5.6 quake hits bay area

my family is safe and all is well. but i was worried.

ALUM ROCK, Calif. -- A moderate earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay area Tuesday night, but there was no immediate word on any damage or injuries.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and struck shortly after 8 p.m., about 9 miles northeast of San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The California Highway Patrol has received no reports of damage or injuries, spokesman Tom Marshall said.

Residents reported feeling the quake, which lasted about a minute, as far east as Sacramento and as far north as San Rafael, north of San Francisco.
The quake was centered in the foothills east of San Jose, not far from the home of the city's mayor, Chuck Reed. His home wasn't damaged, and he alerted staff members by text message only seconds after the rumblings began, said Reed's spokeswoman, Michelle McGurk.
The city hadn't received any reports of damage, McGurk said.
"Nothing so far. The mayor's fine. His home's fine, City Hall is fine," McGurk said. "We are getting assessments from city staff, and as soon as we know if there's any damage we'll be responding."
Rod Foo, a resident of south San Jose, about 10 miles from the epicenter, said everything in his house shook for several seconds, but the electricity never went out and his telephone was still working.
"I could hear it coming up the street before it hit the house," said Foo, a former reporter with the San Jose Mercury News. "I thought it was the kids messing around at first, then I felt the house shaking and I knew it was an earthquake. ... It was rattling for a long time and really loud."
Allison Guimard, 25, a technology executive who lives in Mountain View, about 18 miles west of the epicenter, said her china started shaking and she grabbed a dog. It was the first significant earthquake for she and her husband, Pierre, who moved here from New York six months ago.
"It felt like the apartment was rolling -- shaking and rolling," said Pierre Guimard, 25, a home entertainment installer. "Almost like a boat on the water."
A woman who lives in the Santa Teresa area, near Oakridge Mall said it shook her house. She said it felt like a hammer slammed into the house four times.
The house had many frames on the wall that swayed and were left askew, but no damage, she told NBC11. She also said the shaking created a wake in her swimming pool.
There were also reported of burst water pipes and some cracks in the walls in south San Jose.
Pacific Gas and Electric told NBC11 there were no power outages associated to the earthquake.
A NBC11 viewer from Manteca said they felt like someone kicked the back of their couch and their fireplace tools started swaying. Their daughter in Stockton said her furniture actually moved with her in it by the shaking.
Bay Area Rapid Transit trains were stopped for five minutes after the quake occurred, said BART spokesman Linton Johnson. Standard protocol for BART trains is to have the operators start running the trains again but only at half speed.
The operators will drive slowly while looking out the window for damage on the tracks, said Johnson.
Fire stations in San Francisco manually rolled up their garage doors as a precaution, NBC11 reported.

PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

stop stop stop using plastic bags when you buy groceries and shopping if you can. try to bring your own bags and re-use!!!

read this article and start action NOW!

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/10/plastic_bags/index1.html

cheers
b

Wednesday

i realized something a few minutes ago: life is really good right now. of course it can always be better. but, i really can't complain about anything. i mean, i know i can and i am sure i will find something to complain about, but really, i am in a peaceful state right now.

if you are reading this right now, please just take a second and reflect on what is good. you got out of bed this morning and you will get back into bed tonight. ......ohm.......ohm........ohm........

oh wait, i still don't have a damn cleaning lady. so i guess that would be something to b*tch about.

cheers
b

words of reflection

i received an email this morning from my friend in santa cruz about a neighbor who has cancer. there was a line that was in the email that moved me enough to share it with everyone:

"Cancer teaches us that living is a verb. It is an action word. Living is seeing, doing, feeling, saying, touching, smelling, tasting. It is climbing and it is occasionally falling. It is not a waiting word. Don’t wait to live until you have accomplished a desired outcome. Starting right now, grab every minute of living out of each and every day."

couldn't have more truth if it hit me in the face, which sometimes things have to.

have a great day.
b

YOU TOO can swear at work!

Thanks to Chris for sending this to me:

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=71188&in_page_id=2

He knows it works, I know it works. See for yourself honeys.

