Tragedy Strikes When We Least Expect It

Last night someone dear to me lost her home. It was sudden. It was violent. It was unexpected.

@TrekJen was cold. Her power went out. She fiddled with the breakers, but couldn't get electricity. Since she had a long shift at work the next day, she decided to turn off the main breaker and go sleep at work where it was warm. While she was gone her house burned.

Jen got a call from a neighbor. She hurried back to her house only to see it engulfed in flames, firefighters hard at work. A picture of extremes, bright, hot flames illuminating the dark frigid night. How helpless and alone must she have felt? Jen posted on twitter from her phone: "And my house burned down."

I direct messaged her: "Please tell me that you were kidding!"  She was not. We kept in touch via text message, and I tried my best to update for her on Twitter. There was one room, in a back corner of the house that hadn't burned. Could some things be saved? Then the roof fell in, as she watched.

When the flames were out the firefighters showed Jen the electrical cord in the attic that was to blame for this disaster. It was probably smoldering up there when she left. The cabin was her dad's winter home. They went there every year for 20 years. . A painful sentimental loss.


Currently my Tweetdeck Mentions and Direct Messages columns are bursting with inquiries as to how to help Jen. I see a lot of outpouring of love, well-wishes, and virtual hugs for her.

I spoke with Jen early this morning. She has a place to stay for a week. A local motel room has been donated to her. Her dog is safe at a friend's house. A trusted friend is on her way via airplane to her to help sift through the rubble and ash later today. Snow is expected tomorrow, so this must be done soon if anything of value is going to be salvaged. Jen has been in contact with her insurance company, and has been granted some time off from work.

Jen's insurance covers her house only, not any of her personal belongings. The loss of her longboards and Star Trek collectibles stings, but in time those items can be replaced. Even worse are the five hard drives full of digital photos that are gone. The firefighters were able to throw a single plastic tub full of irreplaceable photos out the window. Other than that box of pictures, all she has is her laptop, phone, clothes she was wearing, her dog and her trucks.

My biggest concern was that she was all alone. That first need has been answered by her longtime friend who is flying to her today. Thank you, Laurie! Next, she needs some sleep! Physical and mental exhaustion hinders good decision-making, and makes everything look worse. Hopefully she will get some sleep this morning.
Thirdly, Jen needs the basics: clothes, toiletries, food, and housing. This is where we can help!


Once Jen is rested I expect a call from her. I am working with her to set up a PayPal account for donations to help her get basic needs. As soon as a donation site is available I will post a link on this blog and on Twitter. Meanwhile, pray for Jen and count your blessings!

please vote for my picture

I entered a photo in the Big Hipstamatic Show contest, Heart of Iron. The theme is "Because love isn't always pretty."

Please click this link: http://hpstm.tc/2pbm and tweet and like my pic in Facebook.

Dropbox

Oh, wow, a double-post! This is also on my other blog: Getting Buy On Less

I don't just like saving money, I like saving time, too!
I take a lot of pictures with my iPhone. I like to share them on Twitter, Facebook, my blogs and my digital scrapbooks. I found a way to get those pics off my phone and into my laptop and my PC without a USB cord, thumb drive or disc!

I downloaded a FREE program called Dropbox. There is also a Dropbox app for my iPhone.  Basically, from my phone I just open the app, click "photo" and choose a picture to "drop" in the "box." Later, using either one of my computers, I just click on the Dropbox icon and a folder opens that contains everything in my box.

I can share files between computers very easily! I can even drag a file from the box to my Twitter client or Picasa on the web!

I have found other uses as well. I keep many recipes in my computer. I sometimes find a good one in a magazine, and after trying it out on the family I type it into my laptop. I used to have to copy the document to a thumb drive and carry it upstairs to my PC and copy it to my recipe folder there, but now I just drop it in my box and voila! I have all of my hundreds of recipes on both computers! I can start writing a blog post offline, and continue it on my other computer later.

There are zillions of uses for this FREE program that I can think of, and I'm not even in the business world! You can even share files with other people using Dropbox. Just click the link to get your own Dropbox.

I just have one question: Why didn't anybody tell me about Dropbox before?! :-D

Space Cow Episode

So my whole family is sick, my best friend is out with her family, and my tweeps are AWOL. What do I do for amusement?
Muahaha! I made a storyboard with my Hipstamatic App for iPhone! Look here: Space Cow Episode   
Just click the first pic to read the captions. Right arrow to advance.

How I Found Out My BFF Is a Nerd

 It was February 2005. We were at a Women of Faith convention with a bunch of gals from our church. We stayed an extra day and the two of us went out exploring. We went to the Harley Davidson Café, ate delicious BBQ and had a couple of cocktails, which made the endless loop of motorcycles circling on a dry-cleaners-like conveyor overhead seem almost cool. I figured now that she had her Harley fix, it was my turn to check out the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton that I had heard about, so we hopped on the monorail, headed for adventure.

When we exited the monorail, the path into the hotel led straight to the Space Quest Bar. This was my kind of decor! There were giant screens playing sci-fi movies above the space station themed casino, and even a neon-wrapped tube reminiscent of a warp core. We used the ladies room, where computer voices could be heard in the stalls and at the mirrors. Just outside the entrance to The Experience, the Borg Queen looked down upon us. 

