Keeping the Greater Antilles in my thoughts

Below is a quote from the most recent Public Advisory from the National Hurricane Center:

000
WTNT34 KNHC 181745
TCPAT4
BULLETIN
HURRICANE DEAN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 22A
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL042007
200 PM AST SAT AUG 18 2007

...DEAN REMAINS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE...HEAVY SQUALLS
SPREADING OVER HISPANIOLA...

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTH COAST OF THE
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FROM BARAHONA WESTWARD TO THE HAITI-DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC BORDER...AND FOR THE SOUTHWESTERN PENINSULA OF HAITI FROM
THE HAITI-DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BORDER TO PORT-AU-PRINCE. A HURRICANE
WARNING ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA. A HURRICANE WARNING
MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING
AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND
PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.

AT 2 PM AST...1800 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA HAS ISSUED A
TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR PORTIONS OF CUBA...FROM THE PROVINCE OF
CAMAGUEY EASTWARD TO THE PROVINCE OF GUANTANAMO. A TROPICAL STORM
WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT ALONG THE SOUTH COAST OF THE DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC FROM CABO ENGANO WESTWARD TO BARAHONA...AND FOR COAST OF
HAITI NORTH OF PORT-AU-PRINCE TO THE NORTHERN HAITI-DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC BORDER. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL
STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE
NEXT 24 HOURS.

My heart goes out to my Caribbean brothers in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba. Puerto Rico was spared, but the hurricane, a Category 4 by now, is headed straight to Jamaica. The Yucatan pensinsula may also be in danger if the hurricane follows the projected path.




In the Houston area, they have already started talking about taking precautions, as there is a chance the hurricane path may take it to these parts, which are already saturated with the rainfall we are still experiencing from Tropical Depression Erin. NASA cut short the Endeavour crew's spacewalk and will make the shuttle come back home one day earlier than planned.

It's quite early in the hurricane season and we already are dealing with such a destroyer. I shudder to think what else is in store for the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico area.

Que Dios nos coja confesados.

Million Dollar Dreams

Wolfang wants to know what I would do with a million dollars. Who hasn't dreamed of this at one point or another? Who has not spent many a drive home from work plotting how to spend every single dollar that the IRS doesn't take away? Come on, admit it, you have done it too.

Anyway, the rules are simple:

1- Describe what would you do if you had a million dollars
2- Tag 5 people
3- Reproduce the list of bloggers who have already done this challenge and add your name at the end.

If I had a million dollars... the first thing I would do is ask if that is net of taxes. Because it makes a big difference if I have to give uncle Sam a big chunk of moola, you know. I would have to factor that into my plans. What, you had not thought of that?

Anyway, let's say that it's a million dollars, all for me. The first thing I would do is pay off my mortgage and our car loans. The second thing I would do is pay off Gabriel's monumental student loan debt. Next I would hire a reputable financial planner, set up a college fund for each of my girls, and an investment portfolio for Gabe and I, so we can retire someday. There goes three quarters of a million.

Once all the sensible plans are fulfilled, I would ask for a leave of absence from work, make a travel budget and go everywhere I am able to, see all the wonderful things I have been reading about since I am a little girl. I would take my husband and children with me, and maybe my parents and my in-law's too. I would seek to inmerse myself as much as I could into the culture of each place I visit.

So there you have it. Not the most original plan in the world, I know. But oh, how I wish it could come to fruition.

For this Meme I am tagging:


Corey
Keara
Rochelle
Andrea
bea n. random


What They Do With Their $1 Million.

1. SYH will spend for Family

2. Miche will give to the needy

3. Montessorimum will keepsake

4. Lovely Mummy will spend & save

5. MummyInVain will fully utilise

6. Babyfiona will buy house and open business

7. MonkeyWong will go for a long vacation

8. Emila Yusof will realise her dream

9. Mariuca will open a Perfume Gallery

10.Janice Ng will upgrade house and go for long vacation

11.Hin will blog to donate for charity

12.Bobo will invest in property and let her parents go on a holiday.

13. Adrian will spend it all!

14. Brad will spend all of his money on foolish gadgets

15.Danielle will buy a cottage in the woods and never look back

16. Brown Baron will hold a $17,500 blog contest.

17. Bobby will be on a World vacation forever.

18. Wolfgang will try to live, fix the things that can be fixed with what money can buy, and (hopefully) live happily ever after (feel free to shorten to include only the linked part when you repost please).

