soopahviv.net/blog

October 31, 2009 / Saturday

Sights From Above

Hello from Boston. Since I flew out on late notice, I didn't get my usual aisle seat. I did, however, get a window, and took full advantage of it. Cool things I saw:

1. The Bay Bridge with no cars on it. Eerie.
2. Waterways galore, I think here. Maybe here.
3. A skyward spotlight from the ground, viewed from the other side of the clouds.

Also, a nifty sight from below: The moon at our wingtip as we banked for our approach into Boston. I wish I'd had my camera handy!

08:27 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

September 02, 2009 / Wednesday

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Volcanoes! Lots of them! We did a four day trip to Lassen this past weekend. Here's the recap.

Friday - And We're Off!

Hit the road around noon on Friday, made it to Tracy, and stopped for lunch. Unfortunately, there isn't much to eat in Tracy aside from fast food. Got my annual fill of Sonic and felt sick afterward. Tots, onion rings, and a corn dog probably wasn't the best idea. Ugh.

Drove a while longer and stopped in Red Bluff after I realized I'd forgotten my camp chair. The Walmart there had two types of camp chairs: Tony Stewart #44 or oversized. I didn't feel red enough for a NASCAR chair so I opted for the oversized. I'm pretty sure you can comfortably fit two of me in there.

I was in a shopping mood, so I bought a couple other items from the same aisle: astronaut ice cream and a bright orange spork. Spork!

Inhaled a salad at Raley's and felt better.

Continued on to Lassen and got to the park in time for a beautiful sunset. Yes, that's Mt. Lassen in the picture on the right.

Got to the campsite, set up camp, ate some kabobs, and got ready for bed. That's when I realized I'd forgotten something else: my sleeping pad.

Oh well, it wasn't the end of the world. It would have been far worse if I'd forgotten my sleeping BAG, which I almost did. Thank goodness for whatever it was that caused me to jump out of bed, dash to the closet, and dig the thing out. Oh, I almost forgot my hiking poles too. Good job, me.

Tucked in and tried to position myself around the biggest bumps in the ground. Some campers arrived to join a nearby camp. Screaming ensued. Good night, people!

Saturday - Mill Creek Falls & Bumpass Hell

Shortly after the sun came up, kids from a another nearby camp came running through the campgrounds. More screaming ensued. Um, good morning?

Pancakes and bacon for breakfast, then off to our hike!

On the way there, Aaron told me his plan. We'd hike from the Visitor's Center to Mill Creek Falls, Cold Boiling Lake, and Bumpass Hell. Upon reaching the Bumpass Hell parking lot, I'd try to bum us a ride back to the Visitor's Center.

I wasn't particularly fond of the last part, but I was game. But by the time we reached the falls, Aaron was feeling tired and our stop for pictures every 10 minutes pace wasn't going to get us to the Bumpass Hell lot at a decent hour, so we decided to skip Cold Boiling Lake, go back to the Visitor's Center, and do an out and back to Bumpass Hell.

Just as well. We had ice cream at the Visitor's Center. :)

There were tons of people on the Bumpass Hell trail. Still, that didn't detract from (1) the fact that this place got its name from Mr. Bumpass, (2) the carnivorous chipmunk we encountered, and (3) the crazy landscape of fumaroles, mudpots, and boiling water. Definitely worth the visit.

We collected some firewood and headed back to camp. Dinner was pasta with peppers, onion, garlic, and turkey meatballs, followed by marshmallows over the fire. Yum.

Sunday - Cinder Cone

Sunday announced itself with yet another screaming child. Argh.

Breakfast was tasty: runny cheesy scrambled eggs on toast and bacon.

We drove about an hour out of and around to Butte Lake, in the northeast corner of the park. Most of the hike to the Cinder Cone was flat, but the entire hike was on loose cinders, which made for some slow going.

Still, it was worth it, because when we got to the top, we saw this:

Holy moly, that's the top of a volcano! There was even a trail down to the very center. We hiked down there, sat down, and had a snack. Wow. Just wow.

Looked at a satellite view of the Cinder Cone just now. Wow again.

On our way back into the park, we stopped by the Loomis Museum and did a quick loop on the Devastated Area Interpretive Trail. Learned quite a bit.

Got back to camp, started a big fire, made popcorn, then burgers, then marshmallows. The burgers were really just an excuse for the appetizer and dessert. :)

Monday - Crags Lake

We decided to get a short hike in to Crags Lake before driving home. The trail was pleasant, we made good time, and then at some point we couldn't find any more trail. We couldn't find a lake, either. After looking around some, we headed back. We happened to be parked near the park store, which meant we got to have ice cream again. Yeah!

We ducked into the Loomis Museum again to ask the rangers why we couldn't find the lake. "You didn't see any water?" one of them replied, "It must have dried up!" Turns out the lake is seasonal. Hah.

Here are more pictures from the trip: Viv's little camera Aaron's big camera

Bonus 1 - Sundial Bridge

Since we exited the park to the west, our route home took us through Redding. I remembered that there was a unique bridge here I've been wanting to check out. We drove around in circles a bit, turned on the GPS, and found ourselves at the Sundial Bridge. Beautiful!

Bonus 2 - Mom Does Not Approve

I told my mom about the trip when I talked to her earlier today. She immediately launched into the expected, "No cell phone, so dangerous! What if something happens? You can't call for help! There's no one out there; what if you get robbed out on the trails? What if the volcanoes erupt? Best to stay home and be safe."

What's that? Stay home and be bored? No thanks.

09:00 PM | Family:Hike:Trips| Comments (3)

July 15, 2009 / Wednesday

Mendocino!

My company's forced shutdown Fridays prompted Aaron to schedule us a trip to Mendocino last weekend. It was three days jam-packed with tastiness and fun.

Ubuntu

We headed out Friday morning, stopping for lunch at Ubuntu in Napa.

No, they did not serve penguin. This is a crazy cool creations vegetarian restaurant that serves a lot of their food from their own garden. I saved our receipt so I could remember what we had. Receipt text in caps, description follows.

CHICKPEAS - These weren't anything like the garbanzo beans you add to your salad from a can. They were coconut battered, deep fried, and served with a romesco sauce on the side. A very tasty way to start the meal.

FRITTER - These were made with veggies from the garden. They were served atop a tasty sauce and accompanied by dabs of a flavorful coconut cream, mini sweet onion bulbs, some greens, and some sort of ice plant. The ice plant definitely didn't look like something I'd think to eat, but it turned out to be pretty good!

GRITS - Once again, the receipt abbreviation is comically simple compared to the dish that we got. What arrived was a bowl of sweet creaminess with a super smooth poached salted egg in the middle and mushroom "bacon" that looked like the real thing. The flavors combined wonderfully.

CHEESECAKE - It was actually "cheesecake", served in a jar, with some specially prepared strawberries on top. I have no idea how they made it, but it was really darned tasty.

FEUILLETINE - Finally, a fancy name that suits the food they serve here! As the name suggests, this dessert consisted of mini-flakes (like cereal), served with a dollop lime kefir ice cream and warm coconut milk. Looked like breakfast, tasted like dessert. I think I'll start having this for breakfast. :)

We left the restaurant completely stuffed, but quite happy. Who knew vegetarian fare could be so creative and tasty? Two thumbs way up for Ubuntu!

Dean & DeLuca

We continued toward Mendocino on highway 128, which took us through wine country. We spotted Dean & DeLuca and stopped for a visit. I felt fortunate that we were still stuffed from lunch, as I wanted to buy everything in the store. I also felt fortunate that I didn't live near a D&DL, because I'm sure I'd very quickly find myself quite fat and poor.

Bale Grist Mill State Historical Park

Several miles down the road, we spotted a "MILLING TODAY" sign at the Bale Grist Mill. This mill is powered by a giant water wheel, which in itself is super cool, made super cooler only by the fact that it's hooked up to some really big gears. I love gears. The bigger the better.

We got to learn about how mill stones work and even see the mill in action. I was surprised to learn that mill stones don't grind; they have ridges that cut like scissors, over and over, as the grain is pushed from the center of the stones all the way to the outside. It's amazing that they were able to put such large and heavy stones together so precisely that they could make flour without the stones touching. And when they do touch? Sparks! Smells like burning!

Visitors can even take home some of the flour/cornmeal they produce for a "donation". (The health department does not allow them to sell the stuff for consumption because they don't have screens on their windows.) We wanted to, but there was only one guy running the place and he was busy giving a tour.

Glendeven Inn

We arrived at Glendeven Inn a little after 6 PM. After checking in, stashing our bikes away, and eating a couple of their always fresh and available cookies, we decided to go meet the animals. (The chicken feed told us to!)

It just so happened that it was dinner time for the llamas, and John the innkeeper let us help feed them. I even got to kiss a couple of them! That's me greeting Carla on the left, after greeting her mother (Mama Llama, watching in back) moments earlier.

Next, we headed to the chicken coop. When we arrived, we were surprised to find one of the chickens outside the coop, pacing back and forth along the fence trying to get back in. We tried to help it, but it ran away from us. Eventually, John came by and expertly guided it back home.

I fed them out of my hand, and was surprised by how soft the chickens felt as they brushed against my arm. I quickly discovered the pecking order (har har) in the coop; the biggest, strongest, prettiest chickens were also the most aggressive food seekers. I tried to get away from the alpha chicken so the more timid ones could get some feed too.

Below is one in a series of pictures of alpha two. It followed me all the way to the gate as if to say, "I know you have more chicken feed," which was true, but I wanted to save some for later in the weekend. :)

Also, for your viewing enjoyment, a closeup video of Mama Llama chowing on dinner. That's John in the back at the end of the video.

Moosse Cafe

We went to Moosse Cafe for dinner. As we flipped through a copy of the Mendocino Travelers Guide, our server stopped by and said, "My photo is on the cover!" Turns out, she travels the world taking pictures of beautiful sites. She gave me her card. Here's her website: http://ritacranestudio.com/

For dessert, we had, you guessed it, the chocolate mousse. Actually, it's "Callebaut Belgian dark chocolate pudding with whipped cream and bittersweet chocolate shavings." It's definitely heavier than mousse, full of flavor, unique despite being mostly chocolate, and super tasty. If you eat here, you must try this.

Mmm, Breakfast!

John came by with a super tasty three course breakfast on Saturday morning. It came with a menu:

- Fresh squeezed organic orange juice
- Organic Granny Smith apple crisp
- Farm-fresh egg Italian scramble
- Homemade bagels

It was all sooo good. I don't usually like eggs for breakfast or cream cheese with my bagels, but I ate it all with a big huge smile. The apple crisp was good enough that I saw apple crisp on a dessert menu the next day and decided not to order it, because it could not possibly be better than the one that came with breakfast.

A really nice touch: the fresh-cut rose that came on the tray. It smelled as beautiful as it looked.

We had to rush a bit to get to Fort Bragg by 10. I promised myself that I'd eat extra slowly the next morning so I could savor every bite.

Skunk Train

My first real steam engine train ride! The Skunk Train runs an open air car, and we stood outside for the ride out to Northspur. The weather was amazing and the forest we rode through was beautiful. I could see the steam come off the front of the train, hear the horn at road and camp crossings, and, when the conditions were just right, the train itself as it "chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-ed" its way down the tracks. The conductor told us about the history of the forest and the train as we passed through different areas.

What made the ride extra fun, though, was the Train Singer. He just had the perfect outfit, mustache, face, and personality to add to the whole experience. He made his way up and down the cars with his guitar and his harmonica, playing and singing train songs for everyone. He did it all, from playing a mini harmonica and blowing bubbles for the kids to rocking out with Ozzy's Crazy Train.

He came over to me and Aaron, and I told him I thought he was the best Train Singer ever. "Let me give you my card," he said. He accepted tips, and I thought about how much to tip him. People were tipping a dollar here and there, but I felt that wasn't enough. I eventually decided on five, figuring that five dollars would buy me a snack and a drink, and that having him on the train with us was worth more to me than that.

I tipped him and thanked him, and I have no idea how he managed to look at how much I'd given him in that short moment, but he did. "I want to give you something," he said, "I have a special on CDs for five dollars, and you just bought one!" Wow, all right! I get to enjoy Train Singer tunes at home now too. I'm listening to it as I write this.

"Wooooo-wooooo-woo-wooooo!"

Ocean Kayaking

Thursday night, I asked Aaron, "What do I wear for kayaking?" He replied with, "Something you don't mind getting wet in." I took that to mean warm clothes that repel water.

Friday afternoon, Aaron said, "What? You didn't bring a bathing suit?" Apparently, that's what he meant by something I didn't mind getting wet in. Oh.

Saturday afternoon, I hunted down and bought a bikini in Fort Bragg. It set me back about $95. Ouch. But that's okay, I was now ready to go kayaking!

We were to launch from a beach just a few minutes away from the inn. I wanted to drive, but Aaron wanted to hike there and back. I was skeptical, but after he assured me that he could see the trailhead from our room, I relented. Off we went!

We hiked and hiked. Actually, I flipped and flopped. Eventually, we made it to the water, except that it wasn't the beach. It was a cliff. This resulted in more flipping and flopping in the general direction of the beach, which Aaron deemed not fast enough, as we were now running late for our appointment. There wasn't much I could do about that, and even though I was trying to be laid back about about being late (I HATE being late), Aaron was getting stressed, and in turn that stressed me out too.

We arrived 20 minutes later than we had planned, but caught the group before they left. Unfortunately, all that was left was a tandem kayak. Tandem kayaking to me is like driving a car with two steering wheels, two gas pedals, and two brakes. That, and my backseat kayaker was telling me I wasn't paddling the right way, I wasn't holding my paddle properly, where was I going, what was I doing... Eventually he told me just to paddle and he'd steer. Okay, fine.

Remember that bathing suit I bought earlier in the day? The kayaking guy handed me a half wetsuit and just told me to put it on over what I was wearing, so I didn't actually need to buy a bathing suit after all. Another for my expensively extensive rarely used collection.

Given all that, I pretty much just paddled straight and mentally checked out. I remember seeing lots of cool things, but they just didn't trigger that, "Wow, COOL!" reaction they should have. There were harbor seals, starfish, jellyfish, iridescent seaweed, and even nudibranchs. We paddled into and through ocean caves and ate fresh seaweed. We even had entertainment, as a couple of the girls in our group were total spazzes and kept running themselves into giant rocks. They even managed to glide up onto a rock and get stuck when the tide pulled away.

We'd thought the tour would last about an hour, so I factored in another hour to get there and back and made sure I ate enough before we left. As it turned out, it took 45 minutes to get there and we spent over an hour and half on the water. I got hungry near our turnaround point, and the already wet wetsuit that I had on started to make me cold. When our guide told us we were heading back, I paddled and paddled and paddled. I wanted out of the water, the wet wetsuit off me, and food in my belly.

Except that my clothes under the wetsuit were now wet too, so when I took the wetsuit off, I got really cold. By the time we walked back to the inn, I couldn't feel my feet. They didn't feel quite right even after my hot shower.

I really need to do this ocean kayaking thing over again.

Mendocino Cafe

We got into town pretty late and had some trouble finding a place to eat. Eventually, we made it to the Mendocino Cafe. This place was great. It was nice and laid back, all the servers were happy and friendly, the menu had lots of variety, and the food was totally tasty. I definitely recommend it.

Sunday Breakfast

More tastiness:

- Fresh squeezed organic orange juice
- Fresh fruit medley
- Wild mushroom farm-egg strata
- Orange cranberry scones

I loved the scones. They were nice and light and fluffy. :)

After breakfast, we visited the animals once more, packed up, and headed out.

