Harry (updated 09/06)

So, I'm growing all sorts of stuff in my office, including cacti. Like the NBA playoff schedule, I'll try to update this blog entry often with pictures of my dear Harry. The current day's photo will be the one shown on the blog. The older photos will be linked. You will also find a link to this blog entry in the left hand menu entitled "What's Growing in Nonny Nu's Office?"

09/06 Update: Handsome boy.


July 6: Harry's looking good.
June 1: Just a quick update!
May 6

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Goodnight, Irene!

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Radishes (updated 07/25)

So, I'm growing all sorts of stuff in my office, including radishes. Like the NBA playoff schedule, I'll try to update this blog entry often with pictures of the radishes. The current day's photo will be the one shown on the blog. The older photos will be linked. You will also find a link to this blog entry in the left hand menu entitled "What's Growing in Nonny Nu's Office?"

07/25 Update: Okay, this is going to be the last entry. I harvested these on 7/25, but forgot to post the results. Obviously, they were not stellar. I ate the leaves and they were not bad, though.





July 6: I'm really tempted to dig these up and see what's underneath all that dirt. Any radishes? Or, just roots?? It's been, um, let's see...over 2 months. *SOMETHING* should have grown, don't you think?
June 28: A few of the stronger once revived, but the rest are a goner. I'll harvest those on monday.
June 18, June 25: I effed up, folks. I replaced the forks with stirers, but I forgot to water the radishes before I left on my birthday vacation last Friday. Add to that the fact that I was in San Diego last Thursday, that's four full days that the radishes were just baking there in te sun. When I got back, this happened. I'm thinking about harvesting early just to see how much of it grew, and starting a new batch. Should I?
June 1: Several people asked me what the fork is for. It's to get the raddishes used to their fate, of course--DUH!
May 21: I repotted these last Friday and also added a few more seeds. Look at these things grow!
May 15: Do these look stunted?
May 10
May 9: Soon, there will be radishes for the office.
May 7
May 6: Check out the new growth.
May 3
May 2

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Wild Flowers (updated 09/06)

So, I'm growing all sorts of stuff in my office, including wild flowers (special gift from Stubbie's Godmother). Like the NBA playoff schedule, I'll try to update this blog entry often with pictures of the wild flowers. The current day's photo will be the one shown on the blog. The older photos will be linked. You will also find a link to this blog entry in the left hand menu entitled "What's Growing in Nonny Nu's Office?"

09/06 Update: Yep, looks like a weed alright (or, maybe a vine?). Too bad it's a weed and not weed. Otherwise, we'd be in business.


July 6: Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I think I may have gotten just a wild weed instead of a wild flower. Thoughts?
June 28: This thing just keeps growing taller. I really hope it blooms soon.
June 18: Not bad looking, but I wonder if this is a flower or just a weed?
June 1: There have been...difficulties. And, when I say, "difficulties," I mean gnats. I just had to get rid of the rest and keep this large plant. It was the only one of its kind in the bunch. I either have the makings of a wild flower or just a very hearty weed. I'll keep you posted. :o
May 21: Some of these look iffy, but notice the really hefty one with huge leaves on the lower left hand corner of the pic.
May 15: Don't ask me what happened because I don't know.
May 10
May 9
May 7
May 6 (I didn't think it would work but look at these little guys!)
May 3

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Strawberries (updated 06/28)

So, I'm growing all sorts of stuff in my office, including strawberries (special gift from Stubbie's Godmother). Like the NBA playoff schedule, I'll try to update this blog entry often with pictures of the strawberries. The current day's photo will be the one shown on the blog. The older photos will be linked. You will also find a link to this blog entry in the left hand menu entitled "What's Growing in Nonny Nu's Office?"

06/28 Update: It just didn't work out... This will be the last strawberry entry. I'm chucking this.
June 28
June 1: Oh, happy happy, joy joy!! Okay, I'll be honest, Stubbie's Godmother got me a new strawberry plant kit and she was the one who potted this. That was a couple weeks ago, and I really expected the same outcome, but look! Everything's coming up, Milhouse!
May 9: It's not looking good, people.
May 3

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Lavender (updated 06/28)

So, I'm growing all sorts of stuff in my office, including lavender (special gift from Stubbie's Godmother). Like the NBA playoff schedule, I'll try to update this blog entry often with pictures of the lavender. The current day's photo will be the one shown on the blog. The older photos will be linked. You will also find a link to this blog entry in the left hand menu entitled "What's Growing in Nonny Nu's Office?"

