soopahviv.net/blog

July 09, 2008 / Wednesday

Russian Sushi?

One of my coworkers who just returned from a weeks-long trip to St. Petersburg stopped by my cube today to see if she could help with any questions before I left. I asked about food near the apartment where I'll be staying, and she said that there were a surprising number of sushi restaurants in the area. She added that they stay open until 2 AM (it stays light out there until *very* late right now), which I found super duper uber awesome.

My curiosity piqued, I located the apartment on Google Maps and searched for nearby sushi. It looks like I'm going to be surrounded by it!

I wonder whether they use Japanese seafood terms there. If I say "unagi" will they know that I want eel, or or will I have to say угорь?

I shall find out and report back.

05:59 PM | Trips| Comments (1)

July 05, 2008 / Saturday

Online Brain Has Missing Record Oh Noes

After doing an extensive search of my blog, I realized that I did a backpacking (yes, backpacking, not car camping) trip in Yosemite five years ago this weekend and I NEGLECTED TO BLOG ABOUT IT.

WTF, me?

Okay, let me recap what I still remember.

• I decided that trip that I didn't like schlepping 30+ pounds of gear for miles and miles. It hurts.
• That game where you take turns naming famous people based on some letter rules to get your mind off the pain of schlepping 30+ pounds of gear for miles and miles.
• People got eaten alive by mosquitoes, except for those of us with 98% DEET.
• The DEET melted the paint off my Nalgene bottle.
• I have no idea where that Nalgene bottle is now.
• Putting snow in my hat 'cause it was hot out.
• A bazillion dead mosquitoes in the car when we got back.
• The proper thing to say when enjoying the view at the top of a mountain you worked really hard to get to the top of: "You can't drive to this!"
• I thought that at Trail Crest earlier this week.
• Woops, wrong trip.

There, I have now (partially) righted this wrong.

09:23 PM | Hike:Trips| Comments (1)

Mt. Whitney Trip

After months of planning and training, we finally made the trip to Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States at 14,496 feet. Did we make it? I'm not telling. At least not until later.

Sunday - Off To Whitney Portal

Got off to a rough start on Sunday when I woke up at 9:19 and was told that our departure time had been moved up from noon to 10 AM. I was NOT PLEASED. Come to think of it, I'm still not pleased, but I have a lot to write, so I'll just pretend I'm pleased now and move on.

Blew through everything I had left to do, loaded up the car, stopped at TJ's so Aaron could pick up some trail mix, arrived at Loren and Esther's, loaded up the truck, and headed out around 10:30. We stopped for lunch at Quizno's, a bunch of times in Yosemite for pictures, and finally at the Eastern Sierra InterAgency Visitor Center in Lone Pine at 5:52, 8 minutes before closing.

At the visitor center, we picked up our wilderness permits, got some advice on nice day hikes in the area, and waved goodbye to modern plumbing. I also grabbed a pamphlet about abandoned mines and how they harbor radioactive mountain lions with hantavirus, explosives, and deadly gases. Or was it that the mountain lions release explosive deadly gases? In any case, they made it sound dangerous. Mission accomplished.

We bought some firewood in Lone Pine and drove up (and up, and up) Whitney Portal Road, which, as the name suggests, took us to the Whitney Portal Campground. The campsites were decent: each site had parking for two cars, a table, a fire pit, a bear locker, and room for at least two tents. The hole in the ground toilets were fairly clean as far as hole in the ground toilets go, and there was a nice stream nearby to wash off (a bit) in. The only downside was that we were near the campground hosts, who deemed themselves exempt from Quiet Hours and ran their loud freakin' generator every night between the hours of 9 PM and 2 AM.

Public service announcement for the people of the internet: the host is located between camp 37 and the restroom to its right on this here giant map. Best to camp away from there, or bring earplugs if you can't, because if you decide to go and complain about the noise, the host with the handlebar mustache will answer and quite possibly knock your fuckin' head off. His words.

Set up camp, cooked some kabobs over the fire, ate, cleaned up, put earplugs in, and went to sleep to the sound of muffled generator hum.

Monday - John Muir Wilderness Acclimation Hike

Woke up at 8 something thinking it was Sunday. Had some pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausages for breakfast, then headed out for a hike along the Cottonwood Lakes Trail. If I remember correctly, we ended up doing an out and back ~9 mile hike from around 10,000 feet to 11,000 feet. We hiked until we reached Muir Lake, which was super pretty. We ate lunch there before turning back.

On the drive back to Whitney Portal, we stopped and played on the rocks at Alabama Hills. Lots of scrambling and a bit of bouldering for those of us who were so inclined. Much fun.

After a run to the store in Lone Pine for ice and baby wipes (they didn't sell Wet Ones), we headed back to camp for a fajita dinner. Yummy. I should make these more often at home. :)

Bedtime was kind of rough. Everyone retired early, I wasn't one bit sleepy, and all I could think about was how much I wanted a shower. My Snoopy baby wipes were no match for sunblock, bug repellent, and sweat.

The generator came on, my earplugs went in, and eventually I fell asleep.

Tuesday - Rest Day

Since we had gone to bed pretty early the night before, we got up with the sun just a little after 6 AM. Breakfast was omelets, hash browns, bacon, and sausage, followed by a few hours of downtime. I read a bit about St. Petersburg and learned that (1) I can't drink the tap water there (2) I should bring my bottle of 98% DEET and (3) there are random uncovered holes in the ground that I could fall into. Gee, that really makes me look forward to my trip there later this month!

Around 11, we hiked up along the stream to Whitney Portal Trailhead to see if we could find some ice cream at the Portal Store. The trail was quite nice, and while the store had no ice cream, it had a good assortment of touristy items and hiking essentials.

We returned to camp for a make-your-own pasta salad lunch. This was followed by more downtime, which led to boredom, which caused me to gather and pile rocks near our campsite, which led to the creation of a new game: stack rocks, knock over rocks, keep score, repeat.

Dinnertime came and we had salad, pasta, and garlic bread, followed by s'mores for dessert. I roasted two marshmallows not realizing that only one was needed for a s'more, and ended up making a double decker. I foolishly ate the entire thing and promptly felt sick.

We made sandwiches for the next day and went to bed before dark. Early start tomorrow.

Wednesday - The Big Day

I had set my alarm for 3 but forgotten to turn it on. No matter; I woke up at 2:58 and counted down the seconds before waking Aaron up and turning on the light. We grabbed our stuff, drove up to the trailhead, and weighed our packs. Esther's weighed in at a whopping 20 pounds, Loren's at 18, and mine and Aaron's at 14. I had room, so I took a Gatorade and a couple other items from Esther to help distribute the load. I reweighed my pack: 16.5 pounds. We started on up the trail around 3:50.

I thought about those 16.5 pounds in the first half hour of the hike. It was noticeable and heavy. I thought about how my weight now including the pack was still slightly less than my weight at the end of my first semester of college. (Way too much cafeteria mystery meat.) I remembered that I couldn't run down the block without getting winded back then. I wasn't fat, but I was soft, full of useless weight. Now, not so much. I much prefer now to then.

We hiked, ate, and when the sun started to come up, took pictures and admired the views. We made decent time to Trail Camp, where we stopped to eat, filter water, and use the "facilities" (i.e. duck behind a remote rock). This was at 12,000 feet, and for the most part, everyone felt okay. I didn't have a huge appetite, but I did manage to finish my breakfast bagel and some trail mix.

Next up were "the switchbacks". Forget all those other switchbacks we took to get up to Trail Camp; the 96 switchbacks from here up to Trail Crest were the real deal. They're known to be tough, and they lived up to their name, especially when we got about halfway up. That's when the altitude started getting to some of us. Esther's head started hurting, so she took an Aleve. I was feeling slightly nauseated, but not too bad other than that. Our pace slowed way down and we took lots of rests, but we eventually made it to Trail Crest, at 13,600 feet. The view up here, my gosh, it was amazing. We could see over both sides of the mountain.

By this time, Esther was feeling really ill, and we stopped for a long time here to try to convince her to turn back. (I volunteered to descend with her, since I was second in line in terms of people illin'.) Her head was pounding and she couldn't hold down water or food. She refused to quit, though, and, feeling slightly better after emptying her stomach, chose to push on.

There's a bit of a descent before resuming the climb on the final stretch of trail to the summit. We made it down, then back up a ways, before stopping again. We could see the summit from where we were, but Esther felt horrible. She really didn't want to, but after much debate decided she had to turn back. She had really fought hard to get to this point; I have much respect for her "no quit" attitude.

I was feeling tired but mostly okay at this point, so Aaron and I pushed on toward the summit. We were running behind schedule, and I tried to go faster to make it to the top before our turnaround time. In retrospect, I think this really did me in. It wasn't long before I had trouble putting one foot in front of the other, felt sick to my stomach, and wobbled with lightheadedness on the jagged rocky trail with steep drops on both sides. About half a mile from the summit, I stopped to rest.

While I forced down an energy bar, Aaron kept looking at the summit and saying, "It's so far. Look at how small the people are up there." He was nervous about time, too. I asked him if he wanted to turn back but he couldn't decide. Finally, I decided. I knew I could eventually make it up there, but I wasn't sure that if I did I would be able to make it back. Dying at the summit wasn't exactly what I was trying to achieve, so there it was: we were turning back.

Remember the short descent from Trail Crest heading toward the summit? The ascent on the way back was more difficult than anything else that day. I stopped several times simply because I couldn't walk anymore, and each time I wanted to just lie down and sleep. That said, the thought of sleep scared the hell out of me, because I was afraid I'd never wake up again. That's how crappy I felt.

We eventually did make it back to Trail Crest, but the descent on the other side was no easier. While I could see okay, I couldn't process what I was seeing. My brain simply didn't have the facilities to decide where to put my feet. That, and I couldn't move very fast. (I handed Aaron an Aleve at some point, and even though I was trying as hard as I could to move my arm, watching myself hand over the pills was like watching a clip in slow motion.) I really wanted to throw up but forced myself not to; I didn't want to lose what little fluid I had in me.

After what felt like an eternity, we made it back to Trail Camp. Aaron stopped to eat while I just laid down and closed my eyes. I needed to eat, but couldn't. As we started moving again, I got a Hammer Gel from Aaron. It probably took me 15 minutes to eat.

With more oxygen and some calories in me, I started to reanimate. As we neared 11,500 feet, I picked up the pace and we booked it on down the mountain. My feet were really starting to hurt, but I really wanted to get back to camp, now that I finally believed that we were going to make it back. I'm usually very careful on trails because my ankles are prone to twists and sprains, but with my brain working again I focused hard and bounded from rock to drop to rock all the way down. I didn't even bother to slow down at creek crossings, though I did pause every couple minutes for Aaron to close the gap. How strange; I'm usually the one left behind wondering where the hell he went.

Just after 7:30, we made it back to the parking lot, where Loren and Esther were waiting for us in the truck. Total time on the trail: 15 hours, 45 minutes. We missed burgers at the Portal Store by 10 minutes, but managed to pick up some cold drinks before they closed. My feet hurt so badly I could barely walk, but I was happy to be off the mountain.