Jackson Demonstration Forest

This was a bit of an... adventure. There aren't many maps of the trails here, so we relied on asking various people for information about where to go, where to park, where to ride, etc. We went to talk to the good folks at Fort Bragg Cyclery the day before, which got us to a good starting point with at least an idea of where we could ride. Next, there was the mountain biker in the parking lot who gave us not only trail recommendations, but also his maps. And later, out on the trails, we encountered a rider who, when we asked about trails, rode with us a ways to show us the trailhead. (There are no signs at JDF, because, as the bike shop guy explained, people just use them for target practice.)

Everyone up there was so super nice, even the equestrians. (I note this because the majority of the equestrians I've encountered at my home park are the unfriendliest pricks on the planet.) I guess it's just a happy, laid back place to live. :)

The trails weren't super steep or difficult, but they were foresty and beautiful. There's Aaron on the left, riding through a tree stump.

Despite that, I still almost ate it, when I reached an open landing and inattentively rolled off a drop without noticing the perpendicular ruts just after the landing. My front wheel dug and my bike started tipping forward.

Amazingly, I managed to clip out of my pedals, jump over my handlebars, land on my feet, and turn around to watch my bike go boom. I yelled to Aaron, "DID YOU SEE THAT?!" "See what?" he replied. Darn, no witnesses. At least I have a big fat knee bruise to prove it really happened; I knocked it against the handlebar during my escape.

What a nice happy ride. Little did I know what our park exit had in store for us. We'd inadvertently taken a little bumpy side road to the parking area, and since the wide, smooth, main road was now obvious, we took that one back. The problem was, it had these GIANT speed bumps. I drove over the first one as carefully as I could, but my car was simply too low to the ground. SCRAAAAAAAPE. Aurgh! My car's first underbelly scrape, and it was a huge one. :(

There were more speed bumps ahead, but how many? It was a dirt road, so I didn't know if they were the same height, or possibly lower. Do we turn around and scrape again on the one we just went over? We forged ahead.

SCRAAAAAAAPE. Ouuuch. We managed to use the raised side of the road to navigate over a couple of the bumps, but we had no choice but to scrape over the rest. There were six speed bumps in all. By the time we reached the end of the road, I felt sick to my stomach.

Just as well, because when we stopped at Mendocino Creamery for ice cream afterward, we discovered that they serve Dreyer's and left. Don't call yourself a creamery if you don't make your own ice cream. It's technically correct, but fraud in the eyes of ice cream lovers! Super lame.

Pictures Pictures Pictures

We'd spotted some driftwood on Big River Beach just off Highway 1, and since Aaron had brought his big giant camera, we stopped there for some pictures.

On our way home, we found ourselves approaching the Golden Gate Bridge just after sunset. Again because of the big giant camera, I detoured into the Marin Headlands. Aaron jumped out of the car, set up his tripod, and got some nice pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.

More driving, and then, home!

Here are our pictures from the trip:

- Mendocino 2009 - Viv's little Lumix
- Bale Grist Mill - Aaron's fancypants Canon
- Glendeven Inn - Aaron's fancypants Canon
- Skunk Train - Aaron's fancypants Canon
- Kayaking - Aaron's little Canon
- Jackson Demonstration Forest - Aaron's little Canon
- Big River Beach - Aaron's fancypants Canon
- Golden Gate Bridge - Aaron's fancypants Canon

09:48 PM | Mazdaspeed 3:Mountain:Trips| Comments (3)

July 03, 2009 / Friday

Boston 2009

Wow, that was fast. I'm back in California already? That wasn't enough time!

On Saturday night, Aaron dropped me off at SFO and I red-eyed my way to Boston for my dad's 60th birthday the next day. Dad woke up early to pick me up, even though I'd told him I'd just take the T from the airport. We got back to the house around 8, where I gave mom a big hug and fell into bed for a nap. I felt bad for making my parents get up early on their day off, but they ended up catching a few more hours of shuteye too.

Everyone took Monday and Tuesday off, and the whole family hung out for the first three days. Grandma came too, and I got a couple visits in with grandpa during my stay. Bobo was thrilled; she's used to long days by herself while my parents are at work.

Everyone's getting older, but it's especially evident with Bobo. She's 12 years old now, and it shows in her energy levels and the way she moves. That said, her old lady waddle is ridiculously cute. So is her personality. It's more developed, pronounced, and unique each time I visit. I suppose I could say the same for her appetite; she always wants food!

But then, so does dad. I spent the week eating nonstop, mostly because dad's always thinking about and/or seeking out the next meal or snack. Perhaps it's to make up for the fact that he often doesn't have time to eat when he's at work.

Work is making my aging parents age faster. Both mom and dad are working like crazy and under tremendous pressure every day. They're both contemplating retirement; mom in the coming months and dad in the next couple years. Not soon enough, IMO, but they don't feel financially secure enough to require just yet.

On Wednesday, I got together with some friends from high school for lunch and then dinner. I hadn't seen any of them in years (some since high school, yikes), and it was really nice to catch up. (Thank you Facebook!) We were amused by how we all looked the same, just a little older. I also got to meet my friend Sabrina's 8 year old son. He is the sweetest kid ever, just like his mom. :)

Five friends in one visit is a lot for me, but there were still others that I didn't have time to see. I say this at the end of every visit home, but I really need to schedule longer trips so I can spend a decent amount of time with my family and still have enough left over to see all my friends.

Mom asked if there was anything I wanted her to cook while I was back. I asked to learn how to make wontons (the ones I can buy don't taste the same) and red roasted pork (a direct translation of "hoong siu yook", not to be confused with "cha siu"). They jumped into action, dad with the wontons and mom with the pork. Here goes. There are no measurements; that's not how cooking is done at home!

All this eating generated a lot of dishes. 15 years ago, this would have resulted various family members telling other family members to clear the table, do the dishes, dry them, put them away, etc. Now, we all jump up to pitch in. "I'll do the dishes." "No, I'll do them! You rest!" My, how times have changed.

One thing you probably didn't know about my mom is that she has quite the green thumb. So green, in fact, that I suspect all her fingers are that color, and possibly even her big toes. She absolutely adores plants, and it's really cute to see how much time and energy and love she puts into everything she grows around the house.

I, on the other hand, am not fit to be a plant mommy. Everything I touch dies. My thumbs, they are brown. Black, even.

I am, however, looking to turn over a new leaf. (Har-dee-har!) So I asked mom for a clipping of her jasmine plant. She used to pick flowers from this plant and put them on my desk while I studied. The scent was delightful, with a much lighter quality than the jasmine varieties I've encountered here in California. She already had a starter plant going, so she packed it up for me. I also got a clipping of one of her other plants that I liked. It's sitting in some water now. Grow, roots, grow!

Seeing the plants in my apartment makes me happy, not just because they liven up the room. It's a little piece of home, growing in my own home.

Goodbyes are more difficult with each visit. The more time I spend away, the more I understand the importance of family. My mom, dad, sister, grandma, grandpa, and even Bobo are irreplaceable. I wish I could see them more often, and given how fragile life is, I wonder each time I leave if I'll ever see each of them again. I know they wonder the same thing.

10:48 AM | Family:Trips| Comments (5)

May 25, 2009 / Monday

Dolphins Do Dallas Wrapup

Dolphins Stuff

One really cool thing (of many) about the Dolphins I team that we brought to this tournament: Every forward (and one of our D) scored a goal. Points were well distributed among all three forward lines, and even our D got involved. We didn't have scoresheets to look at after the games, but I wouldn't be surprised if each of our D had points on assists.

Another really cool thing about this team: We gave up a total of 5 goals in 5 games. Way to go goalie, way to go D, and way to go forwards for backchecking. Every D had awesome stops, shots, and keep-ins. Every forward backchecked.

Wait, let me say that one again. Every forward backchecked. Hard. I've never seen that with any team I've played on before. Ever.

And off the ice, the Dolphins are just a rad bunch of folks to hang out with. Oh, and FISTER!

Spain.

DAL -> AUS -> LAX -> SJC

Slept until 10 on Monday, packed up, checked out, paid a quick visit to Waffle House, and hopped on the first leg of what we thought would be a two leg journey home. Landed in Austin, grabbed lunch, and headed to our gate, where we saw that we were not flying to San Jose, but rather Los Angeles, *then* to San Jose. We were not happy. Not happy not happy not happy. Not happy at all.

Next time, I'll just fly an airline that does non-stop flights and pay extra for baggage.

One More Thing

Whoo, Dolphins! :-D

10:14 PM | Bucktooth Angry Dolphins:Trips| Comments (2)

May 22, 2009 / Friday

Dolphins Do Dallas Day 1

SJC -> LAX -> SAT -> DAL

One plane, four airports. That wasn't what we thought we'd booked, but once we were on the plane, we realized we were in for a long, long ride. Three takeoffs and landings while stuffed into the same metal tube. That might be a new record for me. Oof!

Rental Carpool Craziness

Weeks ago, Lucinda asked me if Andrea and I wanted to ride in her van. I said something along the lines of, "Oh, that'd be cool." Around the same time, she asked Andrea the same thing. Also around the same time, Andrea asked me what we were doing for a ride, and I probably told her something along the lines of, "We're good," without explaining exactly why we were good. Andrea then told Lucinda that we didn't need a ride, because "We're good" sounds a lot like "I am renting a car." Lucinda then took that to be a collective "No" because "Oh, that'd be cool" is way too squishy to be a yes.

We found all this out as we deplaned in Dallas. It went something like this.

Jami: Who are you (and Andrea) riding with?
Viv: Lucinda (and Ellaine). Who are you (and Mel) riding with?
Jami: Lucinda (and Ellaine).

Six people with hockey gear in one van? How was that going to work? We eventually pieced together what had happened.

Fortunately, Liz had totally overplanned Andrea's trip and reserved her a car anyway. Yay! Off to Alamo we went.

Upon reaching the counter, we discovered that the reservation was for DFW instead of DAL. D'oh.

Fortunately, Liz was able to make another reservation for the correct airport on the spot. Yay!

While doing the paperwork, the Alamo agent discovered that Andrea's driver license was expired. D'oh.

Fortunately, mine wasn't, so we rented the car under my name and we were on our way. Yay!

Or were we? Yes, once we figured out how to enter the hotel address into Andrea's GPS. That took about 15 minutes. D'oh.

On the upside, the car we rented has satellite radio and a 110V plug in the cabin. Yay!

Hello, Dolphins!

Checked in, hung out a bit, stuffed ourselves silly at a sushi (and more) buffet, stopped at the grocery store, and headed back to the hotel, where a bunch of folks from both Dolphins teams hung out some more. I opted retreat to my room and wind down for the night.

Jotted this post in Notepad because my server is still down. Went to sleep.

09:38 PM | Bucktooth Angry Dolphins:Trips| Comments (0)

November 30, 2008 / Sunday

Thoughts From The T

I took the T home from the airport Wednesday night. I waited five minutes for a Silver Line bus at the terminal, hopped on, transferred to a Red Line train at South Station, and was in Quincy a mere hour after stepping off the plane. All for two bucks!

If I wanted to do the same from SFO to Sunnyvale, it would take several times longer and cost several times more. Yes, it's farther, but the system is simply not as convenient.

The entire T system now runs on Charlie Cards. (I love saying that with a Boston accent.) Yes, it's the system with the hackable free ride vulnerability that T officials tried to "secure" with a silencing court order, but the idea behind it is good. (The ridiculousness of security through obscurity could be another giant blog post on its own.) The folks back home complain that it's gotten more expensive, but it's still cheap compared to Bay Area transportation, and a heck of a lot more practical.

As I waited for the train at South Station, I looked at and listened to the people around me. At least in the subway tunnel, Boston is almost as diverse as the Bay Area. It's gained quite a bit of color since I left.

As I waited for the train at South Station, I also remembered all the things that scared me about the Red Line when I was younger: the squeal of the wheels on the tracks, the word "ASHMONT", the way the ends of the train looked, the giant gap between the platform and the now-retired older trains, crossing the Neponset River. I'm glad that stuff doesn't scare me (as much) anymore.

Remember when BART tried out those light up motion ads in the transbay tube? (I say that in the past tense because I haven't seen them lately.) I found whatever ad it was that I saw to be disappointingly short. I saw one while riding home on the Red Line on Wednesday. It told a good long story, but I was caught off guard and didn't think to figure out what it was trying to say.

As someone who would like not to have to drive every time I want to go to SF without spending more on fare than I would on gas and wasting several extra hours in transit, I wish we could have a transportation system like this in the Bay Area. Am I asking for too much?

07:04 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

More Exciting Than An Amusment Park Ride

Turbulence has been crazy on this flight. We're being tossed around like... salad at Pluto's!

Unrelated to turbulence, the tray tables have ads on them when you flip them open.

Also unrelated to turbulence, they have my foamy Dial hand soap in the bathroom.

Oh, and they now charge for drinks. $2 for water and soda, boo.

Funny what a little bumpy air jolts out of the brain.

P.S. I'm flying US Airways. Their employees don't like to smile.

06:53 PM | Trips| Comments (2)

Mishmash Of Trip Notes

Greetings from the plane. I'm seated in the very last row. It's amazingly roomy, as evidenced by the fact that I can work on my unwieldy laptop here. I think it has something to do with the fact that the seats don't recline much, and luckily my last row seat reclines just as much (or as little, I should say) as the seat in front of me.

Also amazing is the fact that I found a position with my neck pillow that allowed me to fall asleep without my head dropping forward. I took a nice hourlong nap when the turbulence got so bad that I thought I'd hurl if I stayed awake. That, and I kind of liked getting rocked to sleep by the plane.

Not As Bad As I'd Feared

This trip ended up being pretty good. The criticism that had kept me from visiting for so long didn't rear its head until my final day here, and didn't have a chance to reach full volume before it was time to leave. It was all the usual stuff: eyebrows, hair, I should buy a house. Nothing about getting married and having kids from mom this time. Grandma, however, did request great-grandkids because all her friends had at least one, and it was my responsibility as the older grandchild to birth her one. This, after telling my sister and me that we were fortunate to have grown up before the world got as crazy as it is today. Grandma is not exactly known for her logical prowess.

I mentioned hair in the last paragraph. They're quite happy that the red pigtails are gone. Mom now wants me to wear it a certain way, with the front half of my hair pulled back and secured with a clip. She says it will make me look more "sceun" (sorry, I really can't capture the sound of this word in English), which means something like "nice, quiet, polite, and well behaved" in Chinese. Wholesome, perhaps? Still trying to mold me into the perfect Chinese daughter, she is.

I told her that "sceun" wouldn't mesh well with the full of energy, dazzle my foes, power eyebrows she wants me to grow. She thought about it and ditched the idea.

On the upside, they liked my new red glasses. I do too. It's nice to agree on some part of how I look, for once!

Wednesday Night

Since we wrapped up so late the night I arrived, I didn't get a chance to write about it. My sister took me to a Celtics game! She was thrilled that she could take me out and treat me to something, and I was thrilled about it too. Appropriately, the Warriors were in town. The Warriors and the Celtics are the two teams I know best, and it was fun to see all these players and names I could recognize a mere 10 rows out in front of me.

We got free clover balloons before the game. They were fairly giant and a tad unwieldy to have in our seats. The guy in front of us accidentally popped the stem of my sister's clover by sitting on it, but mine made it home and survived the entire weekend. We got a big kick out of it Saturday night when mom chased Bobo around the house with it, bonking her repeatedly. "Bok goh Bobo! Bok goh Bobo!" Poor Bobo!