The Enterprise D at Star Trek The Experience

Once inside we marveled at the huge ships suspended from the ceiling. We made our way along the illuminated timeline in the History of the Future Museum, beginning with the early 20th century, right on through the 25th.

We read every single word on that timeline. By the time we reached halfway I started crying. She asked me what was wrong and my answer was, “I can’t believe you are reading every word of this with me! Chicks don’t like this stuff!” Adjacent to the timeline were glass cases with costumes and props, each displayed as if they were historical artifacts. I was in Nerdvana. As we neared the torpedo casing that Spock was “buried” in, we spied a Borg scanning it. We got really and truly scared! (we had never seen Voyager before, and therefore the Borg were still the scariest things in the Universe to us) We even got scolded by a cast member for running when we skeeedaddled away from it. We protested, "But there's a Borg over there!!" Just then an old man ran past us fleeing from the same Borg. "See?!"

I don't remember which attraction we went to first, but I do remember this: While waiting in the queue for the Borg Invasion the woman next to Melissa pointed to the Borg figures on display (I swear they were really watching us!) and commented that she didn't understand any of it. She was there with her husband who loved Star Trek. Missy's reply to that was a full encyclopedic explanation of Borgdom! She gave this woman the entire synopsis of who, what, where and how the Borg fit into the Star Trek Universe. In the middle of all that I just burst out in laughter. Missy turned to ask me what I found so hysterical, and I answered, "You're a nerd!"  She agreed, "I guess you're right. We're both nerds!"  

I think it was one of the happiest days in my life.

We really got into the spirit of the attraction--perhaps a little too much, because one of the crew members ordered us shot. Haha..perhaps it was because I was yelling at them to just shoot the Borg! "What's the matter with you? Are your batteries dead?" I screamed at one crewman just as I threw an innocent bystander in front of me. We had the time of our lives, discovered something special about each other, and began a new chapter of our lives as Trekkies. 

Me & my BFF Melissa the morning after our first Star Trek Experience together.

Just one year later I talked her into going to our first Star Trek Convention. It was The Big One in Las Vegas, in the 40th anniversary year of the Original Series. That's another blog post....

My Frugal Blog has moved!

I've separated my frugal shopping blog from this site. Please follow this link for tips and reports from my shopping adventures: http://gettingbuyonless.blogspot.com/

Love, Love, Love My SoCal Trekkie Tweeps!

Saturday thirteen intrepid Twitterers converged on Riverside, CA for some Treknanigans.
The Star Trek Exhibition at the Riverside Municipal Museum was our excuse to meet, but we also enjoyed socializing at a few nearby establishments.

I carpooled to Riverside with my friends Melissa, Patsy and Stephanie. Being the overzealous overachiever that I am, we arrived an hour early. Our friend Chris was the next one to arrive, and he surprised us because we thought he wasn't coming! Little by little the rest of our group arrived: Mary, John, Brett, Ernie, Kurt, Jeff and Sonia. If all we did was hang out at the Coffee Bean all day, I would have been happy. Here were my Twitter buddies IN PERSON.  We played with our iPhone Tricorder apps, chatted and drank coffee until noon.

We walked to the museum where Helen was waiting for us, and then we all forked over our $15 to go inside.

The Exhibition itself was not that exciting. Melissa and I saw it a few years ago in Long Beach, and it was huge. At Long Beach there was a real bridge to be photographed on, a motion ride, a restaurant, and props and costumes from every franchise. Now the exhibit has been hacked up into little pieces and scattered across the country. What we saw in Riverside was probably 15% of what it once was. There were costumes and props, and a captain's chair in front of a green screen where you could spend $18 for a 5 x 7 photo of yourself.  There was a gift shop with inflated prices on old Trek toys and model ships, and most of us refrained from spending.

 Once we had ogled at the costumes and props enough, Helen left us and the rest hoofed down the street in search of lunch. We ate at  Crescent Jewell, a small restaurant with mostly Cajun selections on the menu. Everything from frickles to jambalaya to beignets were available. I think everyone was quite satisfied with their meal.

When lunch was finished, most of the group left, but six of us just couldn't say goodbye yet! We relaxed and chatted at the Presidential Bar at the Mission Inn for a spell. I think it was around 5:00 when us Escondido girls headed for home, blasting heavy metal music all the way down the 215 freeway.

I had a wonderful day and took lots of pictures with my iPhone. I'm still fumbling with the Hipstamatic app, but I did get some swell black and white shots. I only regret not taking more Incredibooth photo strip shots. I hope you enjoy them.

I joke that Twitter is ruining my social skills and shrinking my brain. I am known for saying that I even think in 140 characters at a time. I sometimes wake from a dream with Twitter friends in it, even if I've never met them in person.  I actually did put a hashtag in a handwritten thank you note last week. I spend too much time online (loving every minute) at the expense of all the piles of unfinished projects in my office. Despite all of that, I wouldn't trade my Tweeps for the world.  I would not know any of the people I spent the day with Saturday, with only three exceptions, without Twitter.We have met at conventions, restaurants, coffee shops, theme parks, and fairs, but all too infrequently.

Twitter is the place where we keep in touch, cheer each other up, and cheer each other on.

Follow me on Twitter if you like Star Trek,  Sci Fi, movies, birds, John Wayne, bacon, pickles or laughing! @starfleetmom