Driving For Lyft and Culinary Internships

Yep, I'm Lyfting part-time in between my internships.

Being a part of the Austin Lyft community has been great for me and my schedule. My first day of Lyfting was on Halloween and it was fun because I got to wear my Princess Leia costume and helped people get to their destinations safely. I left R2 behind for maintenance reasons.

I'm close to giving 100 rides and I'd like to give thanks to my friend Tiana for helping me get started. When I used her driver referral code we both got a great bonus! I had to give 50 rides in 30 days to get the bonus (it was easy).

If you haven't tried Lyft you should. It can come in handy when you don't feel like driving, if your car is in the shop, or whatever your situation is. There are plenty of Lyfters in Austin that can pick you up and get you to your destination. My husband and I went to see the Book of Mormon last night, and we didn't want to deal with driving or finding parking so we used Lyft. It was great!

Download the Lyft app and use my passenger code for a free ride. When you use my code I get $10.00! It's easy and convenient: YQKGPF

If you want to drive for Lyft here is my driver referral link:
https://www.lyft.com/drivers/RENA566924
When you use my driver code, depending on what city you live in, you can qualify for a driver bonus. Currently in Austin the bonus is $100.00. In other words, bonus amounts depend on the new driver's city.

I know it's been a while since I posted something to this blog, but I've been studying at The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts. I graduated this past September and I'm now working on my internships. I've got two of them and hope to be completely done before the year is over (fingers crossed!). If you are interested in reading about my culinary school adventures please head over to my other blog Vegan Charm! I've got 22 weeks of blog entries and lots of pictures of food to drool over :)

My next little adventure will be about taking a light saber class and I'll post a blog in a few days. I've got other fun stuff scheduled for 2016, but I'll announce that in January.

Thanks for stopping by!

What Have We Here?

Yep, it's really happening for us. We bought a rug!

Dirty Homes For Sale And Therapy Dogs

This afternoon I went with my real estate agent to look at a couple of houses for sale. The last house we visited was in a desirable neighborhood in Austin, TX and from the exterior of the house it was going to need some repairs.

As we pass the big ass SUV that's parked near the front door with a dog ramp coming out of it my realtor says oh they must have an old dog. I think nothing of it as we wait to be let in the house. I start looking around the front door area and notice a plaque with a picture of a German Shepherd. I say "Oh look they must like German Shepherds" because why else would you have a plaque of your dog at the front door?

The nice lady says hi and asks if we are "OK" with dogs. I don't respond, but my realtor says I don't mind dogs. I'm still thinking this will be fine and not to worry about the dogs. We go in and OMG it smells and the home is in early stages of hoarding and we-don't-give-a-shit. We were also told we couldn't go into the master bedroom/bath or another bedroom next to it. Why? Well because there are people in the bedroom sleeping and they are nude. These are "day-timers" the nice lady says.

We make our way to the hallway bathroom and there are signs. Signs to remind you to put the toilet seat down, which they ignore, and a sign to wash your hands. The lady suggests that the entire bathroom will need new fixtures. Really? New fixtures and a bulldozer perhaps.

Being the cook of my castle I ask about the kitchen. We head towards the living room and then I became frozen mid way between the hallway and the living room. I'm literally stuck because of the miniature pony sized German Shepherds that have come to greet my crotch. I had three HUGE dogs smelling my downtown and they loved it. For an added bonus one of them barked which was a call to the outside dog letting him know to come inside and smell the fresh pie that just arrived. The nice lady says "Oh they won't bite because they are therapy dogs." That didn't impress me at all so I ended the tour and I never got to see the kitchen. It just wasn't meant to be.

I googled therapy dogs and looking back all 4 of those dogs were well tempered and friendly. They were just being dogs and that's fine. I wish that the humans living there took better care of their environment. The house has potential, but it's been neglected and it really shouldn't be for sale (at least not right now). I think the dogs did me a favor by blocking my path. My scent must have given the therapy dogs insight into my personality which led them to keep me safe by not letting me see the horrors that were probably in the kitchen. One look into the dogs eyes showed compassion and it also said "Get out while you can!"