Scan It!

Also on Wednesday night, we went to Stop & Shop for some last minute Thanksgiving items. On our way out, I noticed some Scan It! devices by the door. What a great idea. Why don't we have those? Aren't we supposed to be the tech capital of the world? Hop to it, Bay Area supermarkets!

Residual Notes From Wednesday's Flight

First class on United really isn't what it used to be. The last time I flew across the country first class, we had a tasty four hour meal service. I was too full to eat for hours after I got off the plane. This time, we had a mediocre breakfast consisting of an omelet, potatoes, sausage, and fruit. That's it. No snacks. I ended up eating half the chicken salad sandwich I'd brought on board with me. Weak!

At least they still bring warm towels toward the end of the flight. I really like those.

I Wish...

I wish I could blink really hard and make my dad's job not suck.

I wish I could wiggle my nose and make my mom stop worrying.

I wish I could snap my fingers and make my dad sleep well again.

I wish I could cross my arms, nod my head, and poof my parents a new house.

I just want them to be happy. How about that? It's exactly what they've always wanted for me.

The House Is Showing Its Age

During my shower Thursday morning, the cover fell off the vent in the ceiling and bonked me on the head. I was shampooing my hair at the time and couldn't open my eyes, so I wondered what the hell just happened until I could rinse. It was funny because it didn't hurt, but not so funny because the cover needs replacing. Just like the hot water valve, which you can't get to without ripping out a chunk of the wall. I don't know how they've managed to live with lukewarm showers for the last two years. One cannot be fully happy without at least an occasional long hot shower, methinks.

The kitchen has been partially remodeled, but the old counter edges are starting to chip, the runners are peeling, and it makes my mom unhappy. She complains loudly about it, which makes my dad unhappy. He's been spending good chunks of his vacation time repainting, putting up wallpaper, and repairing various other things, but he only has so much time off each year.

Anyway, that's why I wish I could give them a new house. I'd also try to poof them a bye past the hectic move-in process.

In Conclusion

I'm adding a conclusion because my high school teachers told me I'm supposed to. I'd probably fail for not following the five paragraph introduction, supporting point, supporting point, supporting point, conclusion formula, though.

I realized this trip how much I miss everyone, and how much they miss me. I really didn't want to leave. I understand more now why people want to live near their families.

As a freshman Engineering major, I used to joke that I wanted to design and build one of those "Beam me up, Scotty" machines. Too bad I changed majors. ;)

05:14 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (0)

November 29, 2008 / Saturday

Today Was All About The Elders

Here I am with another late night, end of day post from Boston. My sister came by this afternoon and the two of us drove to Newton to pay our respects to our great-grandmother. I almost always visit her when I come home. Does it really make a difference? I don't know, but just in case it matters to her, I go and I do my three bows and I have a little conversation with her. It's solemn and I take the whole thing seriously.

This year, without my parents around, I had a chance to be me a little more, reflect a little more. I guess I've learned to appreciate everything she was to us more now that I'm older, also. For the first time since her funeral, I cried at her grave. I wasn't sad; I just missed her. I had so many happy memories of her going through my head that I knew I wouldn't have time to go through them all standing there. I thought about how she took care of me and my sister when we were kids, how she always had a cookie tin of little Hershey's chocolates that she'd offer us when we visited her, how she amazed me with her ability to eat pizza entirely with chopsticks. I told my sister about how she used to go to the Scooper Bowl, walk in because she didn't know she needed to buy a ticket, fill her bags with ice cream, and stick it all in the freezer. It took me a few years to figure it out, but eventually I realized where all that "free ice cream" came from every year.

I asked my sister for Chinese translations of things I wanted to say, but she said she believed people could understand every language once they passed away. Can we really? That'd be awesome.

We picked up grandma on our way home, then headed out again for another visit with grandpa. I'm still amazed at how good he looks given the condition he was in during my last visit. Granted, his oxygen tube keeps him alive, but he's sitting up, talking, and eating. I told him I'd see him the next time I came home, and I really do believe that I will.

Home again. Time for hot pot! I love hot pot with the family, despite the loud, loud, so so super loud cacophony of Cantonese. I'm not used to such lively conversation at that volume. I always tell people that Cantonese sounds like people arguing. You want to know why? Because half the time they're talking over each other with put-downs. Then comes the denial, rebuttal, you name it. My sister watched me wince from across the table and laughed at me.

After that, more mahjong. Sis played with us this time. I bet grandma was pleased about that.

Dad left to drive sis and grandma home while I showed mom some exercises and stretches for her back. She took notes with little sketches of people alongside. Hee.

Mom got on me a bit about my eyebrows again, telling me they're too thin and too short. I told her I was in the process of growing them out (which is sort of true) and she stopped. She did, however, explain that I need thicker eyebrows because I have big eyes, and that framing the eyes with thick eyebrows will allow them to emit more "energy". (She didn't exactly say energy, but there's no direct English translation for what she said.) I wonder what she thinks of Eugene Levy. That guy's got some eyebrows!

Tomorrow, I wake up, pack up, grab some dim sum, some plane food, and head for the airport. And now, I go to bed.

10:39 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (2)

November 28, 2008 / Friday

Big Day For Bobo

I woke up this morning just after 10:30 and headed downstairs. Bobo looked surprised to see me; I guess she'd forgotten I was still here. I ate breakfast, got ready to leave, looked at the sad-about-being-left-alone Bobo, and called my sister.

"I can't leave Bobo here."
"Bring her over!"

And so it was decided. I knew that my dad didn't want Bobo in his new car, but I just couldn't leave the poor dog at home all day. She has to spend long days at home by herself way too often, and I wasn't going to let that happen if I could do something about it.

I packed some food, dug up her leash, and brought her along. Boy was she excited! She sat on my lap the entire time; I found out later that she refuses to ride in a car any other way. When we got off the freeway, I rolled down the window and she stuck her head out. An old lady in the car next to mine kept honking and waving, trying to get Bobo's attention. Funny.

We weren't sure how well she'd do in a new environment, but the minute we walked in she started trotting around happily, exploring every corner, even nudging her way past the bedroom door to sniff around in there. My sister and I were surprised; she's usually a big 'fraidy dog.

I wasn't able to bring her doggie litter tray with, so we took her for a walk in hopes that she'd find adequate facilities outside. We really weren't sure how that would go; she's almost entirely an indoor dog. She seemed confused at first, and wouldn't walk until I picked her up and carried her to a quieter side street. Then she would walk a few feet, stop, sniff, sniff, sniff, repeat. We eventually got her to a couple tennis courts across the street with some grass on the side. She trotted around happily in silly circles, stopped abruptly on the grass, did her thing, and continued on her way. Success! Boy were my sister and I relieved. Bobo was too, I'm sure.

We were so proud of her for acting like a real dog. Whoo, Bobo!

When we got back, we finished up a showing of vacation pictures from my sister and her boyfriend's trip to Europe earlier this month and watched a movie. Pineapple Express. I liked it; it was funny. Bobo slept on our laps the entire time. She's definitely not used to this much excitement.

Afterward, we brought Bobo home, ran an errand, and drove back and forth looking for a store that no map seemed to know the location of. That's on par with the driving day I've had; I'd driven in a giant back and forth zig zag getting to my sister earlier. Boston roads aren't easy!

We headed home and hung out with mom and dad for a bit until dad drove sis back. Then it was just me with mom and dad for a bit. Dad went to bed around midnight and I talked to mom for another two hours. We talked about me, my sister, my dad, my friends, the dog, life worries, raising kids, stories about me and my sister when we were little, and a bunch of other things I can't remember.

It's really nice to be home. :)

11:07 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (0)

November 27, 2008 / Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone

It's 1 AM Boston time at the end of my first Thanksgiving home in six years. It's been a nice, family filled day. Just like I wanted.

We were up until 3 AM the night before, baking and doing final preparations for today's mid-afternoon feast. I can't believe everyone managed to stay up that late.

This morning, they all got up way before me to continue cooking! I rolled into the kitchen sometime just after noon. I'm such a slacker. Oh wait, I'm on vacation.

Soon, our guests started to arrive. First came my grandma. She was really happy to see both me and my sister. We presented her with souvenirs from our trips to St. Petersburg and Holland, respectively. She was thrilled. When my cousin Ivan and his girlfriend Jen showed up later, she excitedly showed them her presents. :)

My sister and I realized shortly before mealtime that there was no stuffing in the turkey, so she called her boyfriend to ask him to pick up a mix on his way over. Poor guy, he ended up going to four different stores before finding one that was open. Thank you, Russian supermarket, for operating on a different holiday schedule! And thank you Paul for bringing us stuffing! Yum.

Each time I have a Thanksgiving meal at home, I notice that it gets a little closer to tasting like the real thing. It's still not made completely from scratch, but at least the turkey and ham were, and they came out well. I'd have preferred real mashed potatoes, but the rehydrated flakes from a box actually came out pretty tasty.

We had some other close but not quite authentic food quirks, but overall it was a NOMmy meal. Most importantly, it was really nice to spend time with everyone. :)

Afterward, my mom and I went to visit grandpa. He looked pretty frail and weak when I last saw him a year and half ago. Back then, I honestly thought I wouldn't see him again. Today, he looked much better. He still can't walk or breathe without an oxygen tube, but he was much more vibrant, and a lot like his old self. He told me about how he took me to Boston Common when I was little and I asked to ride the swan boats over and over. I told him that the thing I remembered most about that trip was crossing Park Street. I was scared of all the cars, but he told me, "Not to worry! I'll push them back with one leg!" and pretended to do so against an imaginary car. I don't know if I believed he really could, but it made me feel better. I can still hear it and see it in my head. It's funny what gets carved into your brain when you're five years old.

We returned home and played mahjong with grandma. She loves mahjong, but normally doesn't have enough people to play with, so when I'm home, I make sure we get a few rounds of it in. It was really cute to see her get so animated at the table. Grandma's in her 80's? Not when she's playing mahjong!

I didn't win a single game, but I had a good time. Afterward, we ate some leftovers and my dad and I drove grandma home. After we came back, my parents and I hung out until it was their bedtime. (It's a worknight for them.)

I got ready for bed and wrote this post. Now it's my bedtime too. Good night!

09:43 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (0)

November 26, 2008 / Wednesday

Hello From Somewhere Between SFO and BOS

Hello from the airplane. I scored a first class seat. I said in my last post that it meant I'd try to stay awake to enjoy it, but then I realized that first class meant I could actually sleep because the seats reclined far enough for my head not to drop forward. I also said in my last post that I needed sleep, so sleep it was.

This here seat is also the reason I'm writing this from the plane, as seats have gotten small enough and my work laptop has gotten large enough that I can no longer boot up midflight.

I ended up not having eat my bland chicken salad sandwich for breakfast. Instead, I had a spinach, artichoke, and cheese omlet, fingerling potatoes, and some fresh fruit. It wasn't nearly as fabulous as the five course meal I had on my last cross-country first class trip several years back, but better than the $9 cold meals they were getting back in economy class.

After breakfast, I busted out the inflatable neck pillow and slept for almost two hours. Me, sleeping on a plane? Unheard of! And much needed.

Woke up a little while ago, lifted the window shade, and have been looking down at snowy fields ever since. I wonder where we are.

11:51 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

Hello From SFO

Here I am at the airport, an hour before my flight. There's an announcement on the speakers about maintaining possession of our bags, and an unattended Keen shoulder bag on the floor in the busy walkway about 20 feet away from me. Someone dropped it, and for the last 15 minutes people have just been walking by. Travelers, airport staff, official security looking people - no one really cares enough to do anything about it. I don't think it's going to asplode, and I figure it's easier for its owner to retrace her steps to claim it than for both me and her to look for a place to drop it off/pick it up.

I got three hours of sleep last night. That wasn't the plan, but that's life, right? I really hope I'll be able to get some sleep on the plane. That is, unless I get the upgrade I requested. Gotta enjoy every moment of first class if I end up there. ;)

Got to the airport extra early to give myself time to find a parking lot in the event that Park SFO was full. It wasn't, and I managed to find a space in the last row of covered indoor lot parking. Hooray.

I am, however, not parking here again after this visit. Why? Because I came here after receiving a coupon in the mail with a picture of a turkey on it that reads, "During the months of November & December, we invite you to receive 10% off your stay at Park SFO plus receive 1 Day Free for the same visit!" When I arrived, there was a sign that said something to the effect of, "We are sorry, but that offer is not valid between November 25 and Dec 2."

WHY THE HELL DID YOU PUT A FREAKING TURKEY ON YOUR COUPON, THEN?

That is really poor business practice. Way to piss off your (soon-to-be former) customers.

On the shuttle ride to the terminal, I checked the text message that United had sent me earlier in the morning. It had my gate info on it. Score! I went straight to the gate without having to look at a single screen.

I visited Peet's for a latte, a water, and a sandwich. $19. Ouch! I tasted the sandwich. Bland. The latte wasn't all that great either.

That water had better taste darned good!

06:55 AM | Trips| Comments (1)

November 21, 2008 / Friday

Home, Ho!

I'm going home for Thanksgiving.

It's not the best time of year to be traveling, and I hadn't originally planned to go, but after a bout of guilty sleeplessness over wanting to go somewhere over my company's late December shutdown despite not having visited my family in a year and a half, I decided to brave the crowds and get a quick visit in beforehand.

Quick is key, for the same reason why I haven't visited in so long.

I hopped on the United site to see if by some miracle there would be tickets redeemable with my frequent flyer miles. To my surprise, there were. I called my parents to ask which flight times would work best for them. They were delighted. I could hear it in their voices. My dad said, "I'll turn the heat up for you!" Cute.

Click, click, click. I was booked! Wow, that was easy.

I went to put the flights in my calendar. November 19th. Uh-oh.

I got on the phone with United in hopes that someone there could work some magic and find tickets for me on days completely unavailable online. The customer service rep actually did find me a departure flight for the 26th. And for the return? Come on, come on, please, please...

All they had was 6 AM on Saturday morning. The next available return flight was four days later, on December 3rd. Darn.

It would have cost me $150 to put the miles back into my account, so I took a flight credit instead. I'm not sure what the rules are for using it. Probably the same as for award miles.

I did a quick search on United for flights to purchase. A direct round trip cost over $3,000. Yikes.

Several searches later, I found something for just over $700 on Orbitz. It was still a lot, but better than disappointing my parents. I couldn't tell them I wasn't coming home after hearing how happy they were about it. I bought the tickets.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing everyone, and it's a big relief to finally have a visit scheduled.

10:53 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (1)

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:Unphotographable| 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 | Family: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 | Family: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 | Family: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.

But before I go into my ER adventure, I must talk about my day-of-random-butt-pictures. You see, on Thursday I put my little purple huggy shorts on, sprayed on sunblock, and spent the day out in the sun not realizing that my little purple huggy shorts had then proceeded to ride up a good six inches, exposing a nice chunk of unprotected skin on each cheek. On Friday I was left with a very red band across my butt, and a choice between covering up the sunburn with potentially chafing shorts or letting it air out with a healthy coat of sunscreen. I chose the latter, and spent the day running around in goggles and a pair of thongs. This led to many comments about and requests for pictures of my crazy butt sunburn, which I obliged because, well, if I really cared all that much I wouldn't be running around in a pair of thongs. In any case, the very red butt also led to an amusing moment in the afternoon when, after just having ridden past and been flogged in the behind by a couple of self-appointed street flogger male hussies, I heard them exclaim in the best lisp ever, "OH MY GOD HER ASS IS ALREADY RED! SWEETIE YOU DESERVE AN AWARRRD!" Yes, yes I do.