Cheers
b

i REALLY NEED HELP!

okay so i have lost yet another cleaning lady. i don't get it. maybe she got annoyed the last time i was working from home and she came to clean and i followed her around with a checklist. but i digress.

if anyone has a cleaning lady that they trust, speaks english, and will clean my apartment for $40 every three weeks, then let me know. many of you know that i like to clean before the cleaning lady comes. so it won't be a hard job - but i do have my list!

cheers
b

how agel are you?

so about amonth ago i got involved in a new network marketing venture. many of you know:

a) i like to network
b) i am a marketer

so, why not combine the two? thanks to my friend stacy and her fiance, we have joined forces to form our own business called AGEL Enterprise. we are independant reps for the company. think about AVON, Mary Kay, and whatever other kinds of products you have purchased in the past from a friend or a friend of a friend.

no, it's not a pyramid. it's not a scam. we are making real money from it. it's makes it easy when the product is fantastic and i use it everyday. the company has developed what is called "suspension gel technology" and has an entire line of supplements to promote good health. all natural ingrediants like "fucoidan" (google it and see for yourself), others have essential vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, natural energy, etc. there are even ones for your heart and joints (which i took after spin class last night!)

i am so impressed with the marketing of this company and being it is only two years old, i wanted to get it on it now rather than later since i always "miss the boat" on opportunity.

i welcome you to visit www.agel.com and view the product line. the company launched this week a line of skin care products! i am anxiously awaiting my shipment. the stuff is going to blow anything on the market out of the water.

if you are interested in trying the products, want to join me in the opportunity, or just have questions, contact me today. it's worth the time to look into. if you know me then you know i am not a "fly by night" type of person and being entrepreneurial, i am always looking for new opportunity.

have a great day!
b

I am 30!!!!!!!!!!

Clearly i must be aging fast if it's taking me over a week to write about my bday. be sure to see the link to the photos below. they are pretty funny and if were one of the surprisingly many who showed up to, well, surprise me then you will enjoy them.

Stacy rolled into town on Friday (when I made my last post). We had our kick off business reception at the house and it went very well. Thank you to those who attended. If you did not attend and would like to know what I am referring to, send an email to: brandon@bgdcreative.com and reference "more info on PBR"

That evening we cruised down to Fred 62's with RIO, Jenni and Stacy's old roommate. Had a good time. IT WAS POURING DOWN RAIN! When I say POURING, I mean POURING!!!

Saturday morning Stacy and Robin took me to the San Antonio Winery for a lovely brunch and wine tasting. That place is so beautiful! Wine isn't too bad either. Of course I bought some...

That afternoon I was told that I can sit at home and await the next surprise or sit with a blind fold in the car. I decided to go with Robin to Solar's 1 year bday. This little girl is ALMOST as cute as baby Wyla, almost. We had a grand time munching on cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches and enjoying a lovely Australian red.

I got home at 6 pm. Had 90 minutes to get ready for dinner. Stacy called me from the car as she was pulling into the driveway (i need my garage opener back honey), and surprised me yet again. The trunk was full of luggage. Next thing I know, my friend Liz comes out to shout "SURPRISE!" I was so happy to see her. She moved to Nashville a couple of years ago and have only seen her a couple of times since then. She looks fabulous and it was truly a great surprise.

After that subsided we got dolled up for dinner at the Dresden, but not without cracking open a bottle. I just love that place. I can go there every night. The restaurant is great although on this particular evening the food was sub-par. Robin, Jenni, Stacy and Liz and I had a great time at dinner. We spent a lot of time talking about Liz's match.com dates over the years. It's a shame I never put my friend Erica in Newport and Liz together when she lived in Huntington Beach. What a loss. They are one in the same.

Anyway, slowly but surely (to my surprise), friends started showing up at the Dresden, just as we were finishing dinner! Imagine running into a lot of your friends like that. Well, SURPRISE! A party got started. We moved into the lounge to take in some Marty and Elaine. It was great to see so many people I hadn't seen in a long time. Everyone looked great, as did I. RIO dropped me off home at the end of the night and was safely snoring by 2:30.

Sunday morning (my actual birthday), Taku came and picked up Liz, Stacy and I and we had a fabulous brunch at the Edendale. Crabcakes benedict. I was happy as dinners there haven't proven worthy, except when we went for KLowe's a couple of weeks earlier. After brunch we went to see WICKED at the Pantages. Best show ever. I feel like I can say that as I go to the thearte and take in several events a month. I just loved it. After the show we went to the El Coyote. I threw one down for Pamela and Cheryl met us there for a couple of house margs.

It was then home again as we were a little tired. Taku came over to join Stacy and I in some sprinkles (say it like Jesse Bethune), cupcakes. We ate six out of seven. Shortly after that I was asleep on my usual makeshift bed (the sofa). Stacy followed suit and we were done for the night.

It really was a great bday. One of the best ever. I wished Taku would have been at the party Saturday night as I know he worked really hard with Stacy to plan it. But I hope he knows it was the best because of him.

I love you all and thank you for making getting older such an amazing time. Check out some of the pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76228047@N00/sets/72157602233391833. Once I get the others from the weekend I will try to get them up.

Enjoy and ciao for now!
b