19. Ingrid would do the sensible thing financially, then take her family with her and become a globetrotter for six months.

The exchange

It's 5:30 AM Central, and this is my third post. Can you tell that I have been having trouble sleeping? I woke up around 3:00 AM with a headache, a tight chest and the feeling of being a failure. Why, you ask? Well, I guess I am full of shit. The other day I said I had no regrets other than my smoking habit. I guess I should have qualified that. I do not have regrets for the things I have done. It's the things I did not get to do that haunt me. I am starting to realize I may never get a chance to do them, and that is painful.

I found my niece on Facebook yesterday and I was very excited to ask her all about her exchange semester at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. She had a blast, took some wonderul courses, traveled all over Europe, walked everywhere and learned to be self-reliant, as she was alone for long periods of time. She broke free from the island-centric mentality we have so ingrained when we are born and raised in Puerto Rico. She learned a lot and is clearly excited about putting some plans in motion. It was truly a formative experience. I was very happy for her and extremely proud to be her aunt. But I also felt sad for myself. When I was at the UPR I had two friends who did the same exchange semester, but I never got to go. I did not think my parents would send me, so I never asked. Recently I mentioned this to my mom and she said they would have if I had just asked. I wish I had known that back then. Ugh.

I remember that my mom had a summer school trip to Italy when she was in college, an experience I heard so much about when I was growing up. Then I remembered that Gabe had the opportunity to bum around Europe for about 10 months after he got out of college. I may have had a chance, but I blew it because I did not even dare ask. So I felt bad about my missed chance. Gabe said we should make plans to travel to Europe. But come on, let's face it, we can't afford it. It sucks, because we are supposed to be people who are doing fairly well financially, but we have no savings and basically live from paycheck to paycheck. I may not even get a company bonus this year, something that I used to almost take for granted.

Paula saw I was upset and got upset herself. I told her that if she ever has the chance to go on a student exchange, she should take without thinking twice, that I would make the effort to send her. She said she would not go because she did not want to make me sad like this. That, of course, made me feel like a colossal ass. I don't want my daughter to deprive herself in a show of solidarity.

I am proud of and happy for my niece. And I would absolutely love it for my daughter to have the same mind-expanding experience she had this past semester. I get sad and angry at myself because I missed an opportunity. When we are younger, we don't realize that life is not always going to be there for the taking. Not in the same way at least. So we slack off. And that is not always a good idea.

Here comes Dean

The latest Public Advisory from the National Hurrican Center says:

AT 5 AM AST...0900 UTC...THE METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE OF ANTIGUA HAS ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS AND PUERTO RICO. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING ISLANDS OF THE LESSER ANTILLES...GRENADA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES...ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES...BARBADOS...SABA...ST. EUSTATIUS... MONTSERRAT...ANTIGUA...NEVIS...STKITTS...BARBUDA...ST. MAARTEN...AND ANGUILLA. A TROPICAL STORMWARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHINTHE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

Hurricane Dean, a Category 2 at present, is the first hurricane of the season. According to the island's main newspaper, Dean is expected to pass about 150 miles South of Puerto Rico. That is great news for Puerto Rico, although they are still under a Tropical Storm warning. It is expected that the island will get between 4 and 6 inches of rain today. My mom had been concerned about the hurricane disrupting her surgery scheduled for today, but it looks like it will not be an issue.




For some odd reason, writing this post has made me nostalgic. You would think that hurricanes are not the kind of stuff that makes one warm on the inside, but living with this kind of weather was a defining factor when I was growing up. I am sure there are people who would read this post and say "storm warning, OMG!", but to us, if the eye was not passing over the island, it was business as usual.

Fiction Friday

A while ago I learned about Fiction Fridays through paisley's blog. I liked the idea and wanted to start doing the weekly challenges. Today's challenge was a good starting point, as it was simple enough: to write a scene where an adult character demonstrates a child-like habit. There is a list of eight of these, we are to pick one and write about it. So, here's my piece:



Driving home from work, Ana remembered there was no milk in the house. So she swung by the neighborhood Walgreen's prior to picking up Carla and Ileana at daycare. It was almost 6:00 PM, so she did not have much time to linger in the tabloid magazine display, although it was tempting to thumb through the latest young Hollywood trainwreck issues. Anything that made Ana feel better about herself that day would be welcome, but she had to rush before the daycare closed.