And now, the section you've all been waiting for.

My Trip To Reno: The ER Adventure!

It all started with a little container of Oxy Daily Cleansing Pads.

I carried it in a big Ziploc bag with my other toiletries. I know I had the lid on tightly, but perhaps because of the temperature changes during the day, it leaked all over the contents of the bag. Then, thanks to evaporation, it concentrated.

Friday morning, I brushed my teeth, wiped my face, and, with salicylic acid from the Oxy pads everywhere, put my left contact lens in. I felt it burn my eye immediately. My eye watered a lot. Then everything looked to have a haze over it. I took the contact lens out and rinsed it. I irrigated my eye. Everything still looked hazy.

My eye didn't hurt, so I hoped that the haziness would fade over the course of the day. I cleaned off the contact lens some more, put it back in, and headed out for the day.

When we returned to camp a few hours later, I noticed that things were hazier than before. Also, my eye was starting to feel a little irritated.

We headed out for s'mores. My eye felt worse and worse. After s'mores we rode to one of the side medical tents. I told the medics there what had happened, but I don't think the lady in charge listened. She simply irrigated my eye, patched it up, and sent me on my way.

Over the next two hours the irritation in my left eye got so bad that every time I tried to move my right eye it triggered both eyes to shut. I could barely see well enough to walk. We headed for the center medical tent. After I explained what had happened they took me to the trailer in back, where they administered some numbing drops and dye so they could examine the cornea.

The doctor shined a special light in my eye. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, "I'll be right back." He returned shortly with two other doctors. "Are you ready?" he asked them. He shined the light in my eye again. Silence. Finally, one of the doctors said, "I have an eye specialist friend at a camp one block from here. He's offered to help with any eye emergencies. Let me go find him."

Ten minutes later the doctors returned. The eye specialist friend was not with them. Turns out he was a little too sloshed to be of use. They decided to send me to the ER. In Reno. Over two hours away.

By the end of what felt like a very long ambulance ride to Reno, my left eye had swollen shut, and thanks to that crazy powerful irritated eye reflex I was equally unable to open my right eye. They had to take me to my room by wheelchair. I sat on the bed with my eyes shut and answered a bunch of random voices as they took my stats and info.

Finally, the doctor came in and put some more magical numbing drops into my eye. He took a look at my cornea, declared that I had a chemical burn in the shape of a contact lens, gave me a tube of erythromycin, wrote me a prescription for Vicodin, and told me to follow up with an opthamologist when I got back to the Bay Area. Then he told me to get some sleep before my discharge in the morning.

Saturday morning came. The nice night shift ER people left and the mean day shift ER people arrived. They kicked me out into the lobby. Okay, now what?

Back in the medical tent, the staff had said that there was a bus I could take back from Reno for $40. I asked where to find it and they assured me that all the ERs would be able to direct me to said bus. I asked the people in the ER. They had never heard of it. I called all the other ERs in Reno. None of them had heard of it either. Oh. Great.

I called Greyhound. They had a station in Reno and I asked whether they had any buses headed toward Gerlach. They didn't even have Gerlach in their system.

I called Enterprise. A one day rental would cost about $60. Not bad, except that I could barely keep one eye open. That certainly wasn't going to work.

Finally, I called a cab. It cost me $370 to get back to camp, but at least I made it. And at least I could pay for it.

Just before noon I was back at the entrance to Black Rock City. I picked up my bike at the medical tent and rode back to camp. Aaron had spent the morning there waiting for me. I gave him a hug and, well, I don't remember, actually. I was pretty emotionally spent by then. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. There was too much going on in my head. I was really happy to see Aaron, I was worried about my eye, I felt like I wanted to cry, and on top of that a little voice in my head kept telling me, "Don't you dare fucking cry! Only the weak break down and cry. Suck it up and deal with it."

In any case, I rested my eyes at camp all afternoon. Aaron hung around and kept me company. When night came, I got dressed, headed out, and squinted my way through the burn. Let me tell you, the night playa looks way trippy when your vision's screwed up. Who needs drugs when you can just burn your eye out instead?

Saturday Night

After an afternoon of resting my eye, we headed out to the Man just before 9 for the burn. The Man raised his arms and fire dancers surrounded him. They put on a show that I didn't get to see much of because, well, I'm short.

At some point, the fireworks started, then the fire. It took a long time for the Man to burn, and even longer for him to fall. Actually, he sort of fell to his knees or torso and sat there for a long while before he finally fell the rest of the way.

And then it was time for the big party, which I couldn't see much of because, well, my left eye was screwed up and messing with my overall vision. We wandered a bit through the people and artcars, the lights and the music. It was still early when we returned to camp. I couldn't really stand much more of it with my eye hurting.

I'm kind of bummed that I (and, because he stayed with me, Aaron) missed so much of the big night, but really, it ain't so bad. I finally made it to Burning Man and I had a great time right up until I burned out my eye. The eye looks like it will heal, and hey, at least I had health insurance and the means to get myself back to the playa from Reno. Relative to a lot of other possible outcomes, I can consider myself lucky.

Sunday

We got up early Sunday and made it out of there traffic free. Aaron drove the entire way back while I kept my eyes shut and nodded in and out of sleep. We got home, cleaned up, ate dinner, went to bed, and slept 13 hours straight. Well, at least I did. It helped the eye a lot. More sleep = more healing.

Speaking of which, it's time for bed.

[ Update: Photos on Flickr. Videos on Putfile. ]

11:52 PM | Injuries:Trips| Comments (8)

August 29, 2006 / Tuesday

Packed And Ready To Go

Tomorrow morning, I leave for Burning Man. I've wanted to go for years now, and this year I finally will. I'm sooo excited.

No, that didn't quite convey my excitedness. I'm SOOO excited.

Hrm, that didn't either. I'm SOOO excited.

You get the idea. See you all next week. :)

09:14 PM | Trips| Comments (4)

February 22, 2006 / Wednesday

Hooray for 3-Day Weekends!

Okay, so I'm half a week late with this post. It's big, so I had to work on it a while. I considered just throwing out a big list, but that would have been a total copout, excusable only if I had written this under the influence of half a bad lite beer.

But that's not the case, so I had to go and make an outline, then another, so I could present to you...

What I Did President's Day Weekend

Actually, Saturday and Sunday were pretty routine. What it meant, however, was that I had everything I needed to do done by Monday. Hrmm, maybe the title to this section should have been...

What I Did On President's Day

If it had been entirely up to me, I wouldn't have done anything, because even though I knew I wanted to drive somewhere, I had no idea where, and I probably would have ended up sitting on the couch reading my ever-growing list of feeds all day. Thankfully, Aaron took my super-vague "I want to do something day-trippy" and turned it into "let's go visit a lighthouse".

At first, we were going to visit the lighthouse at Point Reyes, but that plan was scrapped when we realized that Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California would be up there the same day. Time for Plan B: Something south, like, say, Point Sur.

Whoo, Free Scones

We headed out, filled up, then stopped at Starbucks so I could pick up a latte (soy, of course!). As I walked in, I saw a tray of cute mini-scones behind the glass. When I asked about them, the super friendly guy behind the counter said they were the Devil's cake, that he couldn't stop eating them, and would I like to try some? Sure, I said, and he gave me couple for free. Now that I think about it, he didn't charge me for the extra shot or the soymilk, either. Thanks, super friendly guy behind the counter. I'd like to believe that you don't do that for every girl that walks in the door, but I'm pretty sure you do. ;)

No Camera?!

Nope, no camera. It was sitting in a bag a home. I suck.

No Lighthouse, Either

Nope, no lighthouse. But that's quite all right, because...

17-Mile Drive!

On the way to Point Sur, we saw the turnoff for the 17-Mile Drive. We turned off, paid our $8.75, and proceeded to wind our way through, stopping at photo-op after photo-op. Did I mention I suck? Let me mention that again, because if I didn't suck, you'd now be viewing pictures of...

1. A squared circle stick figure warning man sign of a drunk guy hugging a big rock.
2. A little foot-long dead shark.
3. Me playing with the little foot-long dead shark.
4. A dead something-ray next to the little foot-long dead shark.
5. Me making faces after getting too close to the stinky dead something-ray.
6. Trees, rocks, water, and other random prettiness.

Oh well.

Cheeeeese!

By the end of the 17 miles we'd eaten our way through the scones and were ready for some real food, so we headed down to Carmel, where we found The Cheese Shop. The people there were totally helpful and down to earth, and after sampling cheese after cheese after cheese, we left the shop with 4 different ones. Oh, and I bought a bottle of ice wine. What? Huh?

Yeah.

Bixby Bridge

We continued south after the cheese shop (we had a real lunch somewhere in there, too, but really it was all about the cheese), and stopped at the Bixby Bridge, which, again, you'd see photos of here if I didn't suck. But I do, so there will be no photos of that here, nor will there be videos of the fun windy roads leading to and away from the bridge.

There will also be no photos of the sunset, but I think I would have been too cold to hold the camera anyhow. Brrr!

More Cheeeeese!

After watching the sun go down (no green flash, darn!), we got back in the car, defrosted, drove home, and had cheese for dinner. Cheese and ice cream, actually. Yum.

Still More Cheeeeese!

/me grins a big cheesy grin

11:52 PM | Trips| Comments (4)

January 28, 2006 / Saturday

KA

Thanks to a failed attempt to get tickets for O in time, a bunch of us ended up going to see KA instead. I thought it was going to be fiery. And full of flying people. But it was neither.

The stage was really cool, though. So was the usher for our section, who had the funniest little fauxhawk and talked like Strong Bad. Maybe he really was trying to talk like Strong Bad, because when Liz called him Strong Bad on our way out, he replied, "Ah HA! It is the Cheat!" That ruled.

I've seen 3 Cirque shows in the last 3 years, but I have yet to see one that really blows me away. Perhaps I'll get to see O someday, and I'll finally understand what the big deal is about Cirque du Soleil.

11:14 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

November 27, 2005 / Sunday

Thanksgiving Road Trip

For the busiest travel weekend of 2005, I decided to go on a road trip. Actually, it was more like, I decided to go on a road trip, and then I realized it was the busiest travel weekend of the year. Roops.

Wednesday: The Driiive Down

I hadn't intended to take Wednesday off, but it came down to either sitting in traffic the whole way, or my taking the day off so we could leave the Bay Area in the morning. I left Sunnyvale a little after 9:30. Traffic was fine until just past the Grapevine. From there to San Diego, it was 5+ hours of stop and slow. Ouch! We got to the hotel around 9:30. 12 hours, including a McDonald's lunch and a Denny's dinner.

Thursday: Legoland

I am thankful for Legos. How appropriate that I celebrated Thanksgiving by going to Legoland.

Okay, not really. I *am* thankful for Legos, but I'm not really into the Thanksgiving thing. Visiting on a holiday made for no crowds, though. Woot!

We had Turkey Day dinner in an Irish Pub. I was tempted to order the corned beef and cabbage, mainly so I could laugh about eating food for the wrong holiday. Since I don't like turkey, I ended up having tri-tip instead.

They drizzled chocolate sauce on my pumpkin pie. I was confused.

Friday: Tijuana & Old Town

I found myself with a wicked weed and wormy tequila craving Friday morning, so we hopped on the trolley, rode to the border, and headed into Tijuana.

Once there, I forgot about my silly mission and ate yummy churros instead. :)

Most importantly, I finally got to cross "cross the Mexican border" off my list.

Friday night, we took a High Performance Trolley to Old Town for dinner. It felt like Tijuana without all the people telling you to go shop/eat in their store/restaurant.

Saturday: Hillcrest & La Jolla

Saturday, went shopping in Hillcrest and La Jolla. Wandered around the mall a bit in the evening. Had Cinnabons for dinner, Ben and Jerry's for dessert, and went to bed early.

Sunday: 5AM

Not wanting to sit in traffic the entire trip back, I requested an as-early-as-humanly-possible departure from San Diego, which translated into waking up at 5 in the morning. I get up that early only to go snowboarding, and amusingly, it felt that way today, as it was a very chilly 37 degrees around the Grapevine at 8 AM.

Got back to Sunnyvale (via Livermore) around 2:30. I'm quite happy about that.

I Say This Every Time...

Really, this time, no more road trips in my car! It's now 500 miles past due for an oil change. What a way to celebrate its 3rd birthday. It expressed its displeasure by blowing out yet *another* front bulb. Sorry, car.

09:30 PM | Trips| Comments (6)

November 23, 2005 / Wednesday

Destination Legoland

I don't know what possessed me to go on a road trip on the busiest travel weekend of the year, but off I go!

Have a happy turkey (or tofurkey, or baked honey ham, if your fam is anything like my fam) day, everyone!

09:11 AM | Trips| Comments (3)

October 04, 2005 / Tuesday

Wait Staff Rejects

There was something seriously wrong with the wait staff at the Sahara this weekend...

Saturday Evening: Snacky Snack at the NASCAR Cafe

Kristina, Carolyn, and I were at a table at the NASCAR Cafe waiting for our drinks to arrive. Carolyn looked something up on her Sidekick. The waitress returned, drinks in hand, saw the Sidekick on the table, and told us to move it, adding, "I'm not responsible if I spill drinks on that."

Wow, what a way with words.

Even if she wasn't responsible, the restaurant would be, no?

Saturday Night: Banquet in the Golden Room

After our snack at the NASCAR Cafe, we headed over to the Femmoto banquet, where the wait staff consisted of one very frail woman who looked to be about 90 and one very large woman with a pronounced limp. I wondered whether they were there because they wanted to or because they had to. I hoped it was the former. Dinner was an appetizer buffet. (Yes, I know. What?) Unfortunately, after we waited in line from one side of the banquet room to the other, half the food was gone. I asked Fran the popcorn shrimp scooper whether there'd be more food coming out. She just looked at me and stared. I thought perhaps she didn't speak English, but later I heard her talking, and yup, she spoke English, all right. I guess she wasn't having a good night. Or maybe she just didn't like me. That's okay, I didn't like her, either, after the "talking to you is not part of my popcorn shrimp scooper job description" stare.

Sunday Morning: Breakfast at the $7.95 Prime Rib Dinner Place

At breakfast the next day, I ordered corned beef hash. Carolyn ordered bacon and eggs. The server came back with 2 orders of bacon and eggs. When I asked about my corned beef hash, she pulled out our order card, pointed out "2 bacon", and said, "No, you ordered bacon and eggs."

No, you wrote down the wrong thing and didn't verify, YOU CUSTOMER SERVICE FLUNKIE!

FLUNKIE!!!

My theory is, when someone gets fired from their job on the Strip, they move down to the next hotel/casino, and now all the flunkies are stuck at the Sahara end of the strip.

NO QAPLA' FOR YOU!

01:44 PM | Rant/Whine:Trips| Comments (4)

September 30, 2005 / Friday

LVMS, Here I Come!

I'm off to Vegas in a couple hours. This time tomorrow, I will be riding around a track on other people's motorcycles at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. My first motorcycle track day! I've been too busy lately to really think about it, but when I woke up this morning, I was totally excited. Every time a motorcycle buzzed by me on my way to work, I bounced in my seat. VroOOOooM!

10:28 AM | Motorcycle:Trips| Comments (1)

May 30, 2005 / Monday

Untied Indeed

I've flown United Airlines almost exclusively all my life. This last trip to Boston, though, has made me reconsider my airline loyalties. 7 things wrong in 2 flights? Come on!

