Trina's page of Blogginess

I totally missed the Grammys last night. Dick hates watching awards shows, so I've gotten out of the habit of watching them, or even thinking about them. I even forgot that Green Day was going to be performing! (shock!)

So, it turns out that Green Day performed "21 Guns" with the cast of the American Idiot Musical. Very cool. The show (which, yes, I saw twice when it opened in Berkeley) is going to Broadway starting in March. They didn't win Best Rock song for "21 Guns", but they did win Best Rock Album for "21st Century Breakdown"! Yay!

Anyhow, this video was released this morning (I think, anyhow). I think it's very cool - it shows Green Day and the cast of "American Idiot" in the recording studio, recording their version of "21 Guns".

I like this version a lot, although I admit I prefer the original. But, I do really love and appreciate the collaboration and all of the beautiful harmonies in this version.

Labels: green day

very exciting!!


Pretty new Washer & Dryer

At last! We bought a new washer and dryer yesterday, and it was delivered (amazingly enough) this morning!

The old washer and dryer were probably well over 25 years. They were here when I bought my condo from Andrew in 1998, and they were here when he bought the condo in 1988. They were still both working fine, so I figured I'd wait until one of broke before we bought a new one.

I mentioned this to my Mom a few weeks ago, and she reminded me how much more energy and water efficient the new models are.

right...

I mentioned the same thing to Andrew, and he cautioned me, warning that I may not want to wait until one of them breaks. What if one of them broke, and it went terribly wrong? Worst case scenario: Our washer and dryer are on the top floor. What if the washer broke, and caused a leak (or flood). Bad news.

So, suddenly, I was on a quest for a new washer and dryer.

I asked my friends on Facebook for recommendations, and got a lot of good advice.

We ended up getting the Samsung 4.5 cu. ft. front load steam washer and dryer. I think we got the Mother of All Washing Machines. ;) It's HUGE (my old washer had a 3.2 cu. ft. capacity, I think) and the controls and functionality are all so cool. Washer and Dryer technology sure has come a long way over the past 25+ years!

We decided on getting white machines, versus the stainless steel. I generally prefer stainless steel for appliances, but decided on white for these because a) stainless steel is harder than traditional paint, and is hard to clean and accumulates lots of finger prints, and b) it was about $100 more expensive per machine. We had also looked at and considered the LG models, which had some fabulous colors that I really loved (candy red, colbalt blue) but since we went with the Samsung, it was only white or stainless steel.

We got a really great deal at Sears. Dick and I really enjoy buying large appliances from Sears - their sales people are always so knowledgeable and friendly, and their prices are hard to beat. I did some online research last week and saw that they were having a 10-20% off sale on all major appliances through this weekend, so I really wanted to make sure that we went this weekend to check it out. We went yesterday morning. As it turns out, they were having a One-day only sale yesterday which gave us an additional 10% off! Score!

Another nice surprise was that they were in stock, and were available for delivery as early as today! Nice! They were delivered this morning at 10:00am, which gave me an entire day to wash everything I could think of to test 'em out!

The delivery guys were pretty amazing. First they took the old washer and dryer out, then brought the new ones in and set them up. All within 30-40 minutes! They had these very clever straps that wrapped over their shoulders, and underneath the machines, which they just lifted and carried down the stairs and out the door. Very impressive.


Out with the old, and in with the new!

What amazes me most (so far) about the new washer and dryer are how very quiet they are. With the old machines, I could hear them from my office (same floor, but on the other side of the house) and even worse: the entire room/house would shake/vibrate whenever the washer was going through the spin cycle. With the new washer and dryer, I don't hear a thing, and I can be in the same room and not feel the spin cycle. Amazing!

So, clearly, I'm a fan so far, and super happy with my new washer an dryer. We'll see how it all continues to go...

Labels: His 'n Her Condos, technology, webTrina

worst. product. name. ever...

iPad?

Really?

This just goes to show that sometimes all of those brilliant engineers and marketing specialists just don't see the whole picture.

I'm pretty sure you could ask any woman on the street what the first thing she would think of when hearing about a product named "iPad", and she would say: feminine hygiene product.

I can guarantee you that (at least before Apple's announcement this morning) no woman who hears of a product called "iPad" would think, "Fantastic, computer gadget! I must get one now!"

No. that's not how it works.

Just say the word "pad" and our minds go elsewhere - somewhere much less fun and exciting.

I haven't even looked into the new iPad yet. I still can't get past the name.

But I'll tell you this, seeing the headline that Steve Jobs calls the iPad “truly magical” and a “revolutionary device” has a whole new set of connotations for me now. :)

Note to Apple: make sure you include smart women into those important meetings when you name those new "must-have devices"!

It just may stop you from sounding like an imbecile.

"The New iPad! Now with wings!"

update
No surprise: the net has been buzzing with iPad jokes all day.