Back at camp, Aaron convinced me to eat some leftover pasta salad. It tasted blech, but I don't think anything would have tasted decent at that point. Cleaned up a bit and went to bed. It took me forever to fall asleep because my feet were throbbing, but eventually I did.

It was a long, tough day, but I did get a few positives out of it. For one thing, I got a lot better at using my poles (plant, push, balance, swing), conserving energy (smaller paces and picking intermediate stones to step up on), and maintaining momentum on the downhill (pick your steps ahead of time and just flow). For another, I really dig my gear. I have nothing but good things to say about my Leki poles, Gregory Z30 pack, Petzl headlamp, REI Sahara pants, and UA HeatGear long sleeve. Oh, and my Neutrogena spray on SPF 70 sunblock rocked. It smells nice, it's light, and I barely tanned, despite spending hours up there with the super strong sun.

Since I didn't make it to the top, I didn't get to look for the geocache at the summit. But I when I do make it, I will leave something damned good for the next finder.

What's that? I didn't suffer enough? I want to do this again? No, not this exactly. When I do it again, I want to reach the summit. Just so I know that I can.

Thursday - The Drive Back Home

Woke up around 7, ate some cereal, packed up, and loaded up the truck. We stopped by the visitor center in Lone Pine so Loren and Esther could check out some climbing books. MODERN PLUMBING, I'VE MISSED YOU SO. I used plenty of soap to wash my hands and spent the next hour huffing soapy goodness off them every few minutes.

When we reached Bishop, we made a detour to check out Buttermilks, a bouldering spot about 15 minutes outside of town. After that, we stopped at a pizza place in town for lunch.

After lunch, we continued on until the Mammoth Lakes area, when Loren remembered some nearby hot springs he had visited a few years back. We figured something so close to us while so far away from home was worth visiting, so we made a detour to check that out too. The plan was to jump in (carefully) and wash off a bit, but when we got there we found out that the hot springs had been closed for a couple years now due to "increased geothermal activity". Still, it was pretty cool to see the bubbly water and learn about what makes it hot. There were a couple guys there who had intended to go in the water, but after stepping in they found it was hotter than expected and thought better of it.

Back in the truck we went, and headed for Yosemite. We didn't make nearly as many stops as we did on our way out on Sunday, but we did pull off at Olmsted Point for a few pictures.

After Yosemite, we made one more stop for dinner at Rubio's, and then it was back to Loren and Esther's, where we grabbed all our stuff from the truck and booked it on home.

The Wrap-up

Dangit, we didn't make it to the top. Still, I'm glad for the experience. I'm also glad I didn't get stuck on the trail at 14,000 feet. I slept 12 hours the night we returned, and spent all of July 4th at home processing pictures and feeling terrible. My nose wouldn't stop running and my stomach felt queasy the entire day. Today, I feel a little better, but my stomach still doesn't want food. Not sure what's going on, but I'm making myself eat anyhow.

Tomorrow, I hope to feel better so I can go mountain biking. :)

And of course, pictures to go with this post. Here are my and Aaron's Flickr sets for this trip.

04:08 PM | Hike:Trips| Comments (7)

March 10, 2008 / Monday

Solvang Half Century & Central Coast Trip

Lots to write about from this weekend: sunset creaminess, Hearst Castle amazingness, central coast prettiness, Solvang kitschiness, and my first half century ride. In reverse order. And now, below, in chronological order.

Friday afternoon, we set out to sit in 101 traffic. Getting out of the Bay Area on a Friday sucks! Things cleared up once we got past San Jose, and we cruised on toward Solvang. I realized partway there that we'd be passing by Pea Soup Anderson's. I've been wanting to go to this place for years, mainly because they stick billboards all over I-5 without actually being on the 5. Makes no sense! In any case, they're right at the Solvang exit of 101, so I finally got to eat there. I expected kitsch, and I got it. Oh, and I don't like pea soup.

Onward to Solvang, where we had a reservation at the Viking Motel, run by a Chinese lady who didn't recognize my Viking hat (Aaron made me check in with it on) and charged us a bazillion dollars (event weekend rates, sigh) for what looked to be a sparsely furnished converted studio apartment. I've never been to a more bare bones hotel/motel/shack. And for $189 a night (plus tax), ouch!

Still, it was nice to have a place in town, as we got up the next morning and rode a few blocks to the ride start on our bikes. The ride was really nice; the weather was beautiful and it felt great to be out there. I was a little surprised by the ride demographic; I had expected stronger riders out there, but I found myself passing people left and right. Not that I didn't get passed too, but only by a handful of riders. One of those happened to be a girl, and despite my efforts to keep up with her on a long uphill, she pulled away as we reached the steeper section near the top. Darnit! I hate when someone my size beats me!

Being outridden by another girl aside, I have lots to be pleased about. This was my longest road ride to date, and I finished it with relatively little knee trouble. I felt a bit of an ache around 40 miles in, lasted another not-too-uncomfortable 5 miles, and popped a couple Aleve at 45 miles. I didn't *need* the anti-inflammatories/painkillers right then, but I didn't want to need them when it was too late. Ride stats: 50 miles and 1850 feet of climbing in 3 hours 19 minutes.

We went straight from ride finish to an ice cream shop. A few more blocks and we were back at the Viking Motel, where we staged a Viking hat photo shoot, cleaned up, and headed out to eat our way through town. It felt like a slightly less upscale version of Carmel with a cheesy fake Danish twist. Not cheesy: the tasty aebleskivers from the walk-up window at Solvang Restaurant. Can I have seconds?

Sunday, more Danish pastries (Danish danishes, yum!), then off to explore the Central Coast. Pismo felt like a less grand version of a SoCal surfer town. SLO had awesome gigantic rock formations along Highway 1. Morro Bay had a slightly less awesome but cool because it stuck out of the water rock. We continued on up to San Simeon to visit Hearst Castle, stopping along the way to check out random interesting stretches of shoreline.

I'd expected Hearst Castle to be grand (it's a castle, after all), but wow, this place is beyond grand. I had imagined a castle by the water, not a castle at the top of a set of giant green hills with zebras on its front lawn. We did Tour 2. I want to go back and do the rest.

I know I said I was going in chronological order, but now I have to back up two or three hours. We arrived at Hearst Castle just after 1:30, bought tickets for the 3:00 tour, looked at our phones, and realized the tour was starting in 20 minutes. As it turns out, we had forgotten to Spring Forward and had spent the entire day in my time machine car with the manually set clocks. Just like that, an entire hour of our day disappeared. Poof.

After Hearst Castle, we headed up Highway 1 toward home, stopping for elephant seals (video) and some nice sunset photos along the way. We made it home around 9 PM, totally beat despite the fact that it was really only 8 on our internal clocks. It's okay, I have five days to rest up for next weekend. :)

Full set of pictures here.

• • •

A decent enough action shot to share here, but unfortunately not to buy in hi-res:

Yes, I was totally posing for the cameras.

06:22 PM | Road:Trips| Comments (1)

February 19, 2008 / Tuesday

Northern California Coast Trip

On Sunday morning, Aaron and I woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM and headed out for a driiive. Destination: Trinidad Head. That's, uh, somewhere north of Eureka.

We drove and drove, and drove some more. We passed by lots of farm animals, a steaming pile of manure, and eventually through Eureka. At around 10:15 AM, we arrived at our first destination.

Trinidad Head Lighthouse

We pulled into a dirt parking lot filled with buoys chained to rusty engine blocks. There was a beach, and a trail. We took the trail. About halfway around, we came upon a little observation platform. By "little", I mean it was two steps and fit two people. It provided a not very exciting view of the lighthouse. The hike was nice, though; we had great views and it felt good to stretch our legs after the long drive.

Trinidad Head Memorial Lighthouse

We returned to the car and drove up the street to the memorial lighthouse. This replica wasn't too exciting, either, but the fog bell was kind of neat.

I snacked on some shortbread cookies. They were tasty. I love my new food processor.

Humboldt Harbor Lighthouse

This lighthouse has been reduced to ruins, but Aaron wanted to find those ruins anyway. We drove out to Samoa Dunes, which, as the name implies, was full of wind and sand and wind and sand. We walked around and around, Aaron in search of the ruins and me just trying to keep warm. In the end, we never found it, but we did have the following amusing exchange.

Aaron picks up rock.
Aaron: This rock is pretty.
Viv: Keep it.
Aaron: It's too big.
Viv: Break it.
Viv takes rock and throws it at a large rock in the ground.
Large rock in the ground breaks.
:-/

Lost Coast Brewery

We were hungry, and whaddaya know, a brewery I knew from various random T-shirts. We lunched. The food was meh. Or maybe it was just 'cause I couldn't taste anything. I was battling yet another cold. Achoo.

Table Bluff Lighthouse

After lunch, we went to Woodley Island Marina to check out the Table Bluff Lighthouse, which was pretty much just there on display. It was little. I took a picture. That was about it. I found the jackrabbit poop on the nearby lawn more memorable.

Mattole Road

It was time to head south for Point Cabrillo, where we were to spend the night. I was feeling pretty crappy, so I started dozing once we started moving. Aaron decided that 101 was boring, and that we should take a more scenic/coastal route south. That led us to Mattole Road, which swings out to the ocean, runs down along the shore, and back in to hook back up with 101.

Note to self: If you ever come back, make sure you're not feeling ill, and bring a vehicle that can handle bumpy roads.

We stopped at the beach along the coast. At the time, I felt like doodoo, but in retrospect, it was pretty cool, 'cause I don't think a lot of people get to see this place.

It was dark by the time we reached 101, and we still had many miles of windy road to go. I took over driving somewhere on Highway 1, and we eventually made it to the inn around 10 PM. It had been a long day, and we were both exhausted.

Lighthouse Inn at Point Cabrillo

This place was awesome. If you ever have reason to spend the night out in that area, I highly recommend that you consider staying here. It's quaint, quiet, comfy, and wow, what a sight a lighthouse is up close at night. In the morning, we had a tasty five-course breakfast with the other guests, and then a private tour of the lighthouse, which was really more like Jim the innkeeper (actually, he keeps the whole place running) telling us a fascinating story about the history of the lighthouse. Seriously, come here. It's totally worth it.

Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

I found this lighthouse way more impressive than the ones we visited the day before. I thought it (and especially the lens) was absolutely beautiful. They did an amazing job restoring everything. I suppose hearing all that history had something do with my appreciation for it. In any case, I liked it enough to buy a mug. It's just like the ones we had at breakfast. :)

Point Arena Lighthouse

We headed down scenic Highway 1 and arrived a short while later at the Point Arena Lighthouse. This light stands as a separate tower from all the other buildings at the site. The main light is no longer active, so we got to go up the tower and into the room where the lens is kept. 135 steps up, a talk from the docent at the top, and 135 steps back down. Then, for me, another 120+ steps up and back, so I could make videos. :)

More Highway 1

After Point Arena, we headed for home, but stopped many times along the way to explore all sorts of cool bits of shoreline. We also encountered cows on the road, and we stopped by each one so I could moo and take pictures. One of them burped. That was awesome.

