The wooden block on the road

I was on my way home, listening to KCBS. I passed a green (I think) wooden block that was sitting there in the middle of the road, right on the line between the two lanes.

After about five seconds, the lady reporting the traffic said "Watch out for a wooden block...", referring to the same exact one I just passed. Is that cool or what?

I've noticed that my coughing comes back every time I'm in the car or here in our home office. I'm having a bout as I type this. Today at work, I wasn't coughing as often. What could that mean? I think it's time we sprayed the house and the car with some air sanitizer.

Good night!
Ever

Saturday afternoon (and can't come up with a title for this)

Jing and I got to watch The Birds last night. And man, the ending was a complete letdown. What was the point of that movie? It wasn't even scary. No explanation whatsoever of why the birds were attacking them. I thought it had to do with her coming to town or the lovebirds she brought with her. But no, they just left. And of course, the birds just let them go away. Just like that. The only thing they resolved was her relationship with her "future mother-in-law". If not for the church and the schoolhouse, which, as you may recall, Jing and I visited recently, I wouldn't have cared to borrow it from the library.

Oh, the lead character smoked a lot... even inside the house... with a child right by her. An insight into the public's general attitude towards smoking during that time?

I'm currently reading Choices and Illusions by Eldon Taylor. And I just finished reading the section with the ad that had explicit subliminal messages. Today at Target, I couldn't help but scrutinize the soda picture on the wall to see if there were any on there. :)

We took Janelle to the pedia this morning because her inner right thigh was hurting. The pedia said it could be groin pull. Some Advil and some hot tub are all she needs.

Jed performed for seniors again today. There were fewer students this time.

The little birdies in our backyard have started developing feathers. I forgot to write about the parents' routine every time they come back to the nest. They would land on the fence first (sometimes on our neighbor's tree first, then the fence) and then look in all directions, making sure no predators are present, then they swiftly fly right to the nest, through the exact same opening in the tree. It's a lot of fun watching them!

Janelle's been on a home-video-thon since last night. She's enjoying watching our old home videos, especially of her kuya's when he was younger than she is now. There was one where Jed was only 3 1/2 and was singing (instead of just plain-reading) some magazine. He started to read when he was 2 1/2 if I hadn't already mentioned it.

I had to skip choir today. Still coughing and got a hoarse voice. The only upside is that I can sing Richard Marx songs and actually sound like him. Well, in this condition, I can't of course reach the high notes without my voice cracking but yeah... raspy voice. Nice. :)

God bless you, my patient reader. Got to go back to indexing.
Ever

House finches

I don't recall if I've mentioned this (and I'm too lazy to check right now) but we have another pair of birds that are nesting in our backyard. And this time, the crows did not find the eggs, thank God! We were at Costco one time and came across a book on birds. So, I flipped through, hoping to find the birds there. And I think I did. They're called house finches. Interestingly, the male bird is the one that has the red-orange parts.

Guess what, the eggs had actually hatched. It probably took just a week, which is not surprising since they're small. I saw the chicks (or is that term just for little chickens?) one afternoon when Papa and I were in the backyard. We inadvertently scared the mom away so we were free to look. :) I couldn't really tell how many "chicks" were there. Two or three maybe but I only saw one beak. It was yellow. The body or bodies were covered in black "fur". They couldn't open their eyes yet, it seemed.

The morning after, I took out the camera and videocam. Yep, got to film them as well, the breathing and all, still with their eyes closed. Janelle got the chance to see them as well. We still only saw one beak but I'm pretty sure there's more than one of them. Will keep you posted.

I was never really fond of birds until now. Whenever we went to zoos, I'd find the birds section the least interesting. We had chickens, pigeons, and even quails when I was a kid. Maybe I was into pigeons for some time but that's about it. I liked the chickens for their eggs. I even gave a young one some laying mash and it worked on her, too. I feel sorry now every time I think about it.

But I digress... I have a newfound respect for birds. How do they manage to build those nests? It's just amazing to me. This morning, while Jing and I were waiting to see Jed's teacher for our portfolio conference, we were outside and we were watching the birds fly. Suddenly, I was in awe. I wish people could fly. I've always wished that but I'd never associated that wish with birds before. Here they are, according to Jing, the freest creatures of them all. And she's right. They can go anywhere they want. What cool beings!

On another note, have you checked out Microsoft's Bing? I like the cashback feature. :) I should remember to look there first for online shopping. But I tried searching for a couple of things last night and it didn't find them while the ever-handy Google did.

Tonight is Janelle's first piano lesson. :)

Love and light to you,
Ever