shape and eating better, I have been trying to eat breakfast everyday. I'm not normally a breakfast person.* But, everyone has been telling me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I've been trying to eat breakfast everyday.

Last week, I discovered that I really liked toast with peanut butter and dunking that into coffee with plenty of cream and sugar. This week, I am experimenting on officemade (as opposed to homemade) soft-boiled eggs. The photo at the top of this blog entry is my goal (though I would like the yolk to be even runnier than that). Today, I put an egg into a coffee cup (the insulated fuzzy kind that is so popular in offices everywhere), and poured hot water from the coffee maker into the cup. I let it sit for 10 minutes, then drained out the water and repeated. Then, I cracked open the egg on one end.

The egg white was done on the outer most layer, but the "inside" of the egg white was still runny. (By "runny," I mean it was still in that cottage cheese phase and had not progressed to the Jello Jigglers phase.) However, the egg yolk was done. It was still the color of a sunnyside up egg yolk, but it was definitely just done. (I couldn't have sopped up the yolk with my toast.) Now, why would the yolk be done, but the white be still a bit runny? What should I do if I want whites with the consistency of Jello Jigglers, but a runny yolk with the consistency of sunnyside up yolk?


* This is related to my naturally late waking hour. Eating at 10:30am may ruin my appetite for lunch at the standard noon hour. Plus, if I am starving by noon, then I feel "justified" to pig out. However, I always get up at 7am to feed the cats. Before, I would feed them and go back to bed for an hour but, lately, I've been riding the stationary bike and watching my BBC shows instead of going back to bed.

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Fogerty Winery

This year's Nu, Nu, & Nu LLP associates' retreat was a Kitchen Challenge at the Thomas Fogarty Winery (no relation to Tom Fogerty of CCR fame). The drive up to the Santa Cruz mountains was rather treacherous. Very very foggy. I wanted to stop and take some photos of the fog, but was too scared to. It lifted when I finally got to the winery, though.

I got to the front door, drove down the drive, and immediately felt very welcomed. I drove past some vines and got to some sort of building. Right about that time, the fog started to roll back in. I parked Dolly.* (eBay was also there!) The others were there already (see Green Thumbs McGillicutty in the middle front in the black sweater and jeans, and Cl. Panic in the back in the blue and grey baseball shirt). The place was decorated with winery decorations, including barrels in the kitchen, old-style grape crushing equipment, and wine and cheese stained glass windows in the bathroom (which included an old-style toilet).

The main ingredient was flank steak and we were given all sorts of other ingredients to work with. I was totally surprised to see all sorts of Asian ingredients, including the world-famous Sriracha. One thing that was missing was Maggi Sauce. Very disappointing. We could have really shined with that one. Anywhoo, we were then split into teams and cooked. Sorry, I don't have photos of that, but I do have a video of Cl. Panic cooking (he was on my team):


In the end, our team won! By that time, the fog had rolled back in. Here's what had happened in only 1 hour:

(before fog)


(after fog)


*Notice the tafoni rock under the sign! That's something we learned about on a previous hike.

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BBC Series (My Anglophilia)

Am I the only one who watches these?? Maybe this is (one of) my dirty secrets, but I just LOVE the old gossipy serials! I started off watching Upstairs, Downstairs.* After I got through about 2.5 seasons, I went on to watch stuff like Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Chancer (season 1), and various Catherine Cookson shows. Recently, I got into watching The Duchess of Duke Street (about a female cook at the turn of the century who made a name for herself), starring Gemma Jones (a.k.a., Bridget Jones'** mum). I am concurrently trying something more modern--Monarch of the Glen (about a London restaurateur who has to go back to his struggling highland estate to whip it into shape).