Back To School

We got back to the Bay Area just in time for Aaron to be late for his class. I went with him and sat through a lecture on light polarization and... I don't know what else, because I was busy taking notes for this post. I felt mostly at home; I'm used to lecture halls, but this one felt a little too... nice. Stanford kids, totally spoiled. ;)

We grabbed a late dinner at the Palo Alto Creamery after class. Coconut mango milkshake tastiness!

Viv <3's milkshake!
Aaron: Are you going to bounce?
Viv: No.
Aaron: Come on, bounce!
Viv: You can't tell me to bounce. They're spontaneous.
Aaron: Well spontaneously bounce, then!

I have pictures and videos galore for you all: Flickr set / Vimeo album

10:13 PM | Trips| Comments (7)

January 27, 2008 / Sunday

Burninating Las Vegas 2008: The Wrapup

First things first: We did not set the Monte Carlo on fire! I know that our van said we were Burninating Las Vegas, but we didn't mean it literally!

Speaking of the van, shoe polish is not that easy to clean off windows. Ask me how I know.

We went back to the Gun Store this year for another round of machine gun fun. I had intended to shoot an M16 and an MP5, but when I got there I saw an M249 SAW and knew I had to try it. The verdict? SAW, good. M16, meh; I definitely liked last year's AK-47 better. Still, nothing beats the Uzi in my book. It's so supple. ;)

Since we had early games both Saturday and Sunday, we didn't get a chance to enjoy Marilyn's $2.99 late night special steak and eggs (the best steak ever!). We did, however, go to Ichiza for a late post-game dinner on Thursday, where Meredith and Ellaine spotted Daniel Negreanu having drinks at the head of a long table of Vegasy looking folks. They both wanted their picture with him but neither wanted to ask, so finally Lucinda walked over and asked for them. We saw an autographed picture of him on the wall later; I guess he goes there a lot.

We had a team dinner at the Wynn on Friday; it cost a bazillion dollars. The food was tasty for the most part, but I think I enjoyed their brunch more.

Oh! I almost forgot about the Viking hats! Meredith bought us a round of shots, which probably had something to do with our buying a round of Viking hats when we came across them later. We walked around the casinos with our hats on, and every time someone made a comment about it, Meredith told them we were a bunch of horny chicks. The next day, we wore our hats to the championship game. Arrr! Or whatever it is that Vikings say.

What do Vikings say, anyway?

Speaking of Vikings and saying things...

Me: I'm a Viking! Can you say "Viking"?
Val: Viking!

There is something ridiculously cute about a ridiculously cute baby saying "Viking".

I guess I should explain this Top Gun line thing. Lucinda (C) is Maverick, Meredith (RW) is Goose, and I (LW) am Iceman. We have matching shirts, which I will show you as soon as Andrea posts the picture...

[ Update: Andrea posted the picture! Thanks Andrea! ]

I'm sure I forgot some things, but I think those are the biggies. Good times with good peeps as usual. Cheddah, you must come next year!

10:27 PM | Trips| Comments (4)

July 27, 2007 / Friday

Work Trip Wrap-up

I'm writing this post on my flights back to SFO, based on notes I've been taking the last couple weeks about my impressions of the Raleigh-Durham area. Here are those notes, expanded...

The people: Everyone is noticeably more friendly and polite here than in the Bay Area. Eye contact, followed by a "Hello", seems to be the norm. I've quite enjoyed being able to say hello without feeling like the other person thinks I'm strange for talking to them.

The trees: There are lots of them, and they're all green. I don't have to go to a preserve to find bunches of them, and I don't have to wait until winter for the vegetation to show some healthy color. I've found the abundance of greenery quite soothing; I'm going to really miss seeing all those trees along the road when I ride to work Monday morning.

The roads: The roads here are in beautiful condition. There are lots of one lane, tree lined routes, too. It's a motorcyclist's dream.

The water: It's warm. I jumped in a lake and didn't think twice about the temperature. When I got out, I air dried and didn't shiver. In know air drying has nothing to do with water temperature, but in any case, if I lived here I might actually spend more time in the water, which would be a huge help in terms of learning to be comfortable in the stuff.

The houses: They're cheap. There's development going on everywhere, too. Mortgage on a decent house here costs less than rent on my apartment, which boggles my mind. I'm tempted to buy a place simply because it's such a good deal; I think this area will appreciate considerably in the coming years.

The office: Okay, so that's not going to exist after this Wednesday, but I liked it more than the home office. There's a lot to be said for the people and culture at a workplace.

The accent: There's a bit of a drawl, but it's not super thick. It's kind of cute, actually, and I've definitely picked some of it up during my stay. That's not surprising, given how quickly I pick up accents. Maybe I'll just keep talking like this for fun. :)

The pictures: They're here.

06:01 PM | Trips| Comments (5)

Home! Today!

I must be anxious to get home. I woke up about 10 times in the 2 hours before the alarm because I was afraid it wouldn't go off or I'd somehow miss it.

Now I just need air travel to cooperate.

05:26 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 26, 2007 / Thursday

Unphotographable

This is a picture I did not take of a Massachusetts license plate behind a Dallas Cowboys plate frame mounted on a vehicle parked at a Durham Bulls baseball game.

Where are you from? What's your sport? You confuse me.

As always, credit is due to Mr. Hotshoes for his website, Unphotographable.

07:38 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 25, 2007 / Wednesday

Parents Are Cute

My parents just called to say, "Oh, poor you, stuck in North Carolina all by yourself," followed by, "Aiya, it's almost midnight! Go to bed!"

08:46 PM | Famidotes:Trips| Comments (2)

July 22, 2007 / Sunday

SoopahViv Meets Deebeecee

With the world and the internet being as small as it is, it turns out that work has landed me relatively close to the magical kingdom of deebeecee. (Where I would be, if I were just a wee bit closer.) He very graciously drove out to meet me for lunch in Raleigh, and we had an excellent chat about all sorts of things here, there, and somewhat randomly elsewhere. It was really cool to get a glimpse into his world and, of course, to get to meet him. He even brought presents, including, quite thoughtfully, a jar of local honey.

When I got back to the hotel, I unscrewed the top, reached the vacuum sealed lid, and realized that I've never had anything out of a sealed mason jar.

Woohoo, another first, right after Red Velvet Cake, which I knew nothing about until today.

It's nice to have a camera phone:

03:10 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Paneras Everywhere

Everywhere in the Raleigh-Durham area, that is. I diggit.

07:21 AM | Food:Trips| Comments (0)

July 21, 2007 / Saturday

A Day At The Lake

One of the guys at the office here in NC organized a boat and BBQ day at the lake, and very graciously invited me since I was in town. I showed up at 9, helped a wee bit with setup on the beach, and headed out in the boat for some wakeboarding. I watched for a bit, geared up, and hopped in. I'd heard several pieces of advice about how to get up on the board and not eat it, and it was now time to put it all together. I nodded "go", leaned back against the pull, and just like that, I was up. Up! On the first try! YEAH! Totally awesome.

I rode heel for a while (regular stance) behind the port side of the boat. This made sense; it's my most comfortable position, especially if I have to pull against something. Eventually, I tried to move to the other side, attempted to do it by turning and riding toe, and ate it. Hello, flotation jacket! Come get me, boat!

I had a total of three pulls and managed to get up on all three, although unfortunately I pulled my right quad on the third and had to call it a day. As it turns out, I also bruised the side of my right heel at the end of my first ride when my foot came out of the binding. No biggie; both will heal.

A few notes about how to wakeboard, since I won't do this often enough to remember otherwise:

- Similar to snowboarding, but weight on back foot.
- Don't lean forward.
- Arms straight, knees bent, perpendicular to boat to start.
- Pull back as if you want to stop the boat to start.
- Riding toe is hard because there's a rope to pull.
- Try cutting right by riding heel side switch next time.

Soon, it was time to eat. There were burgers, hot dogs, and chips. Simple, but tasty. The company was good, too. Have I already said that I like the people here? Well let me say it again. I like the people here.

After lunch, tubing. Since water is relatively new to me, today was my first day tubing also. It requires a little less skill and the consequences are less painful, but it was still a workout. It reminded me a lot of riding the mechanical bull in Phoenix last May; I fought as hard as I could to stay balanced while repeating to myself over and over, "Not ... falling ... off ... dammit!" A fun, fun ride.

Later in the afternoon, I rested under the tents and chatted with others who had also opted to hang out onshore. It was nice to find out a little more about them, and to share with them bits about me.

Tonight, as I write this, I can feel the soreness setting in. I'm inclined to think it was more from tubing than wakeboarding; I definitely used more muscles trying to stay on the tube than I did pulling the cable for wakeboarding. I'm sunburned, too, despite remembering to cover all the main parts of my body. As usual, I forgot to put sunblock on my lips and on my scalp along the part down the center for my pigtails. D'oh.

In all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday. I am grateful for the invite, and really glad I went.

Pictures from today have been uploaded as part of my NC Work Trip set, starting with this picture.

07:53 PM | Trips:Water| Comments (2)

July 20, 2007 / Friday

All I Do Is Eat

Okay, that's not really true, but that's probably what you're thinking if you've been following my photos on Flickr. It's not all I do, but it's one of the few things I've been doing this week. Every day has pretty much gone the same way: wake up, go to the office, go to lunch, go back to the office, get dinner, return to the hotel, do homework and/or meet for school, go to bed. Out of all that, lunch and dinner are pretty much the only things I can document.

Fortunately, the weekend is here. Tomorrow, I'll join the folks from work for a day at the lake. I'll get to try wakeboarding, which sounds really fun, somewhat painful, and a little scary. I'm not exactly comfortable in water yet, but I do trust that I'll be able to handle myself well enough in a life jacket not to drown, so screw being scared; I'm going in!

I considered driving to the Outer Banks on Sunday to either sand dune hang glide or SCUBA dive. I hear they have warm water and some nice wreck dives in the area. I also heard, however, that I will be ridiculously sore after wakeboarding (especially after a week of being completely sedentary), so I'm opting for some in-town activities instead. Lunch with Mike (a.k.a. deebeecee, whom some of you may know as the guy who can answer most of the things that I can't, and therefore ponder in this blog), homework (there's no avoiding it, sigh), and maybe Transformers (even though I hear Soundwave's not in it).

I suspect, however, that I will continue to eat, and that there will continue to be pictures of all the places and things that I eat posted to Flickr.

I'll try not to visit Five Brothers again, though. That'd be almost as bad as if I went to In-N-Out three times in one week and followed it up with a visit to Sonic.

*whistles innocently*

06:14 PM | Food:Trips| Comments (0)

July 19, 2007 / Thursday

Whole Foods Loopiness

It was time for more salad and water, so I decided to go to the Whole Foods in Raleigh after work today. The route seemed easy enough; it looked to be a straight shot down I-40.