1. Headphone jack on flight to Boston. I had to shove the headphone plug into the jack as far as it could possibly go before I could get any sound, except that the plug was so loose that the plug wouldn't stay in, and the surrounding plastic on the armrest kept popping the plug back out. No movie for me.
2. Headphone jack on flight back to San Francisco. This jack wouldn't work unless I pushed the plug in 90% of the way and then pushed sideways on the plug. If I let go of the plug, I'd lose the sound. No movie for me again.
3. Armrest in the row ahead of me on flight to Boston. Armrest? What armrest? The protective padding on top of the structural pieces of the armrest was completely loose and flapping, and the passengers had to keep it raised the entire flight (including takeoff and landing) to keep it from being a hazard.
4. Water dripping on our heads during takeoff on flight to Boston. Harmless or not, I should not get wet from the plane.
5. The people in the row behind mine complaining about something wrong with their seats, to the point where they asked the flight attendant to relocate one of them so they wouldn't have to sit in the seat. I didn't find out what was wrong; the people were annoying so I didn't ask.
6. A flight attendant outright lying to a passenger when asked if the other meal option was still available, solely because he was too lazy to go fetch meals from the next cart.
7. That same flight attendant looking visibly annoyed when he had to move his cart up a couple rows to let someone back in their seat.

Worn out equipment, flight attendants with attitudes. I don't need that.

I hear JetBlue's pretty nice.

11:08 PM | Rant/Whine:Trips| Comments (6)

Boston Wrapup

11:30 AM EDT

In my old room at my parents' house, with a couple hours to kill before I leave for the airport. What did I do while I was home? I hung out with my family, saw my friends, and played with the Bobo. I ate and lounged around every day. I slept 9 to 11 hours every night. For the first time in ages, my shoulders (upper traps, I suppose) aren't tense.

That, despite the fact that I spent over a week at home. My trips of late have pushed 5 days at most. They've just been too emotionally and mentally draining.

Fortunately, with over a year of training at auntie's house under my belt, I was able to handle every bit of (de?)constructive criticism in stride. I leave here feeling every bit as tall as I felt when I arrived. I'll remember the things that have been said to me, but I won't get upset about them. I'll remember mom's hula hooping tips, too.

Speaking of tips, Josepi gave me some tip-in tips when I visited him on Saturday. I may also have a new backhand, a revamped wrist shot, and a better way to carry the puck around defenders. All that, from 10 minutes in the backyard. Woot!

2:36 PM EDT

At the airport now, with another hour to kill. Check-in was surprisingly painless.

I have this incredible urge to do a day by day recap à la Secret Weapon.

Sunday, got in, met mom and aunt (dad's little little little sis) and cousin (aunt's daughter) and Bobo at the airport, saw dad outside, drove home. Saw Pookie, had dinner, met Morgan (might have been other way around, not sure now), other cousin came over, sat and watched dad and aunt and other cousin chat, marveled over actually having relatives in Quincy. Ate ice cream.

Monday, got up, went to Pookie's very cold and somewhat wet graduation with mom and dad and Morgan. Took lots of pictures. Went home, then went to dinner with fam and extended fam and grandma. Grandma took one look at my hair and told me to hurry up and grow it back to normal. Went home, ate ice cream.

Tuesday, I don't remember what I did. Mom had the day off, so maybe I hung out with her a bit? It rained, so we probably stayed home. Pookie and I took our cousin out for Papa Gino's just before dinner, despite mom's protests. Their pizza sucks now. Good thing there's good thin crust at PMH (I think I have bubka^4 to thank for that. Thanks, bubka^4.). Had dinner, made brownies, ate brownies, ate ice cream.

Wednesday, it rained. Dad had the day off, so he and I and Pookie and Morgan went to go see Star Wars. Dad didn't know SW III had anything to do with SW VI, which was the only other SW he'd ever seen. He doesn't like movies, and went just to humor me, but he got all excited when Anakin became Darth Vader, 'cause it all finally clicked. Came home, had dinner with Kim at Fuji in QC, was totally amazed that there was a hip sushi restaurant in my hometown. Watched the Americal Idol finale with her and Tony and Greggy and Tony's new kitty Jasper, who was 2 days (plus 5 or 6 weeks) old. Went home, ate ice cream.

Thursday, it rained more. Both of my parents had the day off, so we (mom, dad, sis, me, grandma, aunt) went out for some good Chinese food at lunchtime in... QC. I was totally amazed again. Went to the mall with mom and sis and grandma 'cause grandma wanted to buy us something. Found nothing, big surprise. Came home, went to Best Buy with dad for some computer stuff, went to Sports Authority after that 'cause we both love wandering around sporting goods stores. Went home, played mahjong with grandma, mom, and Morgan. Pookie baked some cake. Ate cake and ice cream.

Friday, unsuccessfully tried to install a wireless adapter for my parents' crapppy computer. Returned the thing and told them to buy a better computer. Wandered around the now-filled-in quarries with Pookie and Bobo. Asked how much a membership to the swanky new golf club would cost. $27,000 plus $5,400 a year. Sorry dad, it's the thought that counts, right? Went to dinner with Becky and Ricky. Came home, checked out Morgan's M3 (he offered to let me drive, which was totally rad, but it was raining and I wasn't about to risk spinning out his baby), ate ice cream.

Saturday, Pookie and Morgan left for Vegas. In the afternoon, I visited Josepi, met Isabella, saw Lindsay, even saw Tony again, briefly. Isabella's a cutie, and has big beautiful blue eyes. Learned a few hockey things, misidentified yet another charm/pendant. Went home, listened to the thunder, ate dinner, hung out with the fam, ate ice cream.

Sunday, went out for pho with the somewhat extended fam. Yet another thunderstorm started rolling in when we got home. Dad headed out to play golf, and mom went outside to plant flowers. I didn't want mom to get wet, so I went outside to help her so she could finish before the rain came in. I felt like a kid again; the last time I gardened, I was still in grade school. Dad came home, complaining that they wouldn't let him play past the 2nd hole (5th lightning bolt). Went to Dunkie's, had a hot cocoa, felt like a kid yet again. I've decided I like Dunkie's hot cocoa more than their coffee. Not news to you, huge revelation to me. Dad made spaghetti. Ate the spaghetti, then ate ice cream.

Monday, woke up earlyish, had lunch with dad at Panera, went to the airport, planted myself next to a window, blogged this, watched it start raining.

Yup, that's right, it rained every single day I was here.

The ice cream made up for it, though.

10:41 PM | Trips| Comments (8)

May 27, 2005 / Friday

Whaaa's Happening?

The quarries that used to be a big pit o' water full of dead bodies is now a huge grassy field of Big Dig fill.

Uphill, 4 baseball fields (new), 1 soccer field (also new), yet another set of "luxury condos" (in development), and a very swanky 27 hole golf course with beautiful views of Boston (also in development).

Bobo, I've a feeling we're not in Quincy anymore.

12:04 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 26, 2005 / Thursday

Whaaa Happened?

I don't recognize my hometown anymore. A Chinese bakery near Wollaston station, a hip Japanese restaurant in Quincy Center, a fairly big and very authentic Chinese eatery next to that. A huge Asian indoor mall where Bradlees used to be, complete with a 99 Ranch-esque supermarket named, amusingly enough, Kam Man. Entire aisles of nothing but instant noodles, several brands of faux Ferrero Rocher candies, and another sizeable bakery.

My mom used to go Boston's Chinatown to do her grocery shopping. Now she drives my grandma out here to shop instead.

01:29 PM | Trips| Comments (3)

May 22, 2005 / Sunday

Airplane Blurb 1: I'm So Mainstream

Half of the CDs I've bought in the last couple months are featured in United's monthly tunes.

Airplane Blurb 2: Rain In The Plane

Moments after we lifted off the ground, I felt what I thought was a drizzle on my left arm. My rowmate felt it too. We looked at each other, then looked up. Water was dripping from a joint in the overhead compartments. What on earth?!

It didn't look like it was going to stop, and we didn't want to be soaked all flight, so we buzzed for a flight attendant, who announced that they didn't want to get up during the steep climb. Wimps!

Just kidding. :)

The dripping slowed and eventually stopped once we started to level off. The flight attendant guessed it was a leaky water bottle, but no one would fess up. We settled on her condensation hypothesis and left it at that.

Airplane Blurb 3: Someone Please Smack That Guy

I am in seat 28C. The guy in 29D has been talking to his colleague in 29C for a good 15 minutes now. The colleague in 29C hasn't said a single word the entire time, in large part because Mr. 29D hasn't paused long enough for a reply.

But really, who wants to hold a conversation with a know-it-all? He's rambled authoritatively now about software, business, subatomic black holes, stem cells, and ethics.

Lest you think I'm unfairly labeling someone a know-it-all without first checking to make sure that he isn't really an multi-disciplinary genius, I offer you the following quote, straight from the mouth of Mr. 29D.

"I read it in Scientific American."

I guess I've been reading the wrong magazines. Mine don't do nearly as much for me as SciAm seems to do for him.

Airplane Blurb 4: In Flight Productivity

I got another car installation writeup done! The Neuspeed 28mm Rear Sway Bar Install page is now (finally) online. Woot!

07:59 PM | Trips| Comments (2)

May 10, 2005 / Tuesday

I Held Rosie!

Lucky me, Cheddah caught my tarantula holding moment at the Butterfly Pavilion on film flash memory!

We even got stickers for our helmets! :)

Thanks Cheddah for photographinating.

10:21 AM | Trips| Comments (6)

May 06, 2005 / Friday

Butterfly Pavilion

Spent a couple hours at the Butterfly Pavilion just now. Despite the name, it's not quite a pavilion, and it's not just butterflies. That said, their butterfly greenhousey thing was awesome.

They also had a smattering of starfish and sea urchins, and some übercamouflaged bugs in tanks.

The highlight? I got to hold a tarantula! They're so amazingly soft.

I kinda want one now.

01:50 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 05, 2005 / Thursday

How Does She Still Have Nails Left?

When I found my seat on the plane today (hello from Denver :) I looked over and saw my rowmate filing away at her nails with an emory board. She was filing pretty vigorously, too, 'cause I could hear her despite my headphones.

The plane took off, and she fell asleep. Halfway through the flight, she woke up, immediately pulled out the emory board, and started filing again.

Emory board OCD.

10:58 PM | Trips| Comments (4)

April 18, 2005 / Monday

Open Letter To Canadians

Can you guys please stop being so darned nice? Just when I'd forgotten about wanting to move there to become a citizen, eh?

- - -

Seriously, everyone in Canada was super nice. I encountered my first unpleasant person of the weekend at the airport on the return leg of the trip, but then I realized it was the American customs guy. Not only was he not polite, he asked if I was there for a hockey tournament and said, "I don't even play hockey. Girls playing hockey?" That was quite a contrast to *everyone* we talked to in Canada being totally supportive and wishing us luck, eh?

I wanted to smack him. Fuck you, you 300 pound chauvinistic lardass. The reason you don't play hockey is 'cause you probably can't even walk up a flight of stairs without getting short of breath. What a great representative of the US you are. Not. Pfft!

12:52 AM | Rant/Whine:Trips| Comments (8)

April 15, 2005 / Friday

To Surrey!

Blogging from the lobby of our hotel here in Surrey, BC. A couple notes about the trip so far:

Note 1: The new United safety video is narrated by a guy trying somewhat unsuccessfully to hide his New York accent.

Note 2: It's cold and rainy here. Waaah.

Note 3: I had pooty fries! I feel so Canadian, eh?

Note 4: My sister's vocabulary cracks me up. Pooty fries = poutine in Pookiespeak. Nice.

Dinner in a bit, and our first game at 10:15 tonight. Go us!

04:11 PM | Trips| Comments (2)

February 20, 2005 / Sunday

Aspen Eats

The food in the Aspen/Snowmass area is amazingly good. This includes grub samples from a rib joint, a steak house, a little stew place, and the main Buttermilk cafeteria.

We think it's 'cause they have to satisfy all the hoity-toity rich people who ski (and eat) there.

BuRp!

01:02 AM | Food:Trips| Comments (0)

SFO! Yes!

*kisses ground*

Made it to ASE a little before 5 for our 6:30 PM flight. Checked in, looked for nonexistent souvenir shotglasses (?!), and waited for our flight. It was snowing. I was worried.

A voice spoke to us from the little intercom speaker in the ceiling. The weather was getting worse, it said, and flights would not be coming in. Ticket agents were to stop checking in new passengers. The ASE -> DEN flight just before ours was cancelled.

I was sitting by the security screeners. A few minutes later I overheard the follwing conversation:

TSA 1: I'm going to go on my break now.
TSA 2: No, wait, I think we might just be shutting down.

Ack! No!

And then, miraculously, a DEN -> ASE flight landed 20 minutes before our scheduled departure time. Our plane was here! Hallelujah! We grabbed our stuff and headed for the gate.

The ground crew congratulated us as we walked across the tarmac toward the plane. I felt like I'd just won the lottery.

Got into Denver, speedwalked 25 gates to the DEN -> SFO flight, got on, took off, and breathed a very big sigh of relief.

I'm back! Yes! Looks like I'll get to have a hockey hockey Sunday this weekend after all!

Amusing side note: the Stanford men's gymnastics team was on our DEN -> SFO flight. How could I tell? Because they all looked smart, short, and buff. Oh, and they had Stanford shirts on. Hee.

12:37 AM | Trips| Comments (2)

February 16, 2005 / Wednesday

Aspen, Finally!

We're here! I'm bouncing on the bed! It's snowing! It's the best darned snowball snow ever! It's soft and fluffy, wet enough to pack, and amazingly light despite the packable wetness. WhoO!

Rewinding to the cancelled flight last night...

Even though our flight cancellation was for mechanical reasons, it turns out most of the DEN -> ASE flights Tuesday had been cancelled due to TONS OF SNOW IN ASPEN. Our flight was rescheduled for 8:15 this morning. We got to the gate, and the pushed the flight back to 8:45. Apparently it was still DUMPING SNOW IN ASPEN. And we weren't there.

While we were sitting at the gate thinking about all the snow we were missing out on, the gate agent came on the intercom and cancelled our flight. What's more, the rest of the flights to Aspen were completely full, and we should probably try to take a shuttle there. Oh, but our luggage was already on its way. (Actually, we found out later that it got there at 9:30 the night before. What? How?)

We looked for a car rental, but everyone was either sold out for NBA All-Star weekend, or otherwise unwilling to rent us a one day one way to Aspen. Understandable.

So, we ended up hooking up with some other passengers from our cancelled non-flight: a woman named Havana, and a couple with a 3 year old boy. We piled into Mo's Suburban, and he got us there in record crappy road conditions time. He even managed to almost get us killed by a Pepsi truck.

In the end, we made it in one piece, and picked up our luggage from the verrry tiiiny airport in Aspen. I saw more fur coats while at ASE than I have the entire time I've spent in the Bay Area.

For an extra bit of adventure, we got to trudge through the snow with our gear and luggage to the bus stop across the street, only to be picked up by our friends who were going to pick us up at the airport anyway.

Yeah, I dungettit either, but that's okay. We're finally here!

03:00 PM | Trips| Comments (1)

Hello From The Snowy Road

They weather delayed and then outright cancelled our flight out this morning, so here I am, phone blogging from the back of a rideshare Suburban. More details of our adventure to come, when I get on a computer.

On the upside, if our gear makes it to Aspen today, there's gonna be plenty of snow to play in tomorrow.