06/28 Update: This is the last entry for the lavender. I'm giving up on this. Wouldn't you?
June 28
May 9: I can't decide if these or the strawberries look worse.
May 3

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Confessional

Hi, everyone,

I am deeply ashamed of my woefully anemic blog entries this week. It is now Thursday and I have not posted anything for Tuesday or Wednesday. I know my readership is hanging on by a mere thread. Thank goodness I don't get paid doing this, or else I'd be starving right now. I could give you all sorts of excuses for why I haven't been blogging (like being super tired from two hikes this weekend; having to sift through, select, resize, and sometimes "Nonny-fy" almost 200 photos; watching NBA playoff games; moping about KFC; etc.), but that would only be a big giant lie.

The truth is I'm just not all that interesting. My days are pretty much set. Wake up, get ready, work, eat, work some more, eat, finish some work, eat, go home, eat, watch TV, eat, shower, eat, and sleep. That's my day in a nutshell. Sure, sometimes special things happen--like PHOENIX KICKING KOBE'S BUTT--but that's few and far between.

Anyhow, I will strive to be a better blogger.

Your pal,
Nonny Nu

P.S. I have recently received some inquiries about guest blogging from rather shy person(s). So, is there something you'd like to talk about that Nonny Nu hasn't addressed? I would be happy to devote a blog to your needs.

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OMG, kill me now. I beg you, please kill me now.

Okay, what is going on, people? So, KFC isn't going to use transfat margarine in their cooking anymore? Are you serious? Soybean oil? Why don't they just feed us tofurky?

Last night, Mr. Nonny Nu had KFC for dinner and it just wasn't the same. I can't believe what I'm reading here. Some of you might know that I have been quietly campaigning for KFC to be added to the list of restaurants from which my firm orders dinner for underlings who stay late to work at night. No longer will I do that. I am appalled at this. Fried chicken made with soybean oil. I'm Chinese and a soyaholic and even I am disgusted by this decision.

I just don't understand why the health nuts can't keep their health consciousness to themselves. If they want something healthy, DON'T GO TO A FAST FOOD PLACE. But, no, they want to revamp the fast food places to fit their needs/views. I'm pissed beyond belief right now. Nobody messes with my fried foods, man.

It's not an easy fix like adding green onions to Taco Smell. I can't bring the chicken home and then refry it with regular oil, you know? What do you all think we should do about this??

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Did you ever think you were about to fall off a cliff?

I spent about two hours at Castle Rock thinking that today.

It all started off fine. There were the usual trees. (BTW, mini me joined Stillman and me on this hike--the three of us will hereinafter in this entry be referred to as "Charlie's Angels.") But, there was also some new stuff!

Castle Rock has a lot of what are called "tafoni" rocks. At first, Charlie's Angels thought that these pockmarked rocks were created by water dripping onto a smooth rock surface, and we figured that the rocks that had pockmarks on a vertical surface were created when a rock rolled onto its side after being pockmarked. (Capice?) But, no. Charlie's Angels were wrong, and that wouldn't be the only time we were wrong that day (see infra). Tafoni rocks are created in a completely different way.

Then, we came across a pair of trees trees that appeared to be grafted together! Here, take a closer look at the connecting limb between the two trees. We also saw a tree that appeared to be signaling a left turn. But, we Angels couldn't let our guard down, especially not when were were warned about the ferocious animals roaming the forest (maybe even right next to us but silently!). Luckily, we only saw a snake crossing the road and a lizard getting its tan on.

After getting out of the foresty area, we got a glimpse of the ocean. (No, MonkeyPig, the ocean isn't really clear there, but you get the idea.) Along this area were many manzanitas (which are my current favorite) and madrones. The trees at Castle Rock were remarkable because a lot of them actually had to grow out of rocks or out of the side of a hill.

Somewhere along the way, we took a wrong turn and added about a mile onto our hike. It wasn't Stillman's fault AT ALL.

When we got back on the right track, that's when things turned scary. Now, I usually take about 125 to 150 photos each time I go on a hike (I choose the best photos to post on the blog), but I only took 45 photos at Castle Rock, and only a quarter of them were taken during the second half of the hike. Why? Well, because I was afraid that I was going to fall off the side of a cliff. Don't be fooled by the plants along the right side of the photo. They are growing out of a cliff. And, don't be fooled by what looks to be a smooth path. There was much scrambling up and down of ROCKS dusted with SLIPPERY DUST! I'm totally serious, folks. I was S-C-A-R-E-D. It was great for half-man, half-goat Angels like Stillman and mini me. But, for those of us who fall down whole flights of stairs in front of crowds? It was a real problem. So, that's why there aren't a lot of photos of the treacherous second half of the hike. I was scared out of my head that I would go tumbling off a cliff the whole time. There were a lot of beautiful flowers because that part was really sunny, but I only took one photo of a cream colored wild iris. There were SWATHS of them. I'm talking SWATHS, but I don't have the photos of the swaths. I would've taken more photos of the flowers, but I was too busy trying not to plunge to my death.