I scribbled down a couple notes and headed out. I drove a ways, saw an exit that looked like what I wanted, but continued on since I thought from the map that the freeway would transition into the street I was looking for.

After driving for a long while, I decided to consult a map. As suspected, I'd missed the exit, and by many miles. So many miles, in fact, that I decided to just finish the loop around Raleigh.

I reapproached the exit from the other direction and somehow managed to miss it a second time. I turned around, tried again, and finally made it onto the street I'd been aiming for. I then proceeded to pass by Whole Foods, loop behind it, take a wrong turn, and end up back on the freeway. I considered heading back and picking up some fast food instead, but gave it one final try. This one ended in the parking lot in front of Whole Foods.

The final route:

Tomorrow, Waffle House. I don't need to get on the freeway for that.

06:20 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 17, 2007 / Tuesday

Rumble Crash Boom

Every time I hear the thunder booming outside I want to scream like a little girl.

I would, if I weren't on a teleconference.

08:58 PM | Trips| Comments (3)

July 16, 2007 / Monday

Tastes Like I Never Left

Flew into Raleigh-Durham tonight for a two week stay. I wasn't exactly looking forward to 11 days of eating out, so I found a Whole Foods near my hotel and paid a visit there to pick up some dinner and snacks. The loot: a $10 salad (yikes!), a bag of baby carrots, organic black pepper crackers, goat cheese, and a gallon of water. Standard Viv fare.

The salad makes me feel tons better about having just spent 11 hours sitting in my car, the plane, the terminal, the other plane, my rental car, and now my hotel room. Plus, since I avoided the company cafeteria all last week, I very much needed the veggies.

On my way to Whole Foods, I wondered briefly what kind of neighborhood it was in, until this little voice in my head said, "It's a Whole Foods, silly! Of course it's in a decent neighborhood!" Oh, right, poor people can't afford to shop there. I'm thinking that'll be a pretty good way to gauge the safety of unknown neighborhoods from now on.

06:24 PM | Food:Trips| Comments (3)

June 08, 2007 / Friday

From Somewhere Over Colorado

506 mph
38,000 ft
-65 degrees Fahrenheit
Behind us: over 1450 miles and 3 hours
Ahead: 1005 miles and just over 2 hours

The guy in front of me is licking his snack pack peanut butter. Awesome.

Just finished watching The Astronaut Farmer and Breach. Time to work on my slides for school. Meeting tomorrow morning.

10:32 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

June 07, 2007 / Thursday

Business Trips Make Moo Cows

Wake up.
Eat.
Go to office.
Sit and meet.
Sit and meet.
Sit and meet.
Eat.
Return to hotel.
Sit and work.
Snack.
Sit and do homework.
Go to bed.

MooOOOoo...

07:12 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

June 05, 2007 / Tuesday

I Flew Across The Country And Didn't Get Stranded

Hooray, and it took only 11 hours door to door. Way better than the 24 hours it took to get home last month.

Speaking of hours, getting to the airport from home this morning took exactly one hour. I'm glad that's not my daily commute. I'm also glad I don't work in SSF anymore. It's cold and cloudy and windy there all the time, and that just plain depresses me.

Today was my first visit to SFO's long term parking lot in about 5 years. It's no longer a big open lot at the end of the runway. The parking structure they replaced it with is pretty nice, and has a zippy elevator that's so fast it makes me feel like I'm falling.

The flight from SFO to IAD was bumpier than most. I'd had nothing but liquids all morning and that, coupled with my trying to read the paper, made for an unhappy stomach. Finally, I gave up on reading and watched the two in flight movies: Catch and Release and parts of Bridge to Terabithia. They both made me cry and cry and cry. I really ought to bring more Kleenex with me on cross country flights.

The flight from IAD to RDU was short, cramped, and largely uneventful. Yawn.

National classifies the Toyota Corolla as an Intermediate car. Huh?

The internet at this hotel is wireless, free, and insufferably flaky. I give up. Posting this and stepping away before I channel my connectivity frustrations into laptop flight.

06:59 PM | Trips| Comments (5)

June 04, 2007 / Monday

Scenic Route?

Is there something wrong with the freeway entrance next to the starting location?

Does anyone find it strange that there's a reservoir next to the airport?
Would you like some jet exhaust particles with your water?

11:38 PM | Trips| Comments (10)

May 27, 2007 / Sunday

Rawhide

I bruised my knee riding a mechanical bull. That is all.

[ Update: I was wrong. There's more. I bruised my inner thigh too. ]

11:32 AM | Trips| Comments (2)

May 24, 2007 / Thursday

Stuck At DFW

If, in the future, you so much as hear me speak of booking myself a non-direct flight when there are direct options available, please smack me.

03:56 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

My Visit Home

Another trip back home has come and gone. As always, I don't visit often enough, and when I do I don't stay long enough. I tried to plan my visit so I'd be in town a little longer, but didn't foresee how little time I'd really have after factoring in getting stuck at the airport and 4 days on the road for Pittsburgh.

Aside from some ... difficulties involving parental hopes and expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed this visit. It was really good to see my family, friends, and Bobo again. It made me wonder briefly whether it'd be better for me to move back there, and while I know that I could, I don't think it's right for me at the moment. Bay Area ties aside (and those count for a lot), I think I'd be unable to really be myself under the pressures, influences, and scrutiny of my parents, in particular, my mom. I love her dearly, but my idea of happiness and appropriateness differs greatly from hers.

I was happy to see that sis has grown up. She's responsible, considerate, still fun, and has a great head on her shoulders. My mom put it amusingly well when she said, "I don't need to worry about your sister anymore, just you." My, how times have changed.

I had time to visit only a couple friends, but it was great to catch up with them. They're buying houses (congrats, Kimmy!) and raising beautiful families (congrats, Josepi!). There were a couple other friends I really wanted to see, but alas, I ran out of time. I must plan my next visit more carefully. I must!

Finally, my parents, grandparents, and the dog. Everyone's getting older, and it makes me sad. Seeing them age reminds me of their mortality, and I don't want to face that truth yet. I want to Superman around the world, turn back time, and keep them young and strong and healthy.

Of course, that's not possible. I guess all I can do is visit more often ... despite that sinking feeling I get when I think about the parental discussions to come. Toughen up, me, it's a small price to pay, and you'll regret not doing it later.

12:59 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Overheard at DFW

Darren Hawthorne, please pick up a white courtesy telephone for a very important message, or call your wife.

12:43 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 23, 2007 / Wednesday

Golfing With Dad

I played my first ever round of golf today at the Lost Brook Golf Club with my dad. Since sis is a golfer now, I got to borrow her sweet Callaway clubs and pink golf shoes. A huge upgrade from my $60 set of clubs (including bag!) and nonexistent shoes back in California.

Before today, I'd played mini golf a few times, been to the driving range even fewer times, and practiced at the putting green once, after which I unsuccessfully tried to pitch a few balls at the practice sand trap. I was a little intimidated by the thought of going on a real course, and was glad to hear that we were going to a smaller, non-snooty course suitable for beginners. Having my dad by my side made me feel better, too. It also made me feel like I was 12 again. Heh.

I had expected to lose a lot of balls, but in the end I lost only one, and in the process of looking for it found another, so I wound up with a plus/minus of zero. Not bad for my first day out! I also forgot to pick up my first two tees, but then I found three, broke one, and came out with a plus/minus of zero on those, too. I now understand why golf bags have so many compartments! One for balls, one for tees, one for water/beer, one for blahblahblah, etc. I think that's a fine excuse to get a better bag ... right after I get some nice shoes. ;)

And now, my score. I shot (scored? hit? what's the lingo here?) a 110. Not bad for my first day, right? Sure, except that this was a dinky little par 54 course. I learned a lot, though, and actually had a few pretty good holes on the back nine until I got tired and started missing badly. Golf, not easy! But fun. Thanks, dad. :)

05:39 PM | Golf:Trips| Comments (0)

May 22, 2007 / Tuesday

Grandparents Day

I had most of a much longer and more detailed post about today's visits with my grandparents written up, but upon review I decided it was a little too personal for this blog. With regard to my mom's issues with my hair, I'll just say that I didn't wear pigtails, I didn't wear a hat, and my hair is still red.

My visit with my grandfather saddened me greatly, as I'd expected. This was likely the last time I'll ever see him and I think we both knew it. I was sad because of the condition he's in, and because I think he knew that this visit was probably another one of his lasts in life. I could tell from the way he watched me when it was time to leave. Walking out of that room knowing that I was taking myself out of his sight was really, really hard.

My visit with my grandmother was much happier. She took the T in, we picked her up at the station, had a nice lunch, went shopping, and hung out at home, where I showed her some pictures from commencement. She inquired only briefly about my hair, and asked me to bring my boyfriend back for a visit (not a husband or a baby, hallelujah!). She talked about how she was really happy to see me and my sister all grown up, and I finally got to thank her for where we are today; I would have had a much different life had she not braved several naturalization interviews to obtain citizenship and apply for our immigration to the U.S. When it was time for her to go home, I gave her a big hug. Gotta get those in while I can.

So, in the end, I got to see my grandparents and no one had a heart attack. I'm not quite sure what the big fuss was all about, but I'm glad that it didn't amount to anything.

And now, a mommydote.

My mom jumped out of the car to meet my grandma as she approached our car at the station. She said she wanted to prepare my grandmother for the shock of my hair. As they came near, I heard mom say to grandma, "She dyed her hair red. It's like Chinese New Year!"

If only I'd thought to tell my mom that a week ago.

09:22 PM | Famidotes:Trips| Comments (2)

May 21, 2007 / Monday

My CMU Commencement

Yesterday was CMU's 2007 commencement ceremony. I don't officially graduate until August, but this was my chance to be part of the big show, and to visit the main campus. Plus, I wanted my hood, and I didn't want to wait until August.

We got up super early to make sure we got parking on campus. My dad had somehow hurt his ankle just before the trip, and we didn't want to make him walk very far. I won't say just how early we got there, but it was early enough to score a second floor parking spot in the garage attached to the stadium.

I remember talking to G about commencement a few months ago. She said something about how it was cool because they would have bagpipes there. I thought, okay, so there'll be a guy playing a bagpipe up front. As it turns out, she meant that there would be random people playing bagpipes throughout campus all day. Hello, man in a kilt wandering around blowing into a squeezy bag!

It rained a little as we were getting ready to start, but stopped by the time we filed into the stadium. By the middle of the ceremony, it was clear and sunny. I was dressed for cold rainy weather. Bake bake bake.

Our speaker this year was Bill Cosby. He showed up in sweats and a CMU cap and walked to the stage with what I guess was the school's new official mascot. So, picture Bill Cosby, sweats, Crocs, a CMU cap, a gown draped over that entire outfit, and a black scottie dog on a leash. There were a bunch of speeches and honorary degrees given, and then he stepped up to speak.

He opened by calling us all "NERDS!", puzzled over why anyone would want to be called a nerd, launched into a story about his first big gig, and followed with a lesson from his story. The closing was short and sweet; he said, simply, "In closing, I close."

