Calculators + Penthouses

I pulled up one of the mortgage calculators on the interwebs to see how much house I could, in theory, afford. I do this every once in a while to a) dream and b) marvel at how crazy banks are for wanting to give me too much money. The last time I did this little entertainment exercise was about 2004 and banks were throwing high sums at these calculators (that approach worked out really well).

So, I was curious to see if the numbers were more conservative now. I entered the basics, clicked calculate, and my eyes popped out. I placed my finger on the screen and started counting decimal places. Something was way wrong. The banks were crazier than ever. Oh wait. . . I entered yearly income on the monthly income line. Yup, that would do it.

What was even more eye opening, is a friend shared this website which advertises a Brooklyn penthouse for the tidy little sum of 25 million. Um, so if I made my yearly income every month that penthouse would still be a stretch. This really brought home the whole concept of wealthy for me. Holy cow, how much do some folks pull in on a weekly basis?! I probably shouldn't think about this before work!

Trials & Tribulations of Seeking New Tunes

So, the past few weeks I have been on a crusade to find some new music. My multi-tiered approach includes catching up on Sound Opinions episodes, listening to KEXP song-of-the-day downloads, and asking friends what they are digging at the moment. I heard a song by the band Fruit Bats and liked it okay. I went onto emusic to see if they had an album that I could listen to snippets of and perhaps purchase.

I enter "Fruit Bats" into the search and got a hit for the artist, so I check it out. I notice the album title is in French, and translates to African Savana. I didn't think the band was international, but whatever. I click play and hear ambient sound -- very Flaming Lips, but a band isn't jumping in. . .

Oh wait.

This is a recording of the sounds of the wildlife in the African Savana. Fruit Bats are indeed performing on this album, but as a species not as a band.

Gin+ Tonic = Injury

Blog muse, neighbor, and good friend Sara has a wrist injury. I was quizzing her as to whether she should get worker's comp. since it is probably carpal tunnel and thus a result of repetitive stress. Her response, "Pretty much at this point, I am looking for anyone to blame." This evolved into her telling me I am at fault because "your drinks are too heavy and your ice cream is too hard." Clearly I am causing her wrist injury via the harsh methods of southern hospitality including offering gin + tonic with ice cream for dessert. . .

I should start being rude and stop offering any refreshments. . . Except I don't think my genetics will allow such behavior. I am encoded to offer food and beverage. Can't help myself!

San Miguel de Allende - Mexico

So, I deserve a pat on the back today. It is a major feat that I am back today. Just check out where I was staying!

Walking up the driveway to Casa Ojo de Agua:

My balcony view:
Last, but certainly not least, as you walked into the front door the wall opposite was floor to ceiling sliding glass doors overlooking "our" infinity pool, patio, and gardens.

Do you see why it might be considered miraculous I am back and up for work this morning?!?

Tequila

Tequila has not been the drink of choice at the Thompson household -- that would be tea (either hot or cold, we live on the wild side). Let me clarify. Alcohol has never been something my parents particularly like. They will try a little wine occasionally, but rarely go back for more. This year was the first time I gave my dad a beer and he liked it enough to finish it- Woo hoo!

So when I was traveling with the esteemed parentals in Mexico I did not expect any renditions of Parents Gone Wild. Sure we planned to take taxis back "home" from different wedding festivities, but that was just because we didn't have a car, right?!

Oh, the crazy mountain air of central Mexico got to the padres. Pictured here you can see the three of us taking a shot of tequila! I was so proud and slightly dumbfounded. They didn't go back for more shots of tequila, but this means I've now taken both tequila (San Miguel de Allende) and vodka (Moscow) shots with the RoPeg! What country will we go to for our next shot?

Australia Restricts Drinking

Say what? NPR told me this morning that Australia is restricting drinking?!

That is just crazy talk.

What has the world come to?

But then I heard the details.

Bathhurst, Australia hosts a car race where the spectators have evidently been getting a bit too rowdy in their drunkenness. The answer? Clearly, some daily consumption limits needed to be put into place. Now each person can only consume 24 cans of beer or 4 liters of wine. Now that is going to reduce drunkenness for sure.

Just going to set the record, if I ever get married in Australia I will not be paying for all you people to have open bar. I repeat, no open bar if I'm in Australia!

Echoes

You may already know that I heart RadioLab. This week while walking, I've been catching up on my podcasts and on my learnin'. On RadioLab's After Birth podcast they were discussing with a developmental psychologist, Charles Fernyhough, how babies see/sense the world. What is an infant experiencing? One hypothesis on the auditory experience is that babies hear echoes. The brain has to develop the ability to screen out the echoes and only hear a voice or a sound once. I thought this was an interesting idea, but received greater insight today.

My co-worker, Candy, and I were conducting a webinar. She was on her phone and I was on mine in the cubicle right next door. This meant that as she spoke I heard her in both ears, but with a tiny time delay for the phone ear. All I could think was, "No wonder babies sleep all the time. This whole sorting through echoes thing is EXHAUSTING."

Made me curious about the book written by Mr. Fernyhough himself, called A Thousand Days of Wonder. Anybody read it?