Once home, she had to muster all her strength not to drop everything and sit down in front of the computer to check out her favorite blogs. Daniel was not home yet and she was exhausted. There had been a business review at work that day, and Ana had been on call, generating trends charts on demand. Mr. Banks had been particularly nitpicky that day, and Ana had to resist the urge to tell him where he could stick his numbers. But that was over now, her second shift was just starting. Carla was hungry for chicken nuggets and Ileana wanted some milk. Ana got out a glass from the cabinet and reached for the milk and the powdered chocolate.

Mmmm, nothing like a glass of cold chocolate milk to make everything go away. She was one with the milk, revelling in the sweetness and silkiness of it. Maybe she would read a nice book tonight, or start that scrapbook project she had been putting off, maybe she would go to the butcher and get some nice pork chops for dinner, or make baked ziti or…

She felt a tug on her pants leg. "Mami, is that my chocolate milk? I waaaaaaant iiiit!", said Ileana. "What? Oh, sure baby, here you go", said Ana. As she wiped her milk moustache away, Ana noticed the oven was warm already. Time to get the chicken nuggets in.

Those crazy truckers

In true Ingrid form, I recently discovered and become obsessed with something that is not brand new. It happens all the time, I am always hopelessly behind on things. I discover bands that have been around for years, or fall in love with books from a few years ago.

My newest fancy is the show Ice Road Truckers. I saw it for the first time last weekend, and now I am addicted. Of course, I discover the show when it's almost over. The season finale is next Sunday. At least I'll have a chance to watch more episodes. On Sundy they are running all the episodes back to back, leading up to the finale.

Now you may wonder what the hell is the appeal of this show to me. I know it sounds weird for a Caribbean woman to be so into a show about truckers using a frozen lake as a shortcut and hoping the ice doesn't crack and take them under. Basically, this is a show about a world that could not be further from mine. Yet, it is so appealing to me. And maybe this is because it gives me a chance to get a glimpse of what I would never be able to experience otherwise.

Then again, as I have stated before, I am fascinated by stories that highlight man's fight against nature, and nature's ultimate supremacy over our illusions of control. I am also partial to stories about the Artic. This show hits both spots.

I need a pat in the back, y'all

I just signed up for a 12-week challenge at the Fitness Center at work. It runs from August 20th through November 11th. I have 12 weeks to try to get a fitness habit going. Participants contribute 5 dollars to a pot. At the end of the 12 weeks, whoever has the highest score wins the pot. I figured money and a little competition may be just what a girl needs to get her butt in shape.

I have set modest short-term goals so I don't get discouraged and quit altogether. We get points for logging our workouts and fulfilling the goals we set for ourselves. In my case, my goals are to work out at least twice a week, for 30 minutes. There have been times when I have done more than that, but not lately. When my heel started hurting I stopped doing the treadmill altogether. I want to get back to walking. I do have the Race for the Cure in October to look forward to, but even that was not motivation enough.

I also have a goal of doing 15 to 20 push-ups daily (believe me, I am so out of shape and have such weak arms that I can only do 5 to 8 right now).

My biggest problem is eating habits. I do not know what to do. I did not set any goals regarding this, but my long-term goal is to lower my waist-to-hip ratio, and that will not happen if I continue eating the way I do now. I don't want to diet. I hate the idea of dieting. But I need to find a way to make better choices and learn portion control.

I could certainly use some suggestions and good luck wishes from all.

I've been doing more reading than writing lately

I have a lot on my plate at work, so the blogging has suffered. But I have also been in one of those periods where my internal voice has been quiet, reveling in the writings of others.

From "My Rearview Mirror"

I visited Micki's blog earlier today, and was very moved by this post. This quote stayed with me all day:

We made a commitment. He wanted to be with me and I wanted to be with him. The commitment wasn’t to stay married. The commitment was to always talk it out.

Second Life?

Are any of my readers familiar with Second Life? I was reading this WSJ article about Second Life that I found through the blog murketing and I got curious. I have heard of Second Life before, at work. But I don't know anyone who plays there (is it even considered playing?). Do any of the four or five readers I have frequent Second Life? From the little I have seen, it's like the Sims on steroids, although my reference is already quite dated (Sims who? would say some). And what about the subject of the article? Would you consider what this guy was doing "cheating"? I don't quite know what to make of it. I guess if it was me and Gabe, and he would be marrying chicks on virtual worlds, I would be awfully pissed. I can be pretty territorial.