I'm out of things to say, except that there will be pictures and probably a video online in the near future. So, in closing, I close too.

[ Update: Here's a good writeup of the commencement, complete with a picture of Bill and Scottie. ]

06:10 PM | School:Trips| Comments (5)

May 19, 2007 / Saturday

Hello, CMU Campus!

We finally made it to CMU today, after getting stuck in 3-4 hours of traffic in New York yesterday and another hour of traffic entering Pittsburgh today. I picked up my commencement garb, did a tour of campus, and had an organized dinner with a group of fellow Pittsburgh commencers from the West campus. It was nice to finally see the campus I almost went to for undergrad. As Melsybo had warned, it's small! Everything's packed together pretty tightly, unlike at the UC's, where campus just sprawls and sprawls and sprawls. The buildings all look the same, but overall campus is green and fairly pretty, i.e. deceptively pleasant, in May. The grassy mini hills look like fun for winter sledding, but I don't think I'd want to venture outside in the winter, even for sledding.

The "stadium" is a football field surrounded by a track, with a set of bleachers on one side. It's kind of cute. :)

Bedtime. Gotta get to campus at the crack of dawn tomorrow to get parking.

06:54 PM | School:Trips| Comments (0)

May 17, 2007 / Thursday

Hair Logic, And Then Some

So from my red pigtails, my mom has decided the following:

• I must be unhappy, because otherwise I would not do such a thing.
• I should seek professional counseling, because not wanting to look typical is abnormal.
• I shouldn't visit my grandfather even though this is probably my last chance to do so before he dies, because it would be too much of a shock to him and he might have a heart attack. (Um, didn't she just say he was going to die soon anyway?)
• I shouldn't see my grandmother because she's old too and her heart probably can't take it either.

I can't tell whether she is truly worried about my happiness, my mental health, and my grandparents' heart health, or if there are other reasons behind each or all of those points.

She also told me it was time to have black hair again, get married, and start a family. I told her that marriage and kids weren't my main goal in life. She replied by saying that how I've turned out is her biggest failure.

Wow, gee, sorry mom.

She has a theory that the turning point was when she allowed me to go to California for school instead of keeping me here in the Boston area. Never mind that I didn't bother to apply to any schools worth going to in Boston because I wanted to go away and learn to live on my own. Never mind that I love where I live, the people I know, and the things I do; that can't be true because my hair tells her otherwise. Honestly, after this conversation I'm more glad than I ever was that I live on the other side of the country.

I'm not mad, though. I'm sad. I'm sad not because of what she said, but because what she said only serves to drive me away. Each time I leave, I stay away a little longer. It reminds me of my aunt and my uncle, who both moved away because of my grandmother. I always knew why, but didn't truly understand. I'm starting to understand now.

From my point of view, my mom needs to understand that I am my own person. I am my own project, I control my own destiny, and I make my own decisions. My goal is to create a life that I am happy to live, not one that she is happy to observe. She's always stated that she wants me to be happy; why can't she understand that that means doing what I want and not what she wants?

I wonder what it is I need to understand from her point of view. I'd ask, but these conversations take too much out of me.

And what does it look like from an outside point of view? Am I being unreasonable? Is there something I'm not seeing? I feel as if I'm missing something.

10:47 PM | Famidotes:Trips| Comments (17)

Feels Like Home

I need to remember when I come home during non-summer months that the house is kept at a chill 60 degrees, and that if I don't bring warm clothes I'm going to freeze.

Not even the oversized purple Champion sweatshirt from high school that I dug up from the depths of my closet is going to save me.

Brrr!

09:27 AM | Trips| Comments (2)

May 16, 2007 / Wednesday

Thank Goodness For Dunkies

I gave up on trying to sleep half an hour after my last post, turned the laptop on, got too tired to work, shut down, lay back on the floor with the warm laptop on my lap, and managed to get *just* warm enough to snooze a little around 4 AM (2 AM blog time).

Then, at 4:30, a planeful of people unloaded 20 feet from my head. That didn't bother me as much as the cold jetway air blasting me. Forget airport camping. This sucks!

I wandered down to Dunkies and found them blazingly open with about 15 people in line. I looked over toward McDonald's and saw about 30. We airport campers eat well, don't we?

Currently sipping on a Dunkies hazelnut coffee with cream and sugar. Mmm, that's good stuff!

03:01 AM | Food:Trips| Comments (6)

Airport Camping

The airport gets cold at night. The floor is hard, despite the carpet, and my folded up T-shirt makes a poor pillow. The annoying TSA announcements continue throughout the night at the same volume as during the day, when it's loud and busy and filled with noise dampening people. Stranded travelers hide from the lights behind gate counters and try to sleep. Some of us eventually give up and lie there blogging on our phones instead. I'm too tired to sit up and turn on the laptop, even though it'd provide some much welcomed heat. I shouldn't complain too much; I landed a dim spot in one of the warmer, quieter parts of the terminal.

Next time, I travel with warmer clothes.

The cleaning crew here works hard.

Tomorrow morning, Dunkies!

12:30 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 15, 2007 / Tuesday

Stuck At The Airport

Thanks to some wet weather at O'Hare all day, my flight from SJC->ORD->BOS sat on the ground in San Jose for three hours waiting for takeoff. When we got to O'Hare, those of us originally continuing on to Boston on that flight were told to change planes. They gave us a gate number, but when I got there the gate was boarding for some location decidedly not Boston. I checked the screens but didn't see my flight. I went to the customer service counter, where the customer service representatives had thoughtfully left several red AA direct connect phones on the counter before disappearing.

As suspected, my flight to Boston was canceled, and since it was because of weather that pretty much leaves me here, at O'Hare, until my rescheduled flight tomorrow at 8:45 AM. I have Manchu WOK (think Panda Express), a power outlet, and an internet connection (thank you company for the iPass account), which should provide everything I need until then.

What a rockin' start to my 2 week stretch of travel!

07:59 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Question of the Day

Why do they build airplane seats to fit only short skinny people with rounded slouchy backs?

Posted from my uncomfortable airplane seat.

02:34 PM | Question:Trips| Comments (0)

March 16, 2007 / Friday

Caribbean Desktop

Last week, I tagged a few of my January vacation pictures so they could be picked up by the background switcher on my laptop. Now, every time a vacation photo appears as the background, I think, "Wow, that's pretty," followed by, "Wow, I was there!" Then I smile a big warm happy smile. Gosh, that's nice.

11:07 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

January 29, 2007 / Monday

The Best Steak Ever

The $2.99 late night special steak and eggs at Marilyn's Cafe at the Tuscany Las Vegas. Comes with hash browns and toast. Flavorful and seared on the outside, tender and rare (exactly as requested) on the inside. Melts in your mouth. Move over, Ruth's Chris.

02:49 PM | Food:Trips| Comments (2)

January 27, 2007 / Saturday

A Damned Fine Saturday

8:30 AM - Wake up to prepare for school meeting.
9:30 AM - Conduct meeting. Meet efficiently and finish on time. Woohoo!
11:00 AM - Shoot machine guns. So ridiculously fun.
12:00 PM - Have an amazing blunch at the Wynn buffet.
2:00 PM - Go shopping at the Star Trek Experience.
3:30 PM - Play games at Excalibur.
5:50 PM - Win a hockey game to go into the finals.
9:00 PM - Eat dinner. Well, maybe it was more like 10:30 by the time we ate, but it was damned tasty.
11:59 PM - Bloggity blog and get ready for bed.

Good night, everyone!

11:58 PM | Trips| Comments (2)

Machine Guns Are Fun

Jena, Jenn, Lucinda, and I went to The Gun Store this morning to shoot some machine guns. I'd been wanting to do this since I heard about it months ago from Aaron, and was most definitely not disappointed. Jena shot an Uzi, Jenn an M16, and Lucinda an AK-47. I shot both an AK-47 and an Uzi. Sooo awesome.

The AK-47 had a lot of kick, and the recoil and vibration hurt my trigger finger some. The barrel got really hot, too, after just a magazine or two. I was standing behind Lucinda when she was shooting it, and was showered with shells spit up and over behind her. It was a lot of gun, and a lot of fun.

The Uzi I absolutely loved. It was much easier to control compared to the AK-47. Because of its weight and caliber (9mm), it dampened a lot of the recoil and vibration. I was able to control it a lot better, and it certainly showed on the target.

We posed for pictures at the range and kept our targets as souvenirs, so stay tuned for pictures ...

[ Update: Pictures are up! Look for the links in this post. ]

03:32 PM | Trips| Comments (6)

January 22, 2007 / Monday

Caribbean Sailing Trip

Some of you knew I was disappearing for this trip, and most of you didn't. In any case, I'm back. Here's the writeup. I must warn you, it's long.

The Nutshell

10 days of sailing in the Leeward Islands on a 41.5 foot catamaran with 8 people total: me, Aaron, Captain Chris, Rosie, Roberta, Randi, Brad, and Gage.

Islands: St. Martin (or Sint Maarten, if you prefer Dutch), St. Barthelemy (St. Barths), St. Christopher (St. Kitts), Nevis, St. Eustatius (Statia), and Anguilla. Kind of in that order.

Pictures soon, I hope. Depends on how much time I have.

[ Update: Pictures are up! I'll try to link some from various parts of this post later on. ]

[ Update: Individual picture links are in too. ]

Sunday 1/7 to Monday 1/8 - Off to St. Martin!

My aunt dropped Aaron and me off at SFO on Sunday night and we caught a redeye to MIA. Despite the flight's being delayed a couple hours, we still had a 3-4 hour layover in Miami. We walked around the terminal in search of breakfast. "I love the East Coast!" I declared, as we came up on a Dunkin Donuts and an Au Bon Pain. I had the requisite Dunkies coffee (with cream and sugah), which, as expected, was weak but tasty, and a disappointing croissant at Au Bon Pain.

Then it was off to the security line. I bristled at the useless TSA liquids rules, put my 0.066 ounce bottle of eye drops into a much too large plastic baggie, and took a picture of its ridiculousness in front of their 3-1-1 sign. I fought the urge to write "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on the bag and contemplated bringing through a future security checkpoint a quart-sized zip-top bag stuffed full of 3 ounce containers of the ever-disturbingly green Diet Mountain Dew.

Got lost reading magazines on the plane. At one point I looked up and had a moment of, "Eeek! Where am I going? I'm going to be on a boat? In the water? Ack!" Then I realized I was being dumb and got over it.

Landed at SXM and took a taxi to our hotel in Marigot. For some reason I expected the island to be more modern and resortey clean. Checked into the hotel, settled a bit, and headed out to explore Marigot. Snacked on a croissant, had an Orangina Light (I wish we had that back home), and found a shot glass for Becky's collection.

Being on a boat required soft luggage, and since I did a crappy job of packing my snorkel, I found myself in search of superglue once I reached the islands. I got a little tube of it for a ridiculous amount of money, brought it back to the hotel, started to screw the top into the tube, and promptly got superglue all over my hand. I rubbed off as much of it as I could, but I had random superglue bits on my fingers for the next few days. I did fix the snorkel, though.