House hunting to be continued...

Standing Desks For Everyone!

In looking back at the earliest parts of my career (1997) I didn't have a desk. I was always on my feet running around, setting up equipment, prepping gear for the next film/video shoot, or striking the set. We, production folks, would share one computer that was either in a green room or some other common area. At the time having a desk wasn't something I thought about because my skills for that time were different and I didn't need a computer much less a desk. I was a camera operator and I enjoyed the work. Back where I worked you learned to do many jobs and wear different hats. So not only was I operating cameras I also did other non-sedentary jobs and it was great. It was like working out at the gym and getting paid to do it!

Then in 1999 my interests changed and I moved into the production management area. I was working as a production manager, associate producer, or production coordinator. All of these jobs were more sedentary and honestly I really liked the change and the work. It was mostly a mixed bag of working at my desk and then getting up throughout the day to follow up with the crew. So maybe it was 80% sitting at my desk and the other 20% was me out on the production floor with the crew. Those numbers fluctuated depending on what's going on at the time. 

Fast forward to December 2012 and I felt it was time for a change.  I had an opportunity at the studio where I work to setup a standing desk. I was part of a group that was moving into some newly acquired space and since my office was being moved I figured it was a good time to make this change and I'm glad I did. I kept the same desk, but I bought cinder blocks to give me the height I needed and I also bought a stool to sit on when I needed a break from the standing.

I'm still getting used to the standing and to be honest my thighs were sore that first week, but the soreness goes away. I'm glad I made this change and I feel more productive throughout the day. I really like it and I probably won't go back to sitting like I was before. 

Here are the things I bought for my standing desk:
4 cinder blocks (Lowes)
1 stool (Bed Bath & Beyond) it's behind my desk you can't see it (not the orange one in front of my desk)
1 gel mat (Bed Bath & Beyond)
Paint for cinder blocks (my producer actually bought some for me!)

This is a photo of my desk in case you are curious. I really dig the pink color on the cinders :)

ASMR | This is b a n a n a s

I just learned about autonomous sensory meridian response and this is HUGE on you tube and thanks to my well informed husband I found this video. It's called The ASMR Whispering Banana.

Basically these videos are recordings of people speaking in a very soft voice so that it makes you feel tingles in your head and it relaxes you. Some videos have people speaking in low voices with foreign accents and there are even videos with people crumbling paper...all to make you feel better.

I have to admit when I saw this banana video for the first time I got the giggles big time. I didn't even pay attention to what was being whispered because I was so amused by the banana face. The production value is good. Someone took the time and chroma keyed a face into this banana. This comment left on YT by BrombyDingus was my favorite "Annoying orange's more sensible and relaxed cousin. Well done banana."  Roll it:

And if you have any ideas on what the next inanimate object should be you can leave a comment on this person's you tube page. I think I'm going to request either a Japanese eggplant or some wheat grass.

Please let me know if Mr. Banana relaxes you. He's pretty easy going and wants to give you some peace and relaxation. So plug in your head phones and chill.

For more information about ASMR check out the following links:
ASMR
Reddit
Or just go to You Tube and search for "ASMR" and you will find a lot of videos.

Pirate101 game credit...that's me!

I'm happy to announce that I was added to the credits for our new game Pirate101. I'm listed under additional production (Rena Archer):

rena archer game credit

I assisted in supporting the producer and associate producer with various tasks since I started working at KingsIsle over a year ago. The Pirate team worked very hard and with long hours to get this game made. It has taken over two years to make this and we hope that our fans will enjoy it! If you have ever play Wizard101 I think you will enjoy Pirate101.

If you are interested in playing our game you can download it here: Pirate101.com

See you at Skull Island Pirate!

Waiting For Superman

Please take a moment and check out this trailer and make a pledge to see Waiting For Superman when it comes out.

I think it's time for a movement to improve our education system. Lots of kids in America are falling behind compared to other countries. I know we can do something to help. Let's start today by making a pledge to see this film when it is released this fall.



Thanks for your time :)