Digital Converter Box

On Feb 17, 2009 all TV broadcasts will only use digital signal. If you own one of these old TVs with rabbit ear antennas like I do, you will no longer get a picture on your TV unless you subscribe to cable or buy a converter box. So, I got my $40 off coupon from the government and headed over to Walmart to buy my converter box. Why so soon? Well, even though I won't lose my analog picture until Feb 18th, I decided to take advantage of the fact that most stations are already using digital signals. I LOVE my converter box. Not only do I get crystal clear digital picture, I got like 10 more channels I never saw before. Ok, so one is a Spanish channel and 3 of them are cheesy Christian channels, but it's all free! So get yourself a coupon and get a converter box. I got the RCA 800B1 and it only cost $9.99. Awesome!

Lost Dog

Yesterday, driving down my street, I saw a strange site on the road. It was this little black dog trotting down the street in front of me dragging a red leash. I tried with all my might to ignore the obviously lost dog and drive past her. But, she wouldn't let me, weaving back and forth on the narrow road. When I finally stopped the car, she hid under my car, as if to say, "Please help me." So, what is a self professed dog lover to do? You guessed it, call Animal Control. :) Unfortunately, they were closed and after visits to two different vets, I couldn't pawn this little dog off on anyone, forcing me to take her home for the night. The poor little dog was so scared and timid, that she wouldn't move a muscle when I put her down. She looked so uncomfortable standing in the exact stop that I even pushed her bottom down, hoping she would sit. I was obviously intimidating her. So, I left the room for a minute and when I did she hid under my bed and slept the whole night in the corner under my bed on the hardwood floor. Well, the next morning, she was feeling a bit more gutsy because it literally took me 15 minutes of chasing her around my room (moving my bed back and forth across the room) to finally nab her so I could take here out to potty. Well, too late, she already did her business under my bed.

So I call Animal Control and it's the only day that they are not open until noon. I had no choice but to put the little dog in my basement and head off to work. When I got to work, I shared the story with 3 coworkers who are all dog owners. Diana said, let's check on Craigslist to see if anyone reported this dog missing. Ok, literally in about 30 seconds, she finds a posting for a lost black chihuahua /rat terrier. So to make a long story short, I went home during my lunch hour to get this sweet dog to her rightful owners. The story gets even better because the owners were a sweet little couple, I mean, literally, they were little people, dwarfs. They rescued Sophie from a puppy mill where she had been abused and that's why she was so timid and scared of me. So, the little couple took their little dog and drove off into the sunset. Now, if I can just get that dog pee stain out of my rug. :)

Summer is gone

Although it's still like 80 degrees here in Portland, I have to accept the fact that summer is almost over. It's been a very relaxing and fun summer. My church, Mosaic, had Urban Camp, two weeks of activities in the city every day. I wished I could have gone to more events but the second week, I was on the Alaska cruise with my family, which by the way was fabulous. It rained alot but one of the highlights was meeting the 60's style music group, The Unexpected Boys. 4 hot guys who sing broadway style 60's music. They were so much fun. One night, the crusie had a Ladies Night. My mom, my sis and I went to it to see guys take it all off :). The fun thing was that my bro-in-law insisted on coming too but he stay in the back while we got front row seats. How did we score such rockstar seats? Well, my new friends, the Unexpected Boys had the seats and gave them to us as the place filled up. It was all in good fun cuz the guys taking off their clothes were just the ship's staff having some fun :) Otherwise we just ate alot of good food and lounged around. Thank goodness for the Spa because it rained almost every day. Seeing whales and amazing glaciers weren't so bad either. :)

So, now that falls upon us, life in Portland will change a bit. I'll have to prepare my heart for the rain season. Another thing, my work schedule changes so that now I work the 6am-4:30pm shift. That's gonna be very hard but alas, maybe I can try to be a morning person. Oh well. Hope you all had a great summer.