12:29 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

February 15, 2005 / Tuesday

Hello From Denver!

So our first flight took off early and got into Denver 19 minutes ahead of schedule. WooP!

Then we walked alllll the way down the very long Concourse B. Got food along the way. Hooray.

10 minutes before our flight to Aspen, they announced that it had been cancelled. Booooo.

So here I am, in the lobby of some inn way far off the airport. I think this place exists solely to take in stranded passengers.

In a moment of brilliant foresight, I kept my jacket with me, and had gloves and earmuffs with me in my carry-on, juuust in case.

In a moment of nonexistent foresight, I packed my pills in my luggage, 'cause hey, what could happen?

Tomorrow morning, we try again. Let's hope they've got a plane for us then.

09:29 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Off To Aspen!

Lataz, yO!

02:42 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Aspenate?

You know what's funny? There's a LOT more snow in Tahoe than in Aspen right now, and there's a LOT more new snow to fall this week... in Tahoe (Aspen will get a dusting).

But still, I'm looking forward to checking out some Aspen mountains. At the very least, it'll be a good 4 days of hemoglobin building. ;-)

01:23 AM | Snow:Trips| Comments (0)

January 30, 2005 / Sunday

I Never Sleep On Planes

... except when I'm exhausted from hockey and (slightly) sleep deprived from an unfamiliar hotel bed.

It's funny to see online pictures of yourself you didn't know existed.

Hrmm, that didn't come out quite right.

09:02 PM | Burninators:Trips| Comments (4)

January 29, 2005 / Saturday

*)#$&(*@, My Neck!

I hate, hate, hate hotel room pillows! The way too tall pillows at this place have left me with a crick in my neck. I can't look down! Bah!

Amusingly, I dreamt about being rearended and getting whiplash... twice.

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

January 28, 2005 / Friday

Thunder From Down Under

Back from a fun little most-of-the-team outing to see Thunder From Down Under. I'm not sure which was more fun, watching the show or watching Sharon's sister bounce and cheer and yell the whole time. Boy was she excited to be there!

I got a couple handshakes, issued a rippin butt slap (whoo!), and received a sweaty hug from various members of TfDU. If I go again I'm bringing a tally sheet. ;-)

11:23 PM | Trips| Comments (2)

October 11, 2004 / Monday

More Hockey Toys

I own goalie pants now.

I also own a new wheelie bag for my skater gear. Will come in handy for Vegas in January.

I find it amusing that I go to Vegas only for the purposes of geeking out or playing hockey.

01:25 PM | Hockey:Trips| Comments (0)

September 06, 2004 / Monday

LAbor Day Weekend

Back from LA and winding down to three very fine final innings of a Red Sox game on TV. My car made it unscathed this time. 990 miles, 0 dings. Plus, to my amazement, the inside of my car returned spotless. The Monkey is one very well behaved road trip passenger. Didn't fling a single handful of poo all weekend!

I had hoped to take plenty of pictures at the Bodyworlds exhibit. Unfortunately, but not suprisingly, pictures weren't allowed. I will, however, say that it was worth the drive down to LA, and worth the cost of admission. At times, I almost couldn't believe that the specimens I was looking at were at one point living persons not unlike myself. They can preserve me like THAT? Wow.

I had a good chuckle at the beginning of the exhibit, looking at the very first full body musculoskeletar specimen. "Look," said one of the other visitors her friend, "it still has its wisdom teeth." I looked too, and sure enough, wisdom teeth. The top teeth, grown in and crooked. The bottom teeth, under the gum and turned forward 90 degrees. Hey, just like mine! Nothing like being able to identify with a stiffer than death stiff, eh?

I managed to lose my glasses somewhere between my house in San Francisco and the hotel in Los Angeles. I am fairly unhappy about that. Perhaps they'll surface? I have no idea where, though. Siiigh.

In happier news, we got to meet up with a good mix of different LA peeps. Heading down we weren't sure who to visit, but when it was time to head back up we realized there were still more people we wanted to see. Perhaps next time.

Time for bed. Road trips are tiring!

09:50 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 10, 2004 / Saturday

Home = Too Much Food

I stepped on the scale this morning, and had to step off before it gave me a final reading. I don't think it was more than a couple pounds, but it takes a heck of a lot longer to work off a couple pounds than it does to put 'em on.

That reminds me... here are a few remaining tidbits from my Boston trip:

Tidbit 1: My sister thinks I look like a cartoon character.

Tidbit 2: My mom has given up on asking me for grandchildren. Our latest discussions now focus on suitable mates for marriage. She thinks I'm too picky. Too picky? I'd be living with this person for the rest of my life! Of course I'm going to be picky!

Tidbit 3: My grandma has given up on asking me for greatgrandchildren. She just wants me to bring someone back for her to look at. No expressed pickiness there, except that she probably wants to see a wholesome Chinese boy. Maybe I can rent one for my next trip back home.

Tidbit 4: We were cleaning out computer stuff and we found my first ever floppy disk, from my 9th grade programming class.

What's on it? I don't know. None of my 5 computers have a drive to read it.

10:42 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 07, 2004 / Wednesday

Fenway! Finally!

Went to my first ever game at Fenway Park last night. I can't believe it took me so long to finally go. I mean, lived here for what, 12 years? I'm glad I finally decided to do it.

The park is awesome. It's small and old, but it buzzes with energy. None of the other parks I've gone to come anywhere close. I think it's due in part to coziness of the park, and definitely the people who come to watch. What an awesome experience!

I guess it didn't hurt that the home team won 11-0. I cheered so much my voice started to go. I think we were sitting next to some A's fans (a rarity even in the Bay Area!), and they did not look happy.

I got to witness the most sustained stadium wave of my life, too. After 7 or 8 failed attempts, the folks in center field finally got a wave to propagate around the park. Even the people up in the box seats got into it. We got 4 full rounds in before the inning ended and everyone got up to go get food.

My one gripe is that the garlic fries at Fenway suck. What do you expect when you order garlic fries? Chunks of garlic and oil all over fresh fries, right? Not at Fenway. Not a speck of garlic to be found! I could barely taste the garlic! That, and they were cold. Booo!

Leaving for my flight in a little bit. My mom's putting me to work before I take off. She had me digging up trees in the backyard earlier. Time to go move some air conditioners.

11:01 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 04, 2004 / Sunday

Home = Good Food

Got home, got fed. There's food that I just can't get and/or never think to have when I'm out in California. My grandma made joong, my mom made wontons. I've really missed homemade joong and wontons. You can't get them like that in restaurants and stores.

One of these days, I'll have to pull the recipes out of their heads.

10:19 AM | Food:Trips| Comments (0)

June 26, 2004 / Saturday

Wi-Fi Back Home!

Ooh, I'm excited! I'm going back home for July 4th weekend, and it looks like I'll have a nice place to go for internet access. No more of this short little trickle of a phone line that doesn't even reach far enough to get me to a tabletop. Goodbye, foot of the stairs at my parents' house. Hellooo, Panera!

Now, if only they'd stock soymilk! Free Wi-Fi and a good soy latte would surely earn them a place in my heart. It's been 7 months since I was last there to ask. Maybe they'll have it this time around. *crosses fingers*

12:24 AM | Geek:Trips| Comments (0)

May 10, 2004 / Monday

My Weekend In LA

I'm on my way back up from my first visit to LA in a couple years. We're somewhere between the stinky town of Coalinga and San Francisco right now. Doug's driving the final leg, so I figured I'd be good and get my blogging out of the way.

Perhaps I Picked The Wrong Hotel...

After being on the road for 7 hours Friday night, we finally got off our exit a little before 11. At the bottom of the off ramp, a police cruiser and two police officers were arresting a couple guys sitting on the sidewalk. We took a left off the ramp, and one block later, there were police cars everywhere! There were somewhere between 6 and 10 police cars blocking the intersection to the left. Another block later, 20 police cars blocking the intersection to the left. Holy crap, did I book us a hotel in the hood or something? Another block or two, and we took a couple right turns into our hotel parking lot. We got out of the car, and there was a police helicopter flying overhead, shining a spotlight on the police-blocked blocks nearby.

I fully expected my car to get its windows smashed overnight, but fortunately it survived the night (and the next night) without incident.

Saturday Morning: Wedding!

The next morning was John and Ellen's wedding. We headed to the church, sat for an hour, heard a couple really sweet bits from John and Ellen about why they wanted to marry each other, got some Catholic churchy songs stuck in our heads, took some pictures, were invited to sit silenty and pray while everyone who was Catholic ate body-of-Christ wafers... I wondered how an agnostic was supposed to pray, watched the rest of the ceremony, and cried a bit.

Saturday Afternoon: Reception!

The reception was held at a country club up the hill from the church. It was really pretty there, and the weather was beautiful. We ate, took some more pictures, sat down, ate some more... they showed a slideshow, I watched, and cried some more. Yes, I cry at weddings, and now you all know.

Stuck In My Head!

Catholic churchy song stuck in my head (Doug's too). Uffa.

The Lord is kiiind and merciful...
The Lord is KIIIND and merciful...

Uffa!

Saturay Night: Huntington Beach

We headed southwest (from Fullerton) in search of water (the ocean, that is) and dinner. We drove along the coast from Long Beach to Newport Beach, then doubled back (Doug was having a major U-turn day) to Huntington Beach for food. The pizza at BJ's looked good so we ended up eating there. For the record, Teddio, BJ's pizza is pretty darned good, but it's too different from Zachary's for comparison!

The waitress was lame and slow.

Hair Hacking

I mentioned a week or two ago that I was considering either shaving my head or getting a floppy red mohawk. After some discussion with Doug we decided that I'd just get it cut short (I think I'll go for a crazy Lisa Simpson look)... in exchange for Doug's growing a goatee (whoo!). I figured Sunday would be a good day to get the hair hacked, after spending half of Saturday with it down.

I thought it'd be fairly easy to find a place to cut my hair. After all, I was in LA, right? We went to Santa Monica & Venice. The plan was I'd get my frosty Black Forest drink from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and then find a place to hack off my hair. That proved to be no easy task. Too ghetto, too expensive, not open... as I write this I've still got all my hair. Drat.

Parking Lots Suck 1: Ding!

We'd had good parking lot karma up until the Santa Monica boardwalk. We parked far enough out every time that no one ever parked near my car. Finally, at the beach, the parking lot karma ran out. We parked in an end spot way out in the parking lot, but then this stupid fucking idiot of a non-driver parked his piece of shit car by Braille on my rear bumper. Fucker! Mr. "I Love Jesus" car freshener, if there hadn't been little kids in the car next to yours when I first got back to my car and saw your bumper on mine, you'd have driven home on your spare tire, minus your front fucking license plate. Or maybe you'd have had your front fucking license plate, smashed through your front fucking windshield. Damn you, you stupid fuck.

The kids in the adjacent car were dinging the side of the car that dinged mine with their car door, but unfortunately the car that dinged mine was such a junker that it didn't matter. Rarr.

Parking Lots Suck 2: Parking Lot X 2!

I think it took us an hour to actually get out of the parking lot. It was, as Doug likes to say, a total clusterfuck (yes, I swear a lot on days when someone hurts my car). 20 minutes after I calmed down enough to get into my car without destroying the one parked behind me, we were all of 2 feet from my parking spot. I got to look at the aforementioned piece of shit car that whole time, resisting the urge to jump out and destroy it.

Stupid people in LA everywhere! Zero common sense and etiquette. After we got past the stupid piece of shit car I started getting annoyed at all of the bastards trying to cut in front of people (and for what, to get one car ahead?), especially the one who almost hit my car trying to squeeze his way in, and spent the rest of our hellish hour in the parking lot resisting the urge to destroy all the bastard drivers' cars with my Maglite.

Doug somehow got into a shouting match with a total Neanderthal, who then decided he would try to ram his piece of shit truck (we must have parked in the piece of shit lot by accident) into my car. I almost had a heart attack. What would I have done if he'd actually hit my car? Off the top of my head, three possibilities:

1. Nothing. I'd sue his ass, file charges, and collect insurance money.
2. Tried to beat him up with my Maglite and landed myself in the hospital.
3. Landed him in the hospital with my Maglite and wound up in jail.

Perhaps I should just be glad that the most damage my car sustained today was from the fucker-who-couldn't-park.

And Now, A Special Message From Doug

Pies go in, chickens come out. Blog that.

Fresh Cow! Moo!

Stopped at Harris Ranch for dinner on Sunday. I ordered filet mignon, and boy was that the right choice! Meat that melts in your mouth! Most excellent!

The waitress was mediocre for most of the meal, but she really came through in the end, when Doug tried to order dessert. She ran to the kitchen, came back, and reported that they were all out of what he wanted. She went through the remaining options, and while we were redeciding, she disappeared. Right as we were about to give up and leave without dessert, she came running back with the dessert Doug had originally ordered. She put the berry-peach cobbler on the table and said breathlessly, "I stole one from the steakhouse!" Turns out they still had cobblers at the nicer restaurant next door. Hooray for her for going over there to check!

Still Stuck In My Head!

Catholic churchy song still stuck in my head (Doug's too). Uffa.

The Lord is kiiind and merciful...
The Lord is KIIIND and merciful...

Uffa!

No More Road Trips In My Car

It's now Monday morning. My car is sooo dirty. There's chocolate in the seats and water spots on the center console. Poor car. I think I need to wash it tonight.

08:51 AM | Hair:Trips| Comments (0)

January 11, 2004 / Sunday

I Almost Didn't Make The Game... (Eeek!)

If you look a couple posts down you'll see that we were stuck in a horrific airport security line 10 minutes before our flight's departure. Well, that flight departed without us. By the time we got through the metal detectors we had spent 1 hour and 37 minutes in line.

Our options? United said, and I shall pass on what Doug passed on from their customer service phone representative, that we could wait for other LAS->SFO standby flights, but there were no guarantees, and if we couldn't get on a standby flight by the end of the day we'd have to pay $100 to get on a flight tomorrow.

We figured there'd be a ton of standbys vying for seats on the next LAS->SFO flight, so we headed for the LAS->LAX counter. We waited, and waited, and waited. It was well past departure time for the flight to LA, and all ticketed passengers had boarded, but they were holding the flight to process a few stragglers. Finally, we got to the front and explained our situation (well, actually, Doug did). The frazzled ticket agent lady told us we could route back to SF through LA, got a call from the plane saying they were going to arm doors and push off, pretty much told them "I don't care I'm sending two more people on", and then told us to get on the plane. No time to print boarding passes, just grab your stuff and go.

We weren't about to linger, so we grabbed our stuff and went. Bye bye, Las Vegas!

Hellooo... Los Angeles International! We hopped off the plane and speedwalked to the next LAX->SFO flight, which was by then in final boarding. The frazzled ticket agent lady there had no idea who the hell we were, and we had no documents to show her because, well, the first frazzled ticket agent lady didn't have time to give us any. Fortunately, she found us in the system. "Get on," she said, "I don't have time to print your boarding passes."

So again we got on. I'd never flown without a boarding pass before, and here we were hopping from flight to flight boarding passless. They actually allow that these days?! They asked for our IDs but never even looked at them. Huh.

Anyway, we made it back to SFO around 2:30. We looked at the arrivals monitor at SFO and saw that the Las Vegas flight we had originally hoped to fly standby on had been delayed and was now set to arrive at 3:45. Turns out we did pretty well!