Anyhow, toward the end, we finally made it to Castle Rock (the actual rock). It looks kinda like this, but bigger. No, it actually looks like this but there were trees in the way. There was a nice observation deck where we watched rock climbers scale up the rock face. This guy was Stillman's favorite. There was also a waterfall but, by that point, Charlie's Angels were all exhausted and ready to go home. It was really fun, though, and I'm going back soon to master the rocks!

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My First Solo Hike

Check out the new trail shoes, folks. These are what went inside them.

I wanted to take these out on a test run (and also to test myself), so I went back to the Phleger Estate and did the same combination of trails that I did last week with Stillman. I prepared for everything that I could think of. I packed supplies (pepper spray, eye drops, lip balm, cell phone), nourishment (water, chocolate, candy that I stole from Willy Wonka from two doors down), and mountain lion kit (in case I am chased up a tree by a mountain lion and have to stay the night).

Here is the trailhead. Now, as we all saw from guest blogger MonkeyPig this week, the timer on cameras are very handy when travelling alone. So, even though I didn't have a fancy schmancy tripod, I still managed to get some shots of myself. But, the first one was a failure. I set the camera on the trailhead sign and turned on the timer. Halfway to my position, I realized that the shot would have been more convincing if I had my backpack on. So, here I am running back to get the backpack. Okay, second time's the charm, though.

Take two.

I set off into the trail at about 11:30am. By 11:35, Mother Nature drew first mud. Now, unlike the other two times I went hiking, I forgot to eat breakfast this morning. So, a few minutes into the hike, I figured I should dig into the first chocolate ration. (Keep my strength up, right?) Boy, did it taste good. Then, I passed a lost horse muff. These are put on horses' hooves to keep them warm. This thing was right where it was when Stillman and I saw it last week. I guess nobody is missing it. So, I just continue walking. As I'm walking along, I spot something on the floor. Lo and behold, it's a walking stick! It was smooth, too, and had a natural curve that was perfect for my height. I wonder if the kung fu master left this as a sign of encouragement for me? Mother Nature, [Cuban accent]say hello to my little friend[/Cuban accent].

The weather was pretty warm, so a lot of the flowers were in bloom. Here are some purple ones, pink ones, white and yellow ones, and white, yellow, and purple ones. Of course, there were many wild irises in bloom--many more than last week.

At about 12:30pm, I reach the fork in the road where the three trails (Miramonte, Raymundo, and Mt. Redondo) meet. Last week, Stillman and I took the Raymundo trail to the Mt. Redondo trail and back to the Miramonte trail. So, this week, I decided to do the loop backward and take the Mt. Redondo trail first. In taking the loop backwards, I saw everything from a different angle and it felt like a different hike. Of course, there were super tall trees, as well as craggy moss-covered ones. I was going uphill for a full 30 minutes at a pretty steep grade, and started to get hungry again. You know what that meant: second chocolate ration and a lollipop.

I took another little break when I got to Raymundo trail. Here, I met two runners who graciously posed for a photo. On the Raymundo Trail, trees grew out diagonally from the hillside. Some were practically horizontal. Trees were also clumped together in spots.

I finally got back to the Miramonte Trail at about 1:45pm. It was time for my third chocolate ration. I also took a water break. (I took water breaks all along the way because it was so warm and I was really striving to go at a decent pace.) You can tell how strong the sun was in the chapparal area. On the way back to the trailhead, I passed by a one-room bungalow with skylight located across from a beautiful stream. It was being offered for sale by owner at $1.7 million (pretty reasonable in these parts).

Anyhow, even though it was a warm day with a lot of sun, most of the trail was shady and comfortable. Don't believe me? Ask them. They'll tell you the same thing. When I got to the area where I had initially found my walking stick, I put it back where I had found it for the next hiker.

Now, it was 2:30 and I was nearing the trailhead. Guess who comes strolling into the trail? I'll give you a hint. Last week, I put this outside his office to mark him.

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Oletaby MonkeyPig (RECURRING guest blogger)

I had pretty good time during the Oleta River State Park trip.

The Kayak was a really good bargain. 25$ for 3 hr and 6.50$ / hr each hr after that.

