How to Change the Plastic Housing for the Water Filter System

Walking back after I dropped off my son at school this morning, I heard a hissing sound when I reached the front of my house. I went on to investigate the peculiar sound. As I was walking towards the side of my house, I noticed the lawn area was wet and then I saw water spraying out from the water filter. On a closer look, there was a tiny crack on the water filter plastic case.

So many things going through my mind at the moment.

"Oh, what should I do?" "Should I call the plumber?" "How long I have to wait for one to come over?" "Should I call my husband? But he is out of town. He can't help" "What should I do??"

I slowly calmed down and thought about it. I called up the place where I ordered the water filter system. Fortunately, their office is located in Santa Ana, not too far away. I spoke to Tai from Isopure Water. He was very helpful. He told me I can drive over to pick up the water filter housing. He gave me the address. I turned off the main water valve and then disassembled the water filter.

Took me about 30 minutes to get to Tai's office. He showed me the different casings he has and because my water filter was specially put together by my water filter professional with some phosphate beads to reduce the hardness of the water, Tai suggested another setup for that water filter.

I was in his office for 20 minutes and then I was on my way home. And in another 15 minutes I replaced the water filter housing. Turned on the main water valve. No more water leaking! We can continue to use the water in the house. I couldn't believe that I did it without help from anyone else.


Isopure Water 515 N. Fairview St., Santa Ana, CA 92703 714-541-6600

Poaching for Wild Ginseng

I just read an article in the Los Angeles Times this past Sunday titled, 'Wild Ginseng Walking Out Of The Park'. Surely enough, the title sounded very interesting to me. How can ginseng walk? Well, it can't actually walk of course, but instead some poachers have been stealing them out of the National Parks. They were found by the Park Rangers and were arrested.

Firstly, I didn't know there are wild ginseng can be found in the National Parks in United States and secondly, the poachers are Americans (I would think they are illegal Asians hired to do the job).

Wild ginseng has been a precious commodity in Asia as it is believed to be a folk medicine that give energy, improve health and prolong your life. The prices of wild ginseng can fetch up to over $1000 a pound. Asians prefer this wild ginseng compared to the cultivated alternative. I've heard that the cultivate ginseng are mostly farmed in Wisconsin.

Here are the few states in the Eastern of US that you may find wild ginseng growing in the shaded hilly area: North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia. Many years ago, mountain people around Smoky Mountain was believe to harvest and grow ginseng in their home gardens and use it for tea and tonic. Today, some still can legally harvest the wild ginseng but with a permit. The permit allows the person to harvest up to 3 wet pounds of ginseng during the first two weeks in September.

The wild ginseng plants are depleting from the National Parks due to poaching. According to the article, many years ago, 25 roots would make a pound. But now, you will have to find 100 roots to make a pound. Only smaller and younger ginseng plants are left.

Poachers who were arrested are fined $10 a root restitution fee and jailed (14-120 days). After they were released from the jail, most of the hard core poachers will return to the parks again to look for more wild ginseng. The money is just too good.

Tired Hands

After a long 6 weeks vacation whereby I do not need to pick up my hand to wash any dishes, now I am back to the chores again at my very own sweet home.

First time doing a huge load of dishes since I got home was not fun. My hands got really tired as I was washing the dishes and I was thinking of quitting and have my husband finishes the rest of them when he comes home. But then again, I didn't stop, I continued on and finished washing all of them. If I don't do it more often, I will not get use to it.

But most importantly, I can't stand the sight of dirty dishes in the sink/counter top waiting to be washed. I have this so call OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and if you are one, you will know what I mean.

Here are my clean dishes drying on the dish rack above my sink.

Lunch at The Crab Cooker Tustin

It is Father's Day and we weren't sure where to go for lunch because we knew that most places would be packed! In the end, we decided to pop by The Crab Cooker in Tustin. The restaurant has two large seating areas and hopefully they were not too crowded.

When we arrived, there were many cars parked outside, but there was no line. We got seated immediately. When our waitress came to greet us, we quickly ordered our favorite 'red' clam chowder, 2 bowls! Then we took our time to look through their menu. They usually have a special item in the menu. Today, it was the Halibut ($15.95). I ordered the lunch plate for that. And Alan ordered the combination plate (shrimp/scallop/fish on a skewer). Lunch and dinner plate comes with a choice of rice pilaf or Romano potatoes, and coleslaw or sliced tomatoes. We also placed an order of fried squid for appetizer.

Our soup arrived in their paper bowls as we placed our lunch order. Brandon was busy dipping his bread sticks into his soup and sipping along. Let me tell you, the concept of this restaurant is simple. They don't even want to bother with the dishes so they use environmental friendly paper plates and biodegradable plastic cups. It is not a posh high end seafood restaurant. But we like their seafood dishes. Their prices are reasonable, between $12-$42 (Alaskan King Crab) for a lunch combo. Lunch is served until 4:30pm except Sunday.

 

This is my first time doing a self recorded video. I am still trying to get use to it. Let me know what you think of this video and what improvement I need to make it better. Thanks!

WiiTalk: Brunch at Bruxie

WiiTalk is a mommy group which I attend almost every other Friday. We gather, we talk, we eat, we discuss ... we enjoy lives.

Today, we went to Bruxie at Old Town Orange for brunch. This is the first time for many of us (but not me) to try this. This place serves waffles in all their menu. We got there around 9:30am and it was just opened. There were a few people in the line already. We ordered 3 savory and 1 sweet waffles.

We divided each waffle into 6 so each of us get to try at least one of each different item. I personally really like the Hot Pastrami Waffle and the Creme Brulee. They are really good.

Here is a group picture of us ... without me, because I am behind the camera.  Sorry, the food were all gone by the time this picture was taken.

After brunch, we had a stroll down the Old Town Orange streets enjoying the antique shops. Another friend and I left early while the rest of us continued on with more shops.