I was tired from all the waiting and standing and speedwalking and stressing about the possibility of not getting to play my first hockey game in 3 weeks. By the time we got back I was definitely not in game shape. Fortunately, a little capsule of Ripped Fuel to wake me up, a couple Advils for my aching wrist, and a cup of chocolate pudding for energy got me up enough to play a decent game.

Phew!

08:37 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Hello From The Ridiculously Long Security Line At LAS

My flight is scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. I've been standing in the security line for almost an hour now and have about another hour left.

At least I can blog in line.

Went to the porn convention yesterday. $40 a head! Not worth the money, but it was good to have gone and seen it.

All I can say is... BOOBS BIGGER THAN MY HEAD! Eeek!

Came across what seemed to be a fun toy, but it was a little expensive and I had no toy budget.

02:30 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

January 08, 2004 / Thursday

Hellooo Vegas!

Off to Vegas in a few hours. The Consumer Electronics Show is in town! Gadgets, gadgets, and cool cars equipped with gadgets. Whoo.

Gonna go see Zumanity (the new Cirque du Soleil show) on Friday, too. I hear there's nakedness involved. Whoo again.

As an added bonus, this is also the weekend of the Adult Entertainment Expo. I think I might go meet me some porn stars! WhoO!

02:41 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

January 07, 2004 / Wednesday

One Good Thing About My Boston Trip

Last week, when I was there, it was unseasonably warm for January. 40's, almost 50's, for the most part.

This week, well, it's not anymore.

Glad I picked the good week!

04:31 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

January 05, 2004 / Monday

Not Sure What I Need Right Now

I'm definitely in need of some recovery time after my trip back home. I feel like being a hermit for a few days, but a part of me thinks that if I go and hide I'll just end up sitting there feeling depressed. Depressed and little. 6 inches little.

I hate that I walk around feeling tremendously self conscious after spending time with my mom. Everything I do, everyone I interact with, I wonder whether the people around me notice how flawed I am. It's amazing I even made it into work on my own this morning!

I'm torn. A part of me wants to sit in a corner and cry (about what, I don't know), and a part of me wants to run around shouting at the top of my lungs, throwing, hitting, and breaking everything in my path.

03:38 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

La La La... !

I am sooo happy to be back in California!

10:36 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

January 04, 2004 / Sunday

So Long, Boston

I'm boarding my flight in about half an hour. Barring any tragedies, I don't expect to be back here for a while. I stepped off the plane on Tuesday standing 5'6", and right now I feel about 2 inches tall. I'm not quite sure what my mom did with the 64 inches she chopped off. I hope it grows back in about a week or so. I intend to keep everything I regenerate. Thus, no more visits back home in the forseeable future.

I was a little sad when I said goodbye to my grandfather earlier this afternoon. His health is failing him and I really don't know if I'll make it back before he's gone for good. I feel a little selfish for thinking this. I feel like I'm putting myself ahead of my grandfather's life. But on the other hand, I have to watch out for my emotional and mental health. I don't think I can stand to spend more than 5 days here every year or so. Even 5 days was hard.

I was sad saying goodbye to the other members of my family, too. You never know what's going to happen. My grandmother, my mom, my dad, my sister... I fully expect to see them all again, but thinking about my grandfather made me realize that there's a chance something might happen to one of them in that time, too. I hope not.

Family aside, I got to see a few people I hadn't seen in a while, and didn't get to see a couple people I'd hoped to see. 5 days is never long enough to see everyone, but until I have enough money to put myself up in a hotel for 2 weeks, or unless my mom all of a sudden stops making me feel like lower than dirt twice a day, 5 days is already pushing it.

When my parents dropped me off at the airport, my mom said she might come to visit. I was happy to hear that I'd see her again, yet all of a sudden I felt really stressed. I'm not looking forward to her knocking me down on my own turf.

Earlier today, I was thinking about my mom and how she and my aunt are always talking to each other, swapping ideas with each other, and sharing with each other slightly inaccurate versions of every detail they know about my life. I had a horrifying thought about the day I buy my house, should I decide to settle in the Bay Area. My aunt would ask to see it, and she would then proceed to point out all of the things she thought were wrong with it, and then she would say that I paid too much for it, and that I didn't know how to bargain, and that I didn't know how to manage my money, and that I was stupid.

I decided this week that I'm done talking to my mom and my aunt about details of my life. They never have anything good to say about what I tell them, and what they say won't change what I do anyway. The less they know, the less they can say to cut me down. Not that they mean to cut me down, but whether they mean to or not, I can do without it.

I told my mom during one of her cutdown sessions that every time I leave Boston my self-esteem is close to nonexistent. She replied that she thought I was doing very well, that she was very happy with how I turned out, that I do a good job of balancing my life and taking care of myself, and that there wasn't much more she could ask for. So why, then, does she keep telling me night and day about all the things I'm doing wrong? I'm not perfect, and she shouldn't expect me to be. She knows that nobody's perfect. She says so herself. I don't fucking understand.

05:08 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (0)

January 03, 2004 / Saturday

Hello From My Parents' Friends' Car

I had forgotten how loud Cantonese people are.

03:29 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Hello From I-93

There are a lot of American cars here.

Since I flew in on Tuesday, I've seen 1 BMW on the road, and it was old.

Car culture shock!

12:10 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

January 02, 2004 / Friday

Two More Days?!

I love my family, but when I leave Boston, I don't plan on coming back for another long while. I'll call them more to make up for it or something. The phone is safer. You can always pretend you have to go and hang up.

11:06 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 31, 2003 / Wednesday

Hello From The Parents' House

I think my head is going to blow up.

I think you know why.

I felt twinges of headache when my mom was telling me to make customer service calls for her earlier. Nothing too terrible, but even a twinge is rare for me. I think it's less stressful being at work than at home.

I am, however, thankful for the times when my mom is online, because I have complete peace during those precious minutes. No "have you eaten yet?", no "Can you call this company for me?", no "You should pluck your eyebrows more!", no "Your father, blah blah blah...", no "You're too skinny now."

Speaking of skinny, I'm now "too skinny" at 121 lbs, even though I was "fat" a few years ago, when I weighed only about 15 pounds more. Apparently there's some fine range in between 121 and 137 that I keep overshooting one way or the other. Or maybe it doesn't exist, 'cause after all, I can never be "just right".

I bet that range is >130 lbs & <128 lbs. Yes, at the same time.

01:21 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 30, 2003 / Tuesday

Hello From The Plane!

Whoo! I got to board early 'cause of my section!

Whoo again! Waiting at the airport isn't so terrible when you can surf the web the entire time!

5 minutes to door arming...

08:30 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

October 01, 2003 / Wednesday

Red Sox Tomorrow!

I get to go see the Red Sox play tomorrow! Yeah!

On a side note, I also get to go to my first A's game.

One of these days, I'll make it back home to see the Sox at Fenway. In the meantime I seem to be working on a Red Sox opponent stadium tour. Saw them play the Mariners in Seattle, gonna see them play the A's in Oakland... where to next?

03:58 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

September 20, 2003 / Saturday

VanHOOoover

Back from Seattle and Vancouver. I didn't bring my laptop this time, so I jotted blog notes on a piece of paper instead. Big long post about the last couple days to follow. Yeah, I know how the details of my life excite you.

Thursday, 5:30 PMish

Realized last minute that I have huge bruises on my knees from dropping my bike. Need pantyhose! Ran to the Walgreens near Doug's house. For some reason it seemed that 90% of the pantyhose they carried was for fat people. Fat, as in, I could probably fit my entire body into one pantyhose leg. Eeek.

9:30 to 9:45 PMish... In The Air

Space Invaders in real life! I want to play too! Who wants to Space Invade San Francisco?

On a game-related note, anyone ever stop to ponder whether "Game Boy Advance" is grammatically correct? Shouldn't it be "Game Boy Advanced"? It's almost as if they named the thing with a Japanese accent!

11:00 PMish... In Seattle

Met up with my parents in Seattle. They're getting old. They look older, they act older. My dad's not as sharp as he used to be. My mom nags more. She's not as sharp either. Am I going to get dull when I get old too? That scares me a bit. I'm mainly scared for them right now, but when I apply what I see to myself it makes it even worse.

Friday, Morningish... Boeing Factory Tour!

Rental car from Thrifty. Hunday Sonata. No power! No clutch! I did a few "Oh my doG I'm going to stall!"s the first ten or so minutes.

Finally got to go take the Boeing Factory tour. It kicked major ass. That building is huuuge! Well, I guess that's what you'd expect, being a 747 factory and all. It's the biggest building in the world. Raaad.

Side note on the tour. Our tour guide looked like a Las Vegas version of Ned Flanders. He had the glasses and the bushy mustache and everything. Corny humor, too!

While waiting for the tour to start, my mom asked, "Did you bring your passport?" "Oops," I replied, followed by a very loud completely contained in my head "SHIT!" Turned out to be okay; the Canadian border lady didn't even ask to see ID.

Later... Wedding!

Ran into two and half extra hours of total stop and go traffic on the way to Vancouver. Missed the wedding ceremony as a result. Very sad. Made it for pictures, though, so if you went by pictures we made it!

The reception was nice. My cousin looked great. I think we had 200+ people there. I don't even want to know how much that cost. I'm guessing it's enough to buy a GTI... with a supercharger.

It was even better getting to see relatives I haven't seen in almost a decade. People grew up! People got old! I guess that's what happens, huh?

Saturday, 8:00 AMish... Time To Head Back

Managed to get back into the U.S. with only a small lecture on how it's important to bring my passport with me so that they can figure out where I really belong. Phew.

Made good time getting back to Seattle. Drove to the Space Needle to see if I could finally get up there, since I had half an hour to spare. Parked, walked up, no luck. There was a decent line going for rides up. Bummer. Next time, I guess. At least I did the Boeing tour this trip.

Had a terrible Starbucks latte on my way out this morning, even though the person who made it knew what he was doing. Later, I got another latte at the Seattle's Best shack in the Alaska Airlines terminal. This one was made by some lady who looked like she had no idea what she was doing. It tasted great. What's going on? Is it the beans? The machines? Hey, I rhymed.

I left a few Sprocket hairs in the rental car. That cat gets everywhere!

07:23 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

September 19, 2003 / Friday

Blogging from the shitty e-mail

Blogging from the shitty e-mail through a touch screen kiosk in the hotel lobby in Vanhoover. Wanted to document how painful it is.

That, and say 'Hi'.

Hi.

06:15 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 11, 2003 / Monday

Hello, I'm back from Utah.

Hello, I'm back from Utah. Mineh's wedding was last night. It was beeeautiful. I want to write and write about it but I don't think I could capture everything with words. I took a billion pictures and those don't even capture it.

So I guess I won't try to capture it here. It's captured in my head. Today I find myself reviewing clips of what's in there and when the clip ends I'm sitting there with a big smile on my face.

In retrospect, I wish I'd have found my way back home for my friend Becky's wedding last month. I hope it was equally beautiful. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was.

09:55 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 03, 2003 / Sunday

Big Sur & Sykes Hot Springs

Hi. It's Sunday. Back from my trip. I sprained my ankle. Dammit.

Ten minutes after my last blog post I hopped in my car and drove home. Doug came by, I hopped in his car, and we drove down to Monterey.

Had a soy latte on the way down.

Got to Monterey, checked in at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, got really hungry, ate some $5 hotel snack bar Pringles, waited a little while longer, and then went to dinner with the some folkses at the Sardine Factory.

Had lots of yummy food for dinner.

The next day, Doug woke up and said, "I left my boots at home." Home? Home, as in 118 miles away? Yup. I wasn't about to have him hike without boots (hiking, sure, but with a backpack?) so I offered to go get them while he did his presentation thing (which is why we were in Monterey in the first place). Off I went.

I got to honk at an ex-coworker on 101 so the trip was worth it.

Got boots, drove back to Monterey, picked up Doug, drove to Big Sur, got our permit, and hiked in. Found an awesome spot next to a stream with a mini waterfall nearby. Set up camp and started dinner.

Pasta Roni is great when you're in the woods.

The next morning, we hiked another 5 or so miles to Sykes Hot Springs. It was definitely worth the hike. Unfortunately, everyone there while we were there seemed to want clothes. A bit of a bummer. I would much rather have just stripped and jumped in. What's with people wanting to wear clothes all the time, anyway?

We should just all prance around naked.

Soaked until I was woozy from the heat, ate lunch, and headed back. I managed to bruise the inside of my left foot crossing the river. No biggie. I bruise easily, as those of you who know me well will attest to. Got back to camp, wrote a little in my journal while Doug took a nap, and started dinner.

Had burritos. They were fun.

Sunday morning. We woke up, we packed up, we started heading back. 2 or 3 miles into our hike, I managed to sprain my right ankle. I cut a big gash in my left knee in the process. Doug helped me clean and patch up my knee (shenks), I tightened my boot up more, and finished the hike out.

Man, I was dirrrty!

Drove up Highway 1 and stoped at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero for a bowl of Cream of Artichoke / Cream of Green Chile soup, some awesome bread, a sandwich, some fries, and a slice of olallieberry pie. The lady who seated us (we think she's either very senior or has some sort of ownership power there) was super nice when she saw that I was hobbling (I was not walking very easily at this point). She asked me which ankle I had injured, put us in a corner booth so I could elevate my foot, and came back with a bag of ice for me... all before I could ask!

The food was most excellent, by the way.

Drove back here (my place) after Duarte's. I'm gonna go clean up and take some Advil now. Bye.

06:15 PM | Food:Hike:Injuries:Trips| Comments (0)

March 02, 2003 / Sunday

Whistler!

Okay, so I just wrote a whole bunch of stuff about my trip to Whistler and Blogger hosed it before I could post it. I had written up a few pages on it earlier at the airport, too, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted either so now I'm on version three of the Whistler trip report and I am quite sick of detailing the same things for you guys over and over. So, here's the short version. (When you see how long it is you'll be happy you didn't have to read versions one and two.)

Whistler was big. There was lots of mountain and it was quite pretty, which made me happy. The snow sucked. No, wait, the "snow" sucked. I think it was more ice than snow. I didn't exactly get to go "swish". It was more like "scra-a-ape". The village was cool. I bought me a cool hat. I went into every hat-selling shop in Whistler Village to make sure that I bought me the coolest hat that I could possibly buy there. I also bought me a cool sticker. Too bad I don't want to put it on my current snowboard. My current snowboard sucks ass. It doesn't hold wax very well and it just acquired a gigantic gash on the bottom, thanks to the undeep snow and some strategic rock targeting by yours truly. Just kidding on that last part. I do want a new board but I'm not looking to have to spend money.

During my hat search I came across the ultimate basketball head hat. I was very tempted to buy it so that I could finally live up to my nickname, but it was forty dollars, and even after the funny money conversion it was too much. You'll just have to use your imagination instead. When you see me with my cool red Whistler knit hat with the comfy fleecey band on the inside just pretend it's orange with black basketball stripes instead.

So in versions one and two of this trip report I had full paragraphs on every single little thing that I ate, but I'm lazy now so I'm just going to list them. Thursday, yummy all-you-can-eat sushi for cheap in Vancouver. Friday, tasty cinnamon sugar lemon beaver tail on Whistler mountain. Saturday, non-authentic poutine on Blackcomb mountain. The bestest mashed sweet potatoes at a Greek restaurant on Saturday night, accompanied by a totally unexpected run-in with the boyfriend of one of my coworkers near the bar. Sunday, too much food at a popular but slightly-too-nouveau-dim-sum place in Richmond. Their mango pudding was in jello form, sniff sniff. Sunday also, the bestest gelato ever: black sesame.