The trip started off in dead water as one can see stuff floating on the water. The boat launching site is at the cul de sac. So, the gang (me,Mr. Orange and Mr. Banana (the boat) started our trek. After about 20 minutes, I got out to fresh water found a nice nook for lunch. Nonny Nu saids to not post our own faces on the net for privacy. So, I'm going to be a real monkey.

I paddled out to the islands and the port area. Ok, English vocabruary is not my strongest subject at school. The water was great. I saw bunch of diving birds. They would go down for a minute or two, then come up with a small fish. OK, I was going to upload some video of the birds catching the fish. But, that means I have to subscribe to this special feature on SnapFish. So, you guys can watch a better version of it on the AnimalPlanet or something like that. port or open sea, more drawbridge , more beautiful coastline .
I took a break on a beach area at one of islands .

Its was about 3 hours and I've decided to go back. I went back to the pier area. Noticed that I was 10 minutes over 3 hours. Heck, I'm not going to a entire hour when I'm only 10 minutes into the hours. So, I decided to do some more exploring. Don't laugh, I have an accurate account of my time. One of my patients gave me a Ironman watch. So, I am down to the seconds with my rentals.

I decided to go to Devil's pass. That's the only place I have not been. Needless to say, it was Christmas Tree Lane all over again - minus Ca Loc's blazing eyes. As I went into the pass, it became narrower and there were more trees and branches draped all over. Though not physically there, I can feel the heat of Ca Loc's eyes. Finally at the deadend , I decided that I have enough of Ca Loc's remote rolling eyes.

But, all ends well. I made it back in 4 hours and only paid 6.50$ extra.

It was a fun trip. I can not say enough about using manpower - one's own legs and arms to enjoy trips. You can see things up close and personal, with minimal risks of course. But, its worth the small risks.

Over all, I had a really good trip - with the exception of Key Largo.

Today, I drove around West Palm beach and the Atlantic coast. One to sightsee, two to burn the 1/2 tank of gas that was left (as I forgot that I've bought the gas option when I got the car). I stopped by the seaside town of Hillsborough. Jogged about 9 miles. It was great to see all the pretty waterfront homes up close. I was hoping to run into and marry a retired old kook like Jessica Simpson (is that her name). But, alas, all the old-rich men are either taken or dead.

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D3 -- Key Largoby MonkeyPig (guest blogger)

For those of you who are planning a trip Key Largo -- its waaayyy too overly rated. Wasted half a tank of gas. Fortunately I opted for a tinny Chevy Aveo at the rental place.

When I got in last Saturday night, the rental car placed told me the econo car I reserved was not avaible. They were willing to offer me a free "upgrade" to what's available -- an SUV. At first the teenager in me says "cool!!! free upgrade to a cool car". But the cheapo in me took over and told the agent ... NO. With price of gas almost 3$ / gal, I'd have to harvest seaweed for meals for the rest of the trip. So, the Ching came out and demanded an econo car. They looked and looked and found one. It was a car with a few dents that were waiting to go to the body shop. So, we mapped all the dents and I got a car with good mileage. Its nice to not spend 50$ with every refill.

Made the right choice. It was about a 3 hour trip. Mostly stop and go traffic as there is only one road to the Keys. Its a pretty boring trip. Many times, I almost wanted to turn back to the hotel to take a nap. The town itself is also pretty boring. Full of T-shirt / souveneir shops and restaurants that costs an army-&-a-leg to even go in, not to mention partake of their gold plated fish. Needless to say, the instant noodles in my hotel was minus a pack that night.

The only thing I saw that day was stingray and many pelicans.

These pic were from the Biscayne island. An island with upscale living. Needless to say, I stayed long enough to use the bathroom and take a few pics. This is looking at the mainland from Biscayne. The water was very pretty. All shades of blue and green.

Ft Lauderdale and its surrounding cities are full of drawbridges. One goes through many of these driving to town.

So, you are probably falling asleep. So am I as this is one of the boringest trip of my life. Basically eating dust and smelling car exhaust.

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Will Colonel Panic panic?And, who is w00t hax0r?Finally, what happened to our guest blogger, MonkeyPig?**

Question 1: Will Colonel Panic panic?
Besides ordering the wireless keyboard from Apple, I also ordered an iPod Shuffle.* (Check out the engraving.) And, I paid retail for it.

[Question 2 added for latest news.]
Question 2: Who is w00t hax0r?
I have no idea. I thought it was Mr. Nonny Nu at first, so I listed "w00t hax0r" in the "Mr. Nonny Nu's Fake Names" list. But, somebody had a cow about it and demanded that I immediately remove it from the list. Well, you know, if people want to buck the system and use a different fake name everytime they comment, I guess those individuals will just have to suck it up and realize that false attribution to them will sometimes be inevitable.