We met up with Chris and Rosie for dinner at Tropicana. I ordered a duck entree that sounded promising but proved to be a little too gamey for me. The staff was quite entertaining, however, and definitely created an enjoyable dining atmosphere. During dinner, we spied bottles of what appeared to be an unmarked house brew. People at various tables around us were sipping it. Rosie asked our server what it was, but he wouldn't tell her. This upset her greatly, and she threatened to boycott dessert. Fortunately, she reconsidered, and we later found out that it was a fruity house rum that every table gets at the end of the meal. (As it turns out, this is a fairly common thing at French restaurants in the area.) We got ours after dessert, and even purchased a bottle for the boat.

Tuesday 1/9 - More St. Martin & Boarding the Boat

In Marigot, everyone seems to know everyone else, and when someone in a car sees someone they know, they honk their horn to say hello. There are also a lot of very loud scooters, dirtbikes, and 4x4s zipping with and around the cars. All this makes for a very loud street, which our hotel room happened to face. Once the sun came up, the noise started. As if that wasn't enough, a car alarm malfunctioned in the parking lot below and refused to turn off, despite what sounded like repeated attempts to make it do so.

One thing I did like about the streets of Marigot was the abundance of wheelies. Bicycles and motorcycles would roll down the street with their front wheel high in the air. Back home, doing a wheelie down the street is stupid and reckless. In Marigot, it seemed almost uncool not to do one.

We walked along the water and had galettes for brunch at Deli Spoon Crêperie. I saw Fort St. Louis uphill from us, but we were too short on time to visit it. We passed by the open air market and Aaron bought a bottle of tasty local hot sauce. A couple blocks later, we came across a woman just off the sidewalk churning fresh coconut ice cream. I had to try it, and was glad that I did! It was quite tasty. My only regret is that I didn't take a picture of her and her little ice cream setup.

We checked out of the hotel and stood on the street to hail a cab. A random guy with no taxi identification pulled up and asked if we needed a taxi. We did, and he did a fine job of taking us to Oyster Pond, giving us touristy island info along the way. The taxi drivers on the islands we visited, officially licensed or not, were all pretty friendly.

Sat through part of the boat briefing with Chris and Rosie, dropped off our bags, and headed for Maho Beach, situated at the landing approach end of the runway at SXM. The planes there have to fly super low over the beach to hit the runway, and it makes for quite a sight. I love planes, and had had this on my list for weeks. We got there a little late to watch the heavy jets land, but saw a few decent small plane landings and a couple larger jets take off. I went up to the fence and hung on in the jet blast.

Taxied back to Oyster Pond, met up with everyone on the boat, tried a Carib (meh), and had some fish and chips at Dinghy Dock, a bar/restaurant at the marina. Afterward, we hung out at karaoke, where Chris busted out a fine rendition of Johnny Be Good. Learned how to play Risk, went to bed at 2AM.

Wednesday 1/10 - Off to St. Barths!

We motored from St. Martin to St. Barths early in the morning. I slept through it all, and had a really amusing dream doing so. I was on an elevator and needed to go down to the first floor. As the elevator was about to come to a close, I jumped up. I kept rising, slowly, until my head finally hit the ceiling with a soft "Doof!". I then came back down, also slowly, until I bounced off the floor with a "Boing!" Up and down I went, over and over. "Doof!" "Boing!" "Doof!" "Boing!" So amusing.

Got up when we reached Gustavia Harbor. Looked out the window and couldn't believe how blue the water was. Had a fruit salad and toast breakfast on the boat, then dinghied into town, walked around and got some food. Had a cheeseburger and a mango colada at Café de l'Oublie, then some more coconut ice cream at a place at the corner of the marina by one of the dinghy docks. The woman there was very nice, helping me out with my French when I asked her how to say certain things. We walked to Shell Beach and hung out for about half and hour.

Dinghied back to the boat, cleaned up, played cards using Risk armies as chips. Tried to inflate our somewhat soft dinghy and found that the pump that came with the boat had the wrong fitting. D'oh.

Cleaned up and went back into town in our now even softer dinghy. Had dinner at Eddy's. I ordered a sashimi dish, which turned out to be tuna done four different ways: raw, seared, raw in some sort of sauce, and poki. It came with a side of wasabi ice cream, which I passed around the table. Interesting stuff.

Had drinks at The Strand after dinner, then headed downstairs to Casa Nikki. It was a little quiet when we first arrived, but more people arrived and the club came to life. Hung out some at our table, danced some, and headed back.

Chris has a tip for everyone. "Never pee to windward."

A few of the guys geeked out on deck until 4:30. Chris couldn't sleep because he'd had too much Red Bull and vodka, but I don't think Gage and Aaron had an excuse. Crazies.

I'm liking all the French practice I'm getting here. This is the first time I've gotten to put my mostly wasted 6 1/2 years of French class to use.

Thursday 1/11 - Touring St. Barths

My camera got splashed with some seawater at Maho Beach on Tuesday, and the LCD display is slowly being eaten away. D'oh.

Woke up, had more fruit salad (We had to eat the perishables aboard the boat first.), and dinghied into town. Once there, we tried to locate scooters for rent. Unfortunately, we got a bit of a late start, and couldn't find enough available for our group. After trying three different shops, we ended up with one scooter (Chris and Rosie), one 4x4 quad (me and Aaron), and one car (Gage, Brad, Randi, and Roberta) for our group. I got to use more of my French; the scooter shop owners don't seem to speak much English here.

I got to drive the quad. I'd never driven one before, and I was disappointed by how it handled. Plus, it was underpowered, which didn't help matters much. I'll take something with 2 wheels over a quad any day.

Chris led us to the roundabout near the St. Barths airport and kept riding in circles (with the car and quad in tow) until people started honking because we were holding up traffic. I was sick of trying to turn the quad and started yelling and cussing at him. Eventually he tired of his little roundabout game and continued on.

We returned to the roundabout and pulled off the road to watch the planes land. There's a steep drop after the roundabout to the airport runway, so it made for some nice up close shots of planes on their approach, even though there were no heavy jets landing there.

Continued on in search of lunch, got lost, did a half island loop, and eventually ended up in St. Jean. I had the Le Piment panini at Le Piment, along with a frosty drink, which I suspect was probably a virgin pina colada. I don't remember now.

Did some shopping after lunch, then headed over to Governor's Beach to do some snorkeling. The water was great, but the snorkeling was boring. We left the beach at around 5 PM to go return our vehicles. I was still wet from the water, so I hopped on the quad in my bikini. I'm sure that was an amusing sight, since I had a gigantic dirtbiking helmet on, too. Returned the vehicles and dinghied back to the boat.

Earlier in the day, we noticed a catamaran nearby dragging anchor. A couple in a boat just behind ours noticed too and went to check it out. We struck up a conversation with them as they passed by, and saw them again on the island that afternoon. We later borrowed their dinghy pump, and invited them over for some drinks in the evening. They're exploring the world on their boat, and have their own website and satellite radio broadcast. Very cool.

I had some Red Stripe and a few sips of a mojito while they were on the boat, and ended up falling asleep until dinner time. On their recommendation, we had dinner at La Saladerie. I can't remember what I ordered, but I think it was decent. Headed back to the boat and went to sleep for the night.

Friday 1/12 - Off to St. Kitts!

We left St. Barths early the next morning and headed for St. Kitts. There were 6-8 foot swells, which made for a pretty rough ride. Initially I stayed in bed, but all the banging was making me antsy, so I got out of bed and headed up on deck. Bad idea. I got seasick in a matter of minutes, threw up, had some saltines and water, gave up, and went back to bed. That was clearly the option I should have stayed with in the first place. My stomach settled and I slept like a baby until our arrival at St. Kitts.

We docked in Basseterre and had salad and sandwiches for lunch. I spent some time writing down notes from the last couple days. Played a couple hands of gin, then explored the area near the marina with Roberta. Came back and declared that St. Kitts was a shithole. As it turns out, it wasn't really that bad, but wandering around a not-so-wonderful part of town in the dark after two sunny days in St. Barths just didn't seem all that great to me.

Returned to the marina and found a free standing 4-star bathroom facility. I swear, it was probably the nicest building on this part of the island. How strange!

I was a little disappointed that this wasn't a French speaking island. Yes, I know that sentence reads funny.

Returned to the boat, cleaned up, and went to dinner at Ballyhoo. I had some vegetarian stuffed pepper dish that was fairly decent. Mainly, I was hurting for vegetables. Kind of strange to hear me say that, even though I've been a veggie eater for a while now. I still find myself wondering what happened to my mom's "Little Meat Monster". But I digress ...

Returned to the boat again and went to bed. Woke up in the middle of the night to loud sounds of someone puking ... and puking ... and puking. Found out the next day that that was Gage puking off the back of the boat.

Saturday 1/13 - Touring St. Kitts

Got up and had omlettes for breakfast. We toured the island with a (taxi?) driver named Percy. He gave us island history, talked about the former sugar industry, and stopped at various points of interest for us to take pictures. At one stop, there was a lady selling drinks and trinkets at a stand. She had some cool bracelets and I bought one before we continued on. We stopped at Romney Manor, where we got to see a batik demo and purchase various touristy items. I got myself a turquoise triangular batik bandana. Good for hiding messy boat hair.

Side note on batik: I think I did this sketching and waxing and dying thing in high school. I batiked myself the Primus guy on the cover of the Miscellaneous Debris album. It hung in my room for years.

We continued on to the Brimstone Hill Fort. It's fun to explore old forts. We took lots of great pictures there.

On the way back, we passed by the island Carib plant, drove by the black sand (ash) beach, purchased a couple of roadside coconuts through the window, and stopped to purchase some sugar cane and take pictures of, uh, rocks and water.

Got back to the boat, paid our fees, filled up on water, got some ice, and headed off to Ballast Bay, also at St. Kitts. We anchored for the night, snacked, and the guys played with the grill and made dinner. Steak and chicken. Tasty, and, despite a crazy windy rainstorm, made possible by Brad, who got soaked from head to toe manning the grill. Props to Brad for braving the elements to feed us!

After dinner, played some swaying boat Jenga and a few rounds of various card games, again using Risk army chips. Got ready for bed, noticed that it was dark and clear out, and spent some time stargazing. I never knew that the middle star in Orion's sword was actually a nebula. Hooray for binoculars and Aaron's random astronomy knowledge!

I realized today that I forgot to get Becky a shot glass from St. Barths. I looked for one at St. Kitts, but didn't find any. I also tried to find a tile for Lew, but all the ones they had at Brimstone Hill Fort were ugly. Siiigh.

Sunday 1/14 - Biking Nevis

Motored over to Nevis in the morning and anchored (Or moored, I'm not sure which.) in Tamarind Bay. Had some eggs, bacon, and potatoes, then dinghied to shore and walked to the bike rental place.

