And his accomplice is named Fusilli Jerry

From today's Seattle Times:

"Man Hands Bandit" strikes in Seattle

The "Man Hands Bandit" has struck again — and this time in Seattle.

According to FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs, the robber who disguises himself by dressing as a woman and wearing a black wig entered a Wells Fargo Bank in the 14500 block of Greenwood Avenue North at 9:48 a.m. today.

He used a note and did not make threats or display a gun, Burroughs said.

The robbery is thought to be the man's third.

The first was at the Kitsap County Credit Union in Poulsbo April 13; the second at the 1st Security Bank in Edmonds April 20.

He is described as a white man, about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 206-622-0460.

The nickname comes from an episode of the comedy series "Seinfeld," in which the character played by Jerry Seinfeld displays dismay about dating an otherwise attractive woman who has big "man hands."

Thievery!

So last night I was checking out our credit card statement online, as I am wont to do each evening, lest the budget go awry. Imagine my surprise to see a $1398 pending charge from some company called Reliable Solar K. This was following a $1 pending charge from Apple iTunes. After checking with Jay to make sure he didn't make some weird large purchase, I called the card company. Turns out that it is quite common to see a fraudulent charge from Apple for $1 or $2 just to make sure the card number is valid, and then the large charge.

Luckily, I caught it before it was put through, and the card company cancelled my account and reissued new cards right away. Now I just have to go through the hassle of changing all of my automatic bill payments (we put everything on the credit card to get the miles, and then pay it off weekly). What a bummer.

I post this as a cautionary tale for any of you using credit cards to keep an eye out for some very small charges that you don't remember making - it could be a harbinger of bad tidings!

Birfday and stuff

Yesterday was Megan's 24th birthday. Wow....right? She requested tuna noodle casserole for dinner, so that's what we had along with teriyaki chicken salad and warm bread. I made a fairy castle cake for dessert. Ayla came for dinner and Carmel came for cake and then we all played games afterwards for a few hours. It was a fun evening, very low key.

Tonight Jason and I are going to Unwigged & Unplugged, kind of a Spinal Tap reunion tour with some Folksmen stuff thrown in. We're going to meet downtown for dinner at the Dragonfish Cafe first and then on to the show. I'm watching A Mighty Wind right now in preparation :-).

The weekend here was beautiful so we took advantage to do some yard work and clean the house and do a little shopping. I'm hoping that this change in the weather is somewhat permanent now and that we will really start to warm up a bit. If not, I still have San Diego in June to look forward to! I talked to Krispy yesterday and they are happy to be back and looking for someplace to settle in. I can't wait to go and visit and check the city out.

Happy Easter

Oooof. We just got done with Easter dinner and I am so full. We had pineapple and ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, peas, and rolls with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Last year at this time I was in Austin and Jay and the girls had an Easter meal courtesy of QFC. This year I got to cook, but it was pretty easy and I haven't been cooking much so I didn't mind.

Kelsey is now working on her first English 101 college paper, Jason is working on his laptop, Megan is getting ready for work, and I'm just chillaxing. It's rainy out and we did all of our walking and running around yesterday so today is for inside stuff. I think I might eventually get up and do some cleaning, but maybe I'll save that for tomorrow. I like having Mondays off, because then Sunday doesn't have that sad back to work feeling.

We're in the process of looking for new dining room chairs, but holy cow! I can't believe how expensive the ones we've seen so far are! It's just totally insane how much manufacturers want for one freakin' dining room chair! I think it's a big rip off industry, that's what I think. I'm turning to the internets to find something cheaper. It'll be a while I think until we get some new ones. We're also on the lookout for some new stand lights for the living room. I'll keep everyone posted :-)

Sunny Day...Chasing the Blues Away

What an awesome weekend we've had in Seattle. The weather was fantastic, around 69 and beautifully sunny. On Saturday we picked the girls up at the airport and then Jay and I went to Blu Water Cafe to have some brunch. We had invited the girls but they were tired and didn't want to go.

The Blu Water is one of those reasons why I love living here. It's just a funky little restaurant right on Green Lake, and like most restaurants here they throw open all of the windows and doors on sunny days and they put lots of tables outside and everyone just enjoys being outside and getting some fresh air. Plus, they had sent us a $20 gift card to come and eat there, so our delicious brunch, including mimosas, cost us only $13 plus tip. We got home early enough to do some yard work so we got the grass cut for the first time this season.

Today we got up really early, thanks to the beagles of course. Decided to stay up and take advantage of the great weather. So we headed to the grocery store, and then we walked the dogs down to and around Green Lake. Boy, was that place crowded! So many people and dogs everywhere! But it was a great walk and the dogs were tired out. I made some wonderfully delicious french toast ala' Alton Brown for dinner to wind up our weekend. I have another day tomorrow to enjoy the sun because it's supposed to be even nicer then. Too bad Jason has to go back to work. I think I'll head to Green Lake again for another nice walk.

1st Week Done

My first week at my new site is over. Boy is it ever different than the last place I was. They are so busy....there are patients scheduled literally every 45 minutes from 7 am until 7 pm. They bring someone in around 12 to cover while people grab a quick something to eat, but many times the sonographers only get a break for a few minutes. Nothing like working at the hospital, where there was often lots of waiting time for your next patient.

So far they're not really letting me scan whole exams because I'm still too slow. They give me like 20 minutes to get as much done as I can and then they take over. I did manage to do a renal exam in my allotted time, and last night for my last patient of the week I did a whole abdomen in 30 minutes which was amazingly zippy for me. The patient scanned like a dream which made it fast, but there was also some pathology to note so it's not like it was totally easy.

Anyway, I'm trying to get used to this new pace and new environment. They were nice enough to change my hours so I work now 8:30 - 7 instead of 7 - 5:30. That lets me sleep in a little more in the morning which is awesome and the traffic is not bad either coming or going. Still takes me about 25 minutes to drive it, but it's not horrible.

The girls are coming home today! Yay for that, because I've really missed them this last week. It'll be good to have everyone home again.