Now, the BBC stuff that depicts the olden days have all been very good from the beginning. I mean, right off the first episode, I am hooked. But, the modern stuff is, well, kinda cheesy sometimes. For example, I had to talk myself into giving Chancer a chance, even though it starred Clive Owen. Same with Monarch of the Glen. But, once I give it a chance, it always grows on me. There's just some cheesy charm to these things. I'm only on disc 2 of the first season of MotG, but it's safe to say that I'm hooked.***

I just don't know what it is! I guess my love for England is making me want to have a piece of it in my own home. Honestly, these programs are rather soapy. I'm sort of ashamed to even admit this, but trash TV is a mainstay in my household (including but not limited to MTV, VH1, E!, A&E, TLC). I just have to let my brain veg for a bit when I get home, you know? I really love those set in earlier times, though. It's just neat to see how people lived back then, what they wore, how they behaved, and how they spoke. If you've never tried, you should really give it a go. I recommend The Duchess of Duke Street or Upstairs, Downstairs for your first attempt. It's really super fun!



* This one was my first because I loved Gosford Park (watched it about 20 times and have read the script), but ever since UpDown, I have been hooked on BBC stuff. Trivia: Jean Marsh plays the head housemaid in UpDown, but she also created the series. You might be thinking, "Where have I seen her before?" Jean Marsh also starred in a 1959 Twilight Zone episode entitled, "The Lonely," in which she played a robot sent to keep a convict company on a deserted planet.

** When I first watched Bridget Jones' Diary, I hated it because I couldn't understand what they were saying (same with Trainspotting--btw, if you like Kelly McDonald from Trainspotting and Gosford Park, she appears in No Country for Old Men with a dead-on Southern accent!). But, I have to credit my love for England to the second Bridget Jones movie (Edge of Reason). OMG, Colin Firth = *swoon*. Ever since then, I have been watching and reading British stuff (like Jane Austen novels and adaptations, Jasper Fforde books, both Bridget Jones books, movies with Emma Thompson and/or Alan Rickman). The one thing I can't get into is listening to the BBC station on my radio when I'm driving around in Dolly. I don't know. They just sound so serious on that station. Cripes, just look at the line up.

*** Okay, now that I think about it, there is one exception. Spooks. That one didn't grow on me even though I watched an entire season. Here's the reason. Spooks is about MI:6 (or MI:5--can't remember), so it's kinda like Alias without the stupid wigs and bad acting. The main character was played by Matthew Macfadyen, who was wonderful in the recent film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Anywhoo, his girlfriend in the show didn't know that he is an undercover MI:X agent and he tells her that he's some computer specialist. Of course, she gets suspicious. Long story short, he wants to marry her and, in the course of proposing, he tells her the truth.

[needless domestic drama]
She has doubts about him because he has kept this from her for so long (since they first met), and refuses to marry him. She has to think about it.
[/needless domestic drama]

So, I'm sitting here thinking, "Um, okay. Your undercover CIA agent boyfriend tells you that he wants to marry you, and you're here hemming and hawing about him not telling you about his real work before?? Tell me, what are the chances of you, a single mother and waitress, doing better than this chap?" (See, I get all British with my word choices when I talk about these TV series.) I'm not even British and I can understand why an undercover MI:X agent would keep his true identity a secret until he knows for sure that he wants to spend the rest of his life with some chick. If Mr. Nonny Nu were to tell me that he's actually an FBI agent, I would be completely fine with it. I would be understanding about it (because, don't widows of FBI agents get good compensation?).

Anyhow, this part of the plot just turned me off to the whole thing. However, I have just found out that Gemma Jones (of The Duchess of Duke Street fame) is starring in the most recent season of Spooks, so I might go back to watching it. In fact, the Matthew Macfadyen character is no longer listed as being a part of the current cast, so maybe they killed off his stupid girlfriend. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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I <3 Vacations

I can't believe that my vacation is almost over. It is now Thursday. I have only four days left. FOUR DAYS. Don't get me wrong. I love my job. But, nothing beats hanging out with my kitties and Mr. Nonny Nu, and watching TV/movies/shows all day. My first week was spent getting ready for Christmas and New Year. Now, I have to get my head on straight for the upcoming week. To make things worse, I just got word that one of my best pals (Dancing Queen) at work is quitting. I will miss her sorely.

==:o<

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