Brad, Randi, Roberta, Aaron, and I all rented bicycles (Aaron and I had Trek 4300s, not sure what the others had.). Gage had work to do and Chris and Rosie decided to just chill at the beach. Brad, Randi, and Roberta rode to the Four Seasons for the afternoon while Aaron and I set off to ride around (Literally. There's a road that circles the perimeter.) the island.

Reggie the ridiculously in shape bike shop guy had told us about the hills on our route ahead of time, but climbing in the humid air on unfamiliar bikes proved to be quite difficult. Or original plan had been to stop at every ice cream place on the loop, but since it was Sunday we found only one open shop. My flavor? Coconut, of course!

After making it about halfway around the island, we had reached the highest point, and got to tuck and zip back down the curvy roads. So much fun. We rode through Charleston, which had many shops, all of which were closed. Even the touristy gift shop was closed, which made me sad because it meant yet another island sans shot glass. We came across Brad, Randi, and Roberta farther down at a fruit shack. Aaron got more ice cream while I bounced around on the bike in the "parking lot".

We returned to the rental shop and I continued to play around with stoppies and track stands. It'd been a while since I'd been on a bike (It's been cold back home!) so I didn't want to get off. Reggie understood, and didn't seem to mind. Finally, I handed the bike over and met up with everyone at the bar.

A few notes from the ride that I didn't manage to work into the paragraphs above ...

There were goats along the side of the road all over the island. I meh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-ed at them all in an attempt to get them to meh-eh-eh back. It actually worked a few times. Success! Huzzah!

We saw the ocean quite a few times riding the perimiter road. After a while the beautiful blue water ocean view started to get old. Yawwwn. ;)

I was running low on cash so I went to an ATM in Charleston. I requested 300 EC and it was smart enough to give me 100 + 100 + 50 + 20 + 20 + 5 + 5. Why don't our ATMs do that?

We returned to the boat, I did some dishes, cleaned up, sat down to take notes on the day, and received a dark chocolate bribe from Chris to not blog anything bad about him. He sure knows how to pick a bribe!

Earlier in the day, Aaron cut into one of the two coconuts he bought from St. Kitts. The juice wasn't coconutty and there was barely any meat. Maybe it was a baby coconut?

Helped cut veggies for dinner (tasty burgers and salad). Ate, chatted, took some more notes, and went to sleep.

Monday 1/15 - Off to Statia for Some Diving!

Sailed to Statia in the morning. The seas were rough, so I elected to stay in bed. Better than barfing!

We arrived around late morning and planned to dive in the afternoon. Since I got seasick the last time I dived, I prepared by filling my stomach with fruit and ginger ale.

We met the dive shop folks at the dinghy dock, got geared up, and headed out for Double Wreck. My first boat dive! I rolled off the side and loved every millisecond of the entry. The water was warm (82 degrees at 60 feet down) and clear (approximately 70 foot visibility). We saw lots of sealife, and I got to pet a couple large stingrays. They're so soft and smooth!

We ascended to our safety stop, and after hanging out with the group for a minute or so, I slowly floated away from them to the surface. I'd been having some trouble descending toward the end of the dive, and I guess I finally used up enough air to become positively buoyant. I shrugged at the divemaster, he shrugged back, and I swam toward the boat.

A couple hours later, my left knee started to hurt, and not in the somewhat injured MCL spot on the inside. I don't know what an arthritic joint feels like, but I would guess that that's how my knee felt. I couldn't think of anything I'd done that might injure it, so I worried that it was nitrogen bubbles. The knee pain increased into the night, but otherwise I felt fine.

We had dinner at Kings Well, a quaint German hotel and reservation-only restaurant run by an older couple. We radioed them in the afternoon and they ran a menu down to the dive shop so we could order in advance. We had fun with the self-serve bar and the many pets they kept, including a Great (Big) Dane named Sam. We had some super yummy super rummy chocolate rum cake à la mode for dessert.

One thing I haven't talked about are the boat heads. There's a toilet, and it has a pump. It takes very little (two single-ply sheets) to no toilet paper. Using the boat head is not a joy, so whenever I was onshore I tried to use public toilets with real plumbing instead. The problem was, I kept finding myself in stalls with two remaining sheets of toilet paper. Better than none, I suppose, but I was convinced that the toilet paper gods were doing it for a laugh. Yeah, very funny.

Tuesday 1/16 - More Diving & Simpson Bay

Most of the boat got up for an 8:30 morning dive. Since I was worried about my knee (and its implications), I decided to skip it. Chris came back to the boat around 10. He told us about their first dive, a 90 foot wreck dive that sounded like a lot of fun, and said that they were going to go on a second, more shallow dive in a little while. We got up to go join them.

The dive was to 55 feet, at Hangover Reef. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the backward roll entry. I remembered to give Aaron my cheapie underwater camera, and he took pictures throughout the dive.

My knee was feeling somewhat okay when I woke up, but it hurt a lot more after I got out of the water. In any case, I survived, so phew, and hooray.

We then sailed for St. Martin to dock at Simpson Bay for the night. The seas were pretty rough, but I tried to stay awake anyhow. I was okay for a while standing on deck and looking forward, but since it was a several hour journey, I eventually sat down. Soon, I felt sick, so I lay down on the bench just inside and snoozed until we got there.

There's a drawbridge that controls traffic into and out of Simpson Bay. It opens at specific times during the day, and tourists line up to watch. We arrived just before the 5:30 PM bridge opening and sailed through as people waved and took pictures. Amusing.

Got to take a real shower at the marina. Totally refreshing.

After wandering the streets of Simpson Bay for a decent place to eat, we wound up back at the marina and ate at Jimbo's. I had half a mango margarita, a disappointing shredded chicken chimichanga with too-dry rice and beans, and a salad destroyed by hot sauce that Aaron had declared to be salad dressing. At least I got to eat his salad instead.

The boat was a short walk from Jimbo's. When we returned, I laid my margarita lightweight self down on the bed and didn't wake up until 4 AM. Woops.

Wednesday 1/17 - Off to Anguilla!

As per usual, we had some crazy bursts of wind and rain overnight. I like how short the "storms" are here. It's dry, it's pouring, it's dry again. It's calm, it's howling, it's calm again.

Woke up, took a taxi to Marigot to pick up some croissants and beignets. Returned to Simpson Bay, picked up some sodas, and got on the boat in time to head out for the 11 AM drawbridge opening.

Brad, Randi, and Gage decided the night before that boat living was not for them, so they hoped off the boat to find a cushy hotel for the rest of their vacation. Chris had to run around all morning to get the paperwork in order, and at some point ran into a pole and chipped his tooth. Poor Chris.

With fewer people on the boat and calmer seas, I got to help and become honorary boat crew. I learned how to use the winch and worked one of the jib sheets. I got a much better understanding of how the jib and sail are controlled, and what all those lines are for. For the first time, I made it from one island to another without without feeling sick or having to sleep. I finally got to see the flying fish along the side of the boat as we sailed.

Aaron would like me to note that he saw a dolphin along the side of the boat yesterday, and that even though I didn't see it I should write down that he did.

Made it to Anguilla and anchored in Road Bay. As we waited for Chris to clear us through customs, we saw schools of fish of various sizes jumping out of the water. Big fish in pursuit of little fish, perhaps? We also saw a turtle surface and poke its head out of the water a few times. So cute!

Knee update: It felt okay in the morning and I was very happy, to the extent that I took a huge leap off the boat and landed on it. It hurt a bit as I continued to walk on it, but I took a couple Advil and felt better. I think it'll be fine for hockey next weekend. Phew!

Camera update: The LCD screen is unusable now. I should find another camera so I can take a picture of the damage.

Boat update: It feels roomy with only five people.

Dinghied to shore and walked around looking for a place to eat. There were restaurants, but most of them looked to be closed. We found two open ones, one of which was an English place called Ripples. Service was ass-slow, and their Beer and Guinness Pie was only okay. Oh well, what can you do? At least they were open!

Thursday 1/18 - Prickly Pear Cay

Woke up, went into the kitchen, and found Chris making omlettes. We ate and sailed to Prickly Pear. Aaron was at the helm, and did a good job of dodging the many crab pots along the way. We anchored on the leeward side of the island, then dinghied to the other side. The ride through the channel between the eastern and western cays was rough and scared me a bit, as I'm pretty sure I would have been in a world of trouble had I ended up in the water there.

We lay out on the beach sipping frosty drinks (their pina colada was tasty!). This may have been the first time I've ever enjoyed the sand, and simply lying on a beach doing nothing. Well, okay, I wasn't really doing nothing. I was making shapes out of the clouds overhead. The best one: a Care Bear shaking its fluffy ass at all of us below.

After a little while, I made Aaron be my snorkeling buddy and we spent some time swimming around checking out reef and fishes. My favorite was the one that looked like Dori from Finding Nemo. Blue fish are so pretty!

We decided that it'd be better to lighten the load on the dinghy for the ride back to the boat, so Aaron and I walked over to the other side of the cay and snorkeled back. On the way we saw a bunch of huge black sea urchins. I'd never seen them before, so my first thought was "Underwater mines!" followed by "Exploding Death Stars!"

Back on the boat, I sat on deck near the bow to take some notes on the day. Someone called for me from inside, and as I walked back toward the stern I slipped and banged the front of my lower shin against a slightly open bathroom hatch. OW! It hurt for a while, and developed into a nice little bump shortly after.

Had some squishy pizza for lunch, thanks to our underpowered boat oven.

We motored back toward Anguilla. Along the way, Chris grabbed a seat cushion and a bottle of water, jumped overboard, and grinned as we motored away. "MAN OVERBOARD!" we yelled, to which Rosie (who was fulfilling some requirements for her bareboat charter class on this trip) sighed, "Oh, dammit." We swung around a couple times, picked Chris up, and continued on.

Finally able to take notes while the boat is in motion. WoohoO!

After anchoring at Crocus Bay, we cleaned up, dinghied to the rocky shore, and walked up a steep hill into town. Chris had promised us piles of amazingly tasty and cheap roadside barbeque. As it turns out, that doesn't happen on Thursdays. We ended up eating at a fancy restaurant (Koal Keel) in our roadside barbeque clothes. Not quite what we had in mind for dinner, but tasty nonetheless. I had a northern Indian butter chicken entree and an apple pastry dessert with ice cream. Rosie ordered a shrimp dish that was simply amazing, even to a non shrimp lover like me. We got a little tour at the end of the meal, headed back to the boat, and went to bed.

Friday 1/19 - More Snorkeling & Grand Case

Chris (and Rosie?) got up early to motor us a few football fields over to a mooring buoy in Little Bay. We got up a couple hours later, ate breakfast, cut up some leftover chicken chum, and dinghied over toward shallower waters for some snorkeling.

I got to backward roll off the dingy. It pleased me greatly.

Saw more fish and exploding Death Star sea urchins. It was cool to watch the fish come by and eat the chicken. Aaron put another roll of 800 speed film into my underwater camera and took some more pictures.

We returned to the boat and left at noon for Grand Case, St. Martin. The seas felt a little rough, so I ate some Saltines. I continued to feel sick, so I lay down on the bench and fell asleep.