Here's just one article about Apple's big goof:

Apple's iPad becomes big fat ‘intimate’ joke

Labels: funny ha-ha, just trina, rant, technology

When I was in fourth grade, my family lived in Fresno. My sister and I were both part of the "GATE" program (Gifted and Talented Education, apparently), which started in fourth grade. I believe there as only one GATE class per grade level in the city, but I"m not sure. Nonetheless, this means that the kids in our class came from all over Fresno, and most of us hadn't had classes in first through third grades with each other before.

My best friend that year was Julie. I'm don't remember the exact moment that we met, but I do remember that we became fast friends, and we were basically inseparable during that entire school year.

My dad got transferred to the bay area with work, and the day after I finished the fourth grade, my family moved to Milpitas. My family took occasional trips to Fresno over the next few years, and I remember that Julie and I were able to see each other for visits from time to time. We also wrote letters (the old-fashioned kind!) to each other, probably through 7th grade or so.

Alas, we lost touch sometime around Junior High or even High School. I always remembered Julie and had very fond memories of her.

Fast forward to 2007.

On October 3, 2007, I post a blog asking my readers to please let themselves be known. My blog had a lot of regular hits, so I was curious to know who was reading it regularly.

Imagine my surprise when I received the following comment:

Trina,
This probably sounds very strange, but I used to be friends with you in Fresno, years ago. Do you remember me?

One day a few months ago, I was typing random names into Google and came across this blog! We were in fourth grade together, and then you moved to Milpitas. We wrote letters and sent school pictures for years, but somehow we fell out of touch sometime in high school.

Anyway, I have wanted to drop you a line, but it seemed so "stalkerish" But since you've asked....

I enjoy your blog because you are so joyful and positive about your life - such a wonderful role model.

Julie | 10.05.07 - 9:18 pm

Pretty amazing, right? I sent her an email immediately. We've corresponded via email a few times, have become "friends" on Facebook, and keep up with each other on our mutual blogs.

We even managed a "face-to-face" visit a couple of years ago when Julie lived in Stockton. It was wonderful. What a special friendship - we met for lunch, and ended up talking for more than 3 hours, which was only cut short because I had to meet my family for dinner. I love those friendships where you can be separated for years, yet, when you see each other again, you fall right back with each other. It had been nearly 30 years since we had seen each other!

I feel so fortunate that Julie had the inclination to search for me, and that we have managed to reconnect. I think it's so special to have friends in your life from childhood.

Julie just sent me a photo that she found of the two of us - I assume it's from 1979. I absolutely love it. I don't think I ever had a picture of the two of us together.


Julie and Trina, 1979


Julie and Trina, 2008

Thanks, Julie! I hope to see you again very soon for another visit!

Labels: friends

this made me laugh. If you know me, you know I love Costco! :)

(Bruce is my cousin, for those of you who don't know)

breyeschow: Waiting for the, "You need four new tires." call. (@ Borders)
about 2 hours ago

trinachow: @breyeschow i just got 4 new tires installed today at Costco. :) $70 off coupon through end of the month.
about 1 hour ago

breyeschow: @trinachow you and costco . . . tires, caskets . . . did you meet Dick there too ;-) Already at our shop doing some other work, but thanks.
about 1 hour ago

Labels: bargain queen, funny ha-ha

My sister, and her boyfriend, Graham, have both been away from home for almost a year. They left on the first of February of last year, and moved to Las Vegas for work (temporarily) then my sister had another job on the road, which she just returned from earlier this week.

Because of this, they were both away on Christmas. Our immediate family decided to wait until they got home for the 6 of us to celebrate Christmas together. My parents even kept up their Christmas tree, and all of their decorations (inside and out) just for them! (my parents are usually sticklers to putting all the Christmas decorations away before the first of the year, so this was a pretty big deal for them! You can be that they'll start putting it all away tomorrow!)

So, we finally had our family Christmas together this afternoon. :)


Chow Christmas in January!

After we opened all of the gifts, we went out for the traditional Christmas-in-January meal: Baja Cactus on Main Street, Milpitas! Yum!


Dinner at Baja Cactus!

My main present to my sister and Graham was a painting that I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. They just moved into a new home late last year, and are finally having a chance to really live there and settle in. I've been promising a painting to my sister for years (yes, years....) and really wanted to be able to give her one for her new place.


My latest painting

It's a fairly large painting. I forgot to measure it, but I'd say it's around 48" long, and probably about 30" high. It's 3 panels - my first triptic. :)

The two birds in the painting are meant to be her two cockatiels - Crissy and Bonsai. Crissy will turn 30(!) years old next month - we've had her since she was 6 weeks old! Dick and I took care of the birds at our house for the past year while my sister was away. It was nice bonding with them again.

I haven't painted in so long. I'm always amazed once I start a new project, just how much I love the process of painting! Now that I've got my studio set up in our backyard, I'm determined to get out there and paint more often! It feels so great to be painting again!

Labels: family, painting

My sister just came back after having been away for almost a year! She
came by today to say "hi" and to pick up her birdies (who have been
staying with us while she was gone).

5 minutes before she came, Bruce and the girls came over for a visit!
It's a big, impromptu party!

We all went to hang out in the backyard for a while to catch up. Big
fun!

Labels: family