I'm really proud of myself!

This is a work related blog. I have been really light at work for the past month as my scores from 3-dimensional mah-jongg and my activity on facebook can account. I have been trying to come up with a few ideas to help my company as a whole and myself as a worker, yes, I am ambitious! Yesterday, I presented two ideas to my supervisor. He liked the ideas and then took them further and talked to our mutual boss about both of them, who again really liked the ideas. Then the idea for the company (Thanks Jim E. for assisting me with this one) was presented on a BD call with our region and our regional manager liked my idea and they are going to work to implement it. I will share my ideas personally but not publicly, although I doubt my blog is well read. :) My personal idea is for a few journal articles that I will write and then work to get published. I am excited about them and have spent time both yesterday and today working on it. While my masters thesis was presented in multiple conferences, it was never published, and I am hoping that these articles will help me become an "Expert" within the scientific community. Again, will share the idea personally but not publicly.

Final interesting tidbit about work. The famous Erin Brokovich will be going to one of my clients sites because of some problems there. Really bad for my client, but interesting nonetheless.

Seriously cool

I want to know how these guys get paid to do this and how I can get in on it. Here is an article about men living on the side of a building. I don't know if I could sleep on the bed, since I used to fall out of bed regularly...that would be really bad! I could totally eat/work on the side of a building easily. Check out the picture!

Tea house and bubble tea

I have found my new favorite Cincinnati location. The Essencha Tea House in Oakley. They have all kinds of fun teas, including bubble teas which are sooo yummy. Bubble teas are tea with tapioca balls at the bottom that actually come up the straw so you eat them while drinking your tea. I really like my Chai Tizzle with bubbles. :) The tea house in general was really good. They have an "English tea" which includes a pot of your choice of tea, an appetizer of a scone or a crepe, the main course of finger sandwiches and salad, and dessert. It was really good. A bonus was I was there for initiation into Iota Sigma Pi (Chemistry society) so there were 10 of us which meant we got to try 10 different teas as we shared the pots with everyone. We had strawberry kiwi, blueberry, oolong, almond, jasmine, a smokey tea (was okay, smelled like barbecue and wouldn't choose it again, but interesting to try), strawberry creme, and others that I cannot remember. It was a very enjoyable experience and I recommend it to anyone who likes tea!

I just got back

From visiting Karen, Jim, and baby Chris at the hospital. Chris is absolutely adorable and sooo good! He slept in my arms for 45 minutes with no crying. He did inform me that yesterday was a tough day and he misses his water bed. :) I am so happy for Karen and Jim!

I'm still tough

Perhaps not as tough as I used to be, but tough still. :) Last night while playing soccer I went up against one of the guys on the other team and we both tried to kick the ball at the same time. In the end, I won the ball but also ended up on my butt down for the count. My ankle was the casualty of an aggressive play in soccer. I was in pain last night but it wasn't terrible, until about an hour before I went to bed when I cried from the physical pain. I have a high pain tolerance, so I thought something was up. After an urgent care visit this morning, seems I will be okay, I am not broken and should be back to playing in no time. I was advised to put heat on it and move it as much as possible to work it out. This is different from the advice given whenever I sprained my ankle in the past where it was ice it, rest, and elevation. Here's hoping I get better quickly so I can terrorize the soccer field again soon!

Priorities and ironies

I find it ironic what I did yesterday. Karen, Jess, and I went to the garden center after our girls lunch. I saw a painting that would fit very well on my living room wall above my fireplace. I have been needing a painting/picture to put up here for awhile. It was $50 so I decided it was too expensive and didn't buy it. I went to half priced books afterward to pick up a couple books by my fav author for my mom to read while she has a sprained ankle. The store had a lot by my fav author that I do not own, so I bought a bunch of book, about $50 bunch of books. I find it ironic that I would not spend $50 to buy a painting and complete my living room's decor, but I would spend $50 on books. Granted I did buy 12-15 books, but still. Are my priorities off?

2nd most sustainable environmentally friendly car

Happens to be the car I own. The Saturn Ion is listed as the 2nd most sustainable car. The ratings take into account everything from fuel efficiency to energy cost to produce the vehicle to energy costs of the disposal of the vehicle. They are ranked by energy cost per mile. I am very proud to own the second most environmentally friendly vehicle. The only vehicle which ranks higher than my car is the smart car. :) The list was put together by CNW Marketing Research for Vehicle Energy Costs. The Saturn Ion (from dust to dust) cost in energy is $0.621 per mile or 62 cents per mile. Go Saturn Ion. I am a little sad to report that since the Saturn Ion didn't do well enough in sales/economy downturn they will no longer be producing a model that is so environmentally friendly. Let me put this into perspective for you. The Saturn Ion was #2, the Prius is #140 at $2.19 per mile. Other cars I know people who own/are popular:

Avalon #179 at $2.62 per mile
Camry #135 at 2.18 per mile
Corolla #10 at $.75 per mile
Cherokee #115 at $2.04 per mile
Beetle #57 at $1.51 per mile
Vue #68 at $1.60 per mile
Civic #198 at $2.87 per mile
Caravan #87 at $1.86 per mile

My ideal vehicle the Jeep Wrangler is surprisingly at #5 at $.66 per mile.
Sometimes the energy cost to produce something outweighs the fuel efficiency/energy savings of the vehicle.