Question 3: What happened to our guest blogger, MonkeyPig?
GOOD QUESTION. I asked this exact question about 10 minutes ago. MonkeyPig's response was: "You know, sometimes people are tired." Yeah, like biking 26 miles in a day makes a person tired. LIAR! It's so hard to find good help these days. [EDIT: By the way, Colonel Panic has already poked his head into my office and stated, "I noticed that there wasn't an entry yesterday." So irresponsible toward the readership...]

*According to the shipping manifest, this thing came all the way from Suzhou, CHINA. (Sorry, I redacted my precise location from the manifest with red paint.)

**For those of you interested, most of this stuff was written last night when I was unceremoniously interrupted by someone and made to go to sleep. I've edited to present to you the latest news.

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Christmas in April

This will only be a short update since we have a guest blogger this week (who is doing a wonderful job, btw--I'm ROFLOL!).

Christmas has arrived early this year. I am the proud recipient of the following gifts (which materialized on different days since Monday):

1) My very first internet stalker!
On Monday, someone stopped by my office to inform me that they had become my internet stalker. I'm not pointing any fingers. "Someone" may refer to anybody, including but not limited to Colonel Panic, who had gone on the Long Ridge hiking trail this past weekend. For identification purposes, I have placed this thermostat outside of my stalker's door.

2) My very first African violet!
Green Thumbs McGillicutty showed up in my office on Monday bearing the gift of an African violet that she could not fit on her windowsill. Here she is. I'm naming her "Viola." I know! Creativity is one of my strong suits.

3) My very first pair of trail shoes!
So, Mr. Nonny Nu did not buy us hiking boots after all. He got us TRAIL SHOES! They are really cool. I like mine. They are greenish/grayish New Balance shoes. For those of you who play Halo, it's like the shade of green of Master Chief's suit. PERFECT SIZE. He also got me these really cute Puma anklets to go with. I'll show you guys this weekend when I go hiking. Mr. Nonny Nu got himself a pair of *drum roll please* SKETCHERS trail shoes! They're pretty snazzy, but mine are way better.

But, wait! I'm not the only one who is experiencing Christmas early. Look what came in the mail today.

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More Evergladesby MonkeyPig (guest blogger)

It appears that once you get a park pass (10$), you can use it for the entire week. So, I've decided to go back to the Glades.

The day started much earlier. I found a pretty nice Italian Bakery. Got a muffin and a personal size pizza. While there, I loaded up on the free samples of whatever pastry morsel on the counter. The lady was giving me the evil. But, that didn't bother me. I pretended to be polite. But, when she turned around, I popped in two more.

This time, I found a place where I can rent a bike for the entire day for 15$. This place is call the Everglad International Hostel. The people there are very nice, but extremely granola. I thought I had to come back after several days of not shaving. But, they took my money, anyway. I guess they thought I was a vegetarian with all the soysauce and rice smell in my clothes.

The bike was OK, except -- the tread on the tires were completely worn and the gears don't shift. Otherwise, it came free with, a basket for me to put my 4.84$+tax bag, food, repair kit, and a huge bicycle pump.

No, Little Nonny Nu, I was only semi-extravagant. The bottles were from yesterday. The water was a generous donation from the Hotel.

I rode about 7 miles to get to the trial head. There was a nice picnic area. I parked Pee-Wee's bike next to the picnic bench. Took the lunch out of the 4.84$+tax orange bag.

I was really excited by the pepperoni personal-size pizza. It was the cheapest of the various ready made pizza with toppings. To my disappointment, it was actually tomato. I guess the dollar sign over my eyes made the tomato looks like pepperoni. But, the pie tasted good.

The Long Pine Trail is great. It was completely different than that Shark Valley - dry. Long pines all over and palmettos on he ground.

I only saw a few gators. These were when I rode by the various ponds "lakes". These area were completely different than that of the Long Pine trail. Very wet and with lots of green vegetation. I only saw about 3 gators that day.

But, I saw a whole bunch of horny insects. The butterfly was in the middle of it. The dragfly just finished.

The lizard was not horny. At least, it wasn't when I saw it. It was by his little self.

The entire trip was about 25-26 miles of bike ride. I was starving at the end of the trip. I had to keep the tradition of Rachel Gee. So, I went to Christine Wan (some sort of fake Chinese Restaurant) and bought two dishes, asked for extra soysauce (this is where I got the soysauce), and extra rice. Not only did I stay under 30 $. I had the rest of the dishes for breakfast.

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