I woke up as we neared Grand Case. I munched on some pretzels and took some notes.

For the first time this trip, we had an entirely overcast day. Yuck!

I realized that I left Anguilla without a shot glass. I didn't come across any. Oh well.

We cleaned up and dinghied into shore. We did some shopping, then had dinner at a nice French restaurant called Le Pressoir. For my appetizer I had lobster ravioli in an amazing passionfruit sauce. I would have been perfectly happy to have had more of that for my entree. There was a sweeter, tangier passionfruit sauce in my dessert also. This was definitely my favorite restaurant out of all the ones we visited on this trip.

We found out that it was the hostess/waitress's birthday, so we sang her happy birthday. Probably a little out of place for a fine French restaurant, but it was fun, and she seemed to be pleasantly surprised.

Saturday 1/20 - Returning the Boat

Headed from Grand Case back to Oyster Pond in the morning. Rosie still had an MOB to do under sail, so we tied a couple fenders together and tossed them into the ocean. "MAN OVERBOARD!" we yelled. "Oh, dammit," she sighed again. I got to work the boat hook this time around, and managed to pinch a chunk of my right forearm off extending it. Good job, me.

Got back to Oyster Pond around 11. Finished packing, cleaned up the boat a bit, and grabbed a quick lunch at the Dinghy Dock. I wanted one last island pina colada, but their blender was broken. That's just not right! No Caribbean bar should be frosty drinkless! Gah!

Taxipooled a ride back to the airport. Taxipools seem to be common practice on this island.

Saw Gage, Brad, and Randi at SXM. Caught up a bit on their adventures over the last couple days. Sounds like they had a nice time relaxing, drinking, meeting new people, and jet skiing.

Spent half an hour wondering where Aaron was after he disappeared while going through the security line. My first thought was, "Oh no! They've taken him to a special examination room!" As it turns out, he'd left the bottle of tasty local hot sauce in one of his carry-ons and had gone back to check it in.

Got on the plane and took some notes between SXM and MIA. Checked into our hotel in Miami, discovered that my phone had wiped itself clean over the last day or two, ughed at the possibility that I'd lost my list of logins for good, shook it off, went to dinner at Bennigans, went back to the hotel, called my parents, and went to sleep.

A few things I noticed once I returned to the US ...

The taxi drivers here are rude as hell.

The people are rude too, for the most part. Everyone's posturing. On the islands, everyone was friendly, everyone was cool, everyone seemed at ease with themselves. In the US, it seems like everyone's trying to be some stereotypical kind of cool. I found that to be totally uncool. Blech.

The people here are really fat, too. I mean, REALLY fat. What's wrong with us?

Sunday 1/21 - Back Home

Woke up around 5 AM (That's 2 AM California time, yuck!) and hopped on a shuttle to the airport. As I passed through security for the fourth time this trip, I was irked by the fact that I had gone through undetected with liquids tucked in my carry-on every time. Security, my ass. I truly believe that all the hoops we now have to jump through for the TSA do absolutely nothing to make us any safer in the air.

The flight back to SFO was largely uneventful. I polished off a few magazines. It was nice to do some leisure reading. I miss all the magazine time I used to have when I travelled for work. On the other hand, I quite enjoy my more stable schedule now.

Aaron's mom picked us up at the airport and whisked us back to the South Bay. We lunched, then I went home and got ready for hockey. It was a great way to get me off my lazy vacationing ass, and a wonderful finish to a wonderful two weeks.

09:56 PM | Injuries:Trips| Comments (4)

November 15, 2006 / Wednesday

Last Bill, I Hope

Received another medical bill this week from my Burning Man ER adventure. This one's for the doctor with the magic numbing eye drops.

Those eye drops were worth every penny.

01:18 AM | Injuries:Trips| Comments (1)

September 17, 2006 / Sunday

Drum Roll Please ...

The ambulance bill from Black Rock City to Reno has arrived: $3,046.

It would have been cheaper to take a taxi!

02:12 PM | Trips| Comments (3)

September 11, 2006 / Monday

More ...

Things from Burning Man I forgot to mention and/or photograph. Posted here because this is where my readily searchable memory resides, but you are welcome to the list too.

• The roller rink, complete with "rentals".
• The camp with the Slip N' Slide.
• 11 am bacon every day at You Are That Pig!
• The random hot dog stand out on the playa.
• The gigantic three legged thing with the wire head you could climb into that I forgot to revisit after it was built.
• Stilt walkers everywhere. I want to learn.
• Our neighbor who shared food with everyone who kept getting visits from random chicks. Pimmmp!
• The people handing out Otter Pops on the streets in the afternoon. I had wanted to do that, but wasn't sure about logistics.
• The naked guy who put a Boba Fett helmet on his head, picked up a Nerf rocket, and asked me to take a picture of him. I still need to e-mail him his picture.
• The ambulance drivers Friday night. They were at the end of a 24 hour shift of nothing but back-and-forth driving to transport Burners from Gerlach to Reno (2 hours each way), and were so tired they could barely talk. I felt bad for them, but there wasn't anything I could do to help.
• The obnoxiously crazy Mr. Tall as Shit and Cool as Fuck in the crowd before the burn.
• The much more pleasant hussie who offered me a makeover after our relocation away from Mr. TaSaCaF.

Thoughts.

• The cat artcar needs to chase the mouse artcar around. (That's an Aaron thought, but I second.)
• The Canadian street hockey people need to hook up with the roller rink people.
• Why didn't I think to slide down and/or take a picture of the Slip N' Slide?
• Now that I have a better idea of logistics, I have a more ambitious idea than Otter Pops for when I return. I want to dish up deep fried Twinkies. Things to keep in mind: keeping the Twinkies frozen, powering the deep fryer, keeping trash low, and, most importantly, not burning anyone or setting anything on fire with the oil.

I know I'm still forgetting stuff. These lists may grow.

09:44 PM | Trips| Comments (3)

September 05, 2006 / Tuesday

Burning Man 2006

Finally, my pictures are sorted, edited, loaded, and captioned. Now for the blog post.

Burning Man was awesome. It wasn't as surreal as I expected it to be, but it was definitely different. No place like it on earth. I'm very glad that I finally got to go. That, despite the fact that I landed myself in the ER. You'll read about that later.

The weather this week was beautiful. A dust storm rolled in when we first arrived, but it died down once we set up camp and stayed calm the rest of the time we were there. The temperatures were mild, too. It was neither too hot during the day nor too cold at night. I really lucked out weather-wise.

Wednesday

We left the Bay Area a little after 7 AM. We drove out to Susanville, where we stopped for ice, lunch, and little hair tie things for my new 'do. We then set out on a dirt road toward Gerlach.

Many dusty dirt miles later, we made a stop at Planet X Pottery, where we discovered that the dirt road had given us a flat tire. We changed the tire, bought some pottery, and continued on.

Finally, Black Rock City came into sight. I bounced in my seat a few times as we waited in line to get in. Just as we passed the greeters, a dust storm came in. We donned our goggles and set up camp. The wind died down, we ate dinner, and Aaron took a nap. I hopped on my bike and headed out to explore.

I rode along the Esplanade until 10:00 and headed out to a big bright structure way out on the playa that turned out to be Uchronia, a.k.a. the Belgian Waffle. I can't believe they built that thing free-form! It was pretty damned impressive. The music and lights drew tons of people in. Too bad I wasn't there to watch them burn it down. I trust it was spectactular.

[ Update: Looks like they have a website for the structure. Awesome. ]

I rode some more and came across Conexus Cathedral. Totally pretty lit up at night. Actually, it's really pretty in the daytime, too.

I rode up to the Man and got a nice picture of him with the base lit up. It took me forever to get there because I kept getting distracted by fireballs in the distance. I'd ride toward the man, see a fireball, and change course for the fireball. Mmm ... fiiire.

After a couple hours, I headed back to camp to see if Aaron was done napping yet. We headed out again a bit later. To my delight, Dance Dance Immolation was up and running! I wanted to sign up for a round, but unfortuantely the line was too long. That reminds me, if anyone out there has a fire suit and a gigantic flamethrower and would like to test out that combo on someone, I'd like to volunteer.

We wandered some more and checked out more camps and playa art. I made a couple videos of the Big Round Cubatron. I want one of those in my backyard.

Oh, wait, I don't have a backyard. Never mind.

Thursday

Thursday started with a bike race on the playa at 10:30. I rode around in circles for fun, and got a nifty spoke bracelet out of it. It's purdy.

After regrouping at camp, I headed over to play horseshoes with our neighbors. I'd never played before, so I was excited to learn. I even threw a couple ringers! WoohoO!

After horseshoes, we walked another half block to the Titty-Totter of Death. I don't think any teeter-totter ride is ever going to top that one. Well, except for the spinning teeter-totter I came across on the Esplanade later that night, which teetered up and down while it spun in a circle. I wanted to ride it, but, siiigh, the line was too long.

Out on the playa, we discovered the Sunflower, a parabolic solar cooker. After using it to instantly sear through sheets of paper, Aaron put Jack-Jack on the end of the stick and roasted him.

After a quick Penguini photo shoot, we rode out to the Starry Bamboo Mandala. I really wanted to climb it, but I didn't want to fall off and wind up in the ER. I didn't know then that I'd wind up there anyway. Oh well.

We headed back toward the camp and came across a giant version of Operation, complete with forceps that really shock you. I've gotta get one of those for my living room. Bzzz!

Then it was off to watch some Kosho. It looked fun, but I'd never been on a trampoline in my life and I didn't want to break my back trying to jump between the two they had set up. Fortunately for me, I later found a free trampoline at a different camp, where a random guy named Corey taught me a few moves. Huzzah!

After dinner, Aaron fell asleep and wouldn't get up, so I went out and played on my own. I watched the much heralded return of the Megavolt truck and enjoyed a performance by the Mistress.

Then it was off to the Thunderdome, where my patience earned me a front row view and I got to watch people fly into and beat the shit out of each other with padded bat things whilst suspended from the dome structure. I was mesmerized and didn't want to leave, but I realized the people behind me wanted to get a view, too, so I rotated myself out to let them have a turn.

I watched some more Dance Dance Immolation and headed over to the Opulent Temple camp, where I danced my little dance and spun my glowsticks to my heart's content. It's been years since I've spun, and I've missed it.

Friday

On Friday I did something else that I haven't done in years: I swung on a swing. I got Aaron to give me a few pushes, and I got high enough to actually feel a little scared. I miss that feeling. Got some great pictures, but you'll have to take my word for it. My Friday outfit was NSFW, and, therefore, NSF my Flickr account.

After the swing we returned to the pyramid I had attempted to climb the day before. I was determined to get to the top, and this time I made it. That felt really good.

Later in the afternoon I went to a sock poi workshop and learned a few moves. I also hit myself repeatedly with my tennis ball socks. Glad I didn't bruise.

Some more wandering led us to a human powered swingy-go-round. I hopped on and made a video.

Wander, wander, dinner, a beautiful sunset, then s'mores. And then began my night that ended in the ER.