There was other food, too, but nothing's worth mentioning after the black sesame gelato. I'm going to learn how to make my own. I'm going to have a freezer full of black sesame ice cream and/or gelato. Mmm...

- - -

We interrupt this post to tell you that I just found out that another one of my high school friends is getting married. That makes me feel old. Roh.

And now, back to the trip report in progress...

- - -

Food, gelato, ah, latte. I went into Starbucks Friday morning for a latte and walked out with a Dave Brubeck CD. Every time I listen to it I get a hankering for a tall soy latte in a white paper cup with a little round green emblem with some long-haired lady in the middle. Strange.

Speaking of CDs, the rental car came with a forgotten copy of Snoop Dogg's Tha Last Meal. I have to say, that album is pretty funny. Is there not a single song on there that doesn't include some combination or spelling of the words "Snoop Doggy Dogg"? From our brief listen it seems that there isn't. Scary.

Speaking of the rental car, we got a free upgrade from a full sized car to an Eddie Bauer edition Ford Explorer because they didn't have any full size cars available for us when we showed up. Yeah, 4-wheel drive, perfect for all that snow we had to drive through in Whistler. Uh-huh.

Shot glasses. They need better shot glasses in Whistler.

Did I forget anything? Probably. Did I mention my AutoSpin2 works wonderfully? My left ankle and calf and knee were sooo happy on the lifts this weekend. It's not too shabby on the lift lines, either. Yay.

Okay, did I forget anything else? Probably. That's what happens when you have to blog the same thing three times over. Roh.

10:14 PM | Snow:Trips| Comments (0)

February 27, 2003 / Thursday

My Plan For The Next Five Days

Thursday: eat sushi in Vancouver
Friday: go snowboarding at Whistler
Saturday: go snowboarding at Whistler
Sunday: go snowboarding at Whistler
Monday: (work some) play hockey

La la la. WhoO!  

11:41 AM | Snow:Trips| Comments (0)

January 13, 2003 / Monday

I'm An Internet Junkie

Friday, Jan 10, 2003 7:19 PM at Harrah's Las Vegas

Hi. It's Friday. It probably doesn't say so on the date bar above this post. Nadsy, who is standing beside me, just wondered aloud why I've been starting off my posts with, "Hi. It's [insert day of week here]." He thinks it's redundant, given the date bar that tells you exactly what day of the week it is. You know, I don't know why. I just kind of like saying, "Hi. It's [insert day of week here]." Consider it style. Forget that bit about redundancy. Besides, bandwidth is cheap these days.

Anyway, I'm here in Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. I forgot to mention that before I left. Sorry, blog readers. I've been such a slacker lately. But, not to fear, I have things to write about once again. Lookie...

Okay, I realize this is nothing new. After all, I keep a blog, I keep an otherblog, I'm always on AIM, and I check my e-mail every minute. But yesterday I noticed a somewhat strange behavior while waiting for my flight to board at the airport. I was working on my laptop, and even though I was very obviously not online, I kept opening my browser window every few minutes to check the news. <Shift><Alt><X>. This page cannot be displayed. Close window. Work some. <Shift><Alt><X>. This page cannot be displayed. Close window. Work some. Repeat. What's wrong with me?

CES: Free Raver Toys

Okay, not exactly raver toys, but we got these cool neon green flashy tire valve caps from TireFlys. They had them screwed onto a pendant. Good stuff! I borrowed another and spun 'em, too, and promptly whacked my inner forearm and developed a good bruise.

CES: Tone Loc

Also at the TireFlys booth was none other than Tone Loc. Tone Loc, Mr. Funky Cold Medina. I got him to sign the back of my conference pass. I also got my picture taken with him. He was just sitting there chillin' and talking to people. Huzzah!

CES: Other Has-Beens

Okay, maybe I shouldn't call them has-beens. That's not very nice and probably won't bring me much good karma. Anyway, the Sirius booth had, amongst others, Edwin McCain and lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, whose name I can't and don't care to remember. They were signing autographs and singing for the crowd. I remember having the following two thoughts:

1. Edwin McCain is one ugly man.
2. So THAT'S what the Hootie guy is doing these days!

Enough on the has-beens. Let's move on...

CES: Car & Electronics Show

That's sure what it seemed like! All the mobile electronics booths, i.e. car audio, radar, electronic accessories, who were there had these totally souped up kickass cars. It was just like a car show! I sat in a beautiful red M3, courtesy of Sirius, then a G35, then an Xterra, then a Frontier, then an Escape, a few Focuses, RSXes, etc. etc., and you know what? I like my GTI the best.  

This calls for a Huzzah.

Huzzah! a.k.a. Tournament Of Kings

Friday night we saw the Tournament of Kings show at Excalibur. The show was cheesy and the food was bland, but I had a good time...

All of a sudden, I felt a studly presence.
And then John walked into the room.

Okay, back to Excalibur. The show was cheesy but I got to shout "Huzzah!" all night so I was a happy camper. The food was bland but I got to eat with my hands so things wree good on the dinner front also. Was it worth 45 bucks? Sure it was. Well, maybe once.

BuRp!

Hi, it's Saturday. I'm sitting in front of the TV in my hotel room watching the Falcons/Eagles game. I'm waiting for dinner. Mmm... dinner. I've been eating lots of good stuff the last couple days, with the exception of the bland Medieval food from last night. Since that meal I've had a smoothly delicious chocolate peanut butter swirl cone, a warm apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream and caramel, a bite of Oreo cheesecake, a couple bites of some poofy ice cream pastry thing with hot fudge, a bite of a creamy key lime pie, a bite of some pretty strawberry shortcake creation, half a Fatburger, a bunch of Fatburger fries, a really heavy caramel apple with nuts, and a douple shot of espresso with lots of whipped cream.

And soon, a big ole buffet dinner at Rio. La la la. Life is good.

So Big! So Many! So Swanky!

So I got to walk around and check out some more hotels this time around. New York New York, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Paris, Mirage, probably a few other ones along the way. Yay for walking around and checking things out. My feet hurt like crazy but there's just something really satisfying about seeing all the different casinos. Paris has some cavernous bathrooms in their convention center halls, by the way. Ooh ooh and I got to see the Bellagio water show today! 'Twas totally absolutely completely awesome. That, plus my caramel apple, made my Saturday.

Hi. It's Sunday.

Hi. It's Sunday. Oh, wait, I already said that. I'm at the airport now. Saturday was chill and foodful. Foodful. Is that a word? Sounds pretty cool. Rhymes pretty good too, I think. Foodful, rhymes with moodful, broodful, snoodful, ploodful...

Yeah, I know, what language am I speaking?

Eat Eat Eat !!!

Yes yes, so I ate ate ate at the Rio seafood buffet last night. I actually ate seafood. Whoa. I actually could taste it! Big double whammy whoa. Unfortunately, I don't think my body likes seafood, because I started feeling tired and my throat started feeling blah towards the end of dinner. I think my mom warned me about this. Something about no shellfish when I'm sick. It makes my throat swell or something. Um, yeah. Uh-huh.

So after eat eat eating I went back to the room and slept. Zzzzz...

'Twas my bestest night of sleep this whole trip.  

This calls for a huzzah. Huzzah!

Anyway, they're boarding soon. See you in California.

03:31 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 22, 2002 / Sunday

8:49 AM Pacific time, somewhere

8:49 AM Pacific time, somewhere in the air

Greetings from the plane. I've got my pillow and blanket but I'm way in the back today. I feel like I'm being weaned. Weaned. Did I spell that right? Maybe it's weened? No, that sounds hot doggish. In any case, if the guy in front of me lowers his seat back my laptop will become a permanent part of my lap. Not a good thing, especially since this isn't really my laptop.

Utah was fun. I met a few more dogs last night after my previous post and got confirmation of my theory that people are issued dogs upon moving into the state. Went to a little trolley car bar last night that had some tasty chicken wings. Oh! I saw the new Lord of the Rings movie yesterday, too. I likes, I likes. I might have to see it again, though, since I was in the third row and couldn't take in the entire screen all at once.

So who else out there thinks Aragorn is a hottie? He's hot even when he needs a bath, and anyone who knows me knows that is not something I would say lightly. Sad sad story with him and his elf princess love, though. Sniff sniff. Yes, I cried for them. I'm a softie like that.

Despite all of Aragorn's hottiness, Legolas might well be my favorite character. He reminds me of me, or perhaps the me that I want to be. He's cool and collected, damned good at what he does, and he sports a fiery intense look that says, "I mean business. Don't fuck with me." Plus, he somehow manages to stay clean through it all, too. Clean is important, yes yes.

This trip has me thinking a bit more about who I am, who I want to be, and where I want to go in life. Not that I wasn't thinking about it before. I'm always thinking about that. I always have this feeling like I'm not doing enough to mold myself into someone better or to get myself farther along in my career. Yes, career, not life. I at least understand that there's more to life than a career. Life-wise, I'm doing pretty well in the play department. I've got my hockey and my snowsports (not just snowboarding... I think I might actually start skiing more now) and that should keep me actively happy for a while. I'm doing okay in the social department, too, although I am still a bit behind with the keeping in touch business. As for my crisis of the week, it's about a couple of hours away from hitting a couple weeks. It'll work itself out. At least I hope it does. And if it doesn't, well, that's life.

I have a plan for that crisis thing. Maybe you'll read about it next month.

10:37 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 21, 2002 / Saturday

Hello again. Yup, I'm still

Hello again. Yup, I'm still in Utah. It's cold here! Good thing I brought all my fleece with me. Head things and ear things and neck things and hand things. Fuzz fuzz fuzz!

One thing I've noticed here is that everyone owns a dog, or, in some cases, three. I wonder if you get issued a dog when you move to the state. Welcome to Utah! Here's your canine. Go be active and stuff with it. Have fun!

La la la... hrmm... this keyboard's not exactly agreeing with my hands and wrists. I think it's time to log off. Roh, everyone!

04:35 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 20, 2002 / Friday

Greetings From Utah

plus one 'cause I flew east

Greetings from Utah. I went skiing today, for the first time in almost eight years. I did surprisingly well, considering I almost managed to hit a snowmaking machine and run over a ski school group the last time I was out. I even went up 10 ski centimeters from my previous outing. Oh, and I didn't almost hit anyone or anything this time. No ski school instructors after my head today!

I swished my way down a blue run before the day was out... without falling! Whooha! Yay for hockey, I think. That's gotta be it, unless I somehow managed to ski better by not skiing for eight years.

Swish!

The runs here in Utah are steep. Some of the green runs here felt like Tahoe blues. The snow was awesome. Not too wet, not too icey, not too powdery, not too anything. Just right. And totally uncrowded. So much space!

Swish again!

I think I might have to buy myself some boots and skis...

But I will resist the urge to since the couple times I fell I thought it was going to tear my knee out. Then what? No skiing, no snowboarding, no hockey, and none of that other stuff I want to do but don't have time to.

Hrmm... I think that would make it kind of hard for me to drive my car, too.

Well then hell no I'm not taking up skiing!

Oh, but it's so fun...

06:43 PM | Snow:Trips| Comments (0)

To Utah!

actually it's 7:07 PM on Thursday and I'm somewhere in the air between SFO and SLC

Greetings from the plane. This is my first plane post in over a year, I think. The weather in San Francisco's horrible today. Wet. Wet meaning the roads are slick. The roads are slick meaning cars can't stop. Cars can't stop meaning accidents on the road. Perhaps I should have taken a Super Shuttle.

No beverage carts on the flight tonight. Roh.

Just got back from the bathroom. I was amused by the little razor blade disposal slot near the sink. Did they provide razors for shaving back in the day? Even before this whole terrorist thing, I'd think it'd be a bit dangerous to have razors aboard an airplane. Imagine hitting turbulence right as you're scraping that thing against your neck. Ouch!

Anyway, roh. I'm rohing for Nadsy's car. Sorry, Bo. Super Shuttle. I'll take a Super Shuttle next time. No more asking for rides on rainy days. Or something. Roh.

Seems like everyone's getting rear ended these days. Roh again.

Okay, let's digress. Let's talk about travelling instead. I miss travelling. I sat down in my seat and I realized that I miss travelling. I miss going on business trips. I'm going to miss being a Premier Executive with United.

No, that came out wrong. The Premier Exec thing is actually more of an afterthought. A great perk, yes, but that's not what I miss the most. I miss the change of pace. I miss meeting new people. I miss feeling like I'm important. I feel important when I travel. I feel like I'm important enough to be trusted with representing my company. Important people travel, don't they?

Important. I could write a book on the importance of feeling important.

I could, but I won't.

I'm hungry. When are my peanuts going to get here?

04:27 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

November 29, 2002 / Friday

Mishmash of Schtuffage

Went shopping today in Providence. What kind of mall makes people pay for parking? This kind. And we do it, too, because we don't have a choice. That sucks. Oh, and here's my money.

On my flight to Boston, I caught a glimpse of Donnie Wahlberg on the United Entertainment in-flight video. Yes, Donnie Walhberg, brother of Mark Wahlberg and former bad boy of the New Kids on the Block. In fact, he was my favorite New Kid. Anyway, Mr. Bad Boy is now old and balding and looking quite docile these days.

Balding, HaHAhAhaHAHaHA !!

My mom's all weird these days (part 1 of 2). This afternoon she refused to go shopping until everyone had had their dessert.

My mom's all weird these days (part 2 of 2). During our afternoon dessert she told me and my sister to marry someone ugly who doesn't age well because handsome husbands who age well will have flocks of golddigging young vixens after them and will therefore be more likely to be unfaithful. I wonder if she realized that that would mean she'd have ugly grandchildren.

Later, at the mall with the paid parking, I tried on a pair of pants two sizes below what I've been wearing for the last 5 years. It was too big for me. I swear, I'm going to waste away into two-dimensionality.

I think then I would become a cartoon character. Yeah, like I'm not enough of a character now. Ha.

08:19 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (0)

Home makes me sleep. I've

Home makes me sleep. I've slept until 12:30 both days I've been here. Nine hours a night instead of six, and I feel like I could still sleep more. It's probably because I forgot my laptop power adapter so I can't get up and work. I think I subconsciously forgot the adapter on purpose. It's nice to totally break from routine for a few days... right down to this slow phone line connection I'm on. Makes online shopping difficult, though. Speaking of which, it's time to go shop. Sis is running the shopping schedule today. I don't even have to drive. Whee!

10:53 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

November 28, 2002 / Thursday

Greetings from snowy Quincy, Massachusetts.

Greetings from snowy Quincy, Massachusetts. I brought the snow once again. I think it's happened every year since I moved out. I fly home, it snows. Mother Nature's plan to keep me indoors.

Home is nice but stressful. Now I understand why my sister has to drink and smoke. Everyone talks over each other! Stop and listen to what other people have to say, will ya? Hrmm... sounds familiar. I've been in a few meetings like that lately. Heh.

Bobo got fat. She's even more spoiled now, too. All she does is eat and sleep, and when she sleeps she doesn't just go back to her bed. No, she has to sleep on your lap. What a spoiled puppy.

Speaking of fat, I think while I'm here I'll probably regain a few of those pounds I've lost in the last couple months. All people do around here is eat! My mom, my dad, my sis... No wonder the dog's all tubby now. Arf!

Grandma's here today. I just taught her how to take CDs and VCDs out of their case. I remember more Chinese than I thought I did. Yay.

The airport was amazingly empty on Wednesday. No one at SFO, no one at Logan. Where is everyone? Are they all driving? Are they all at the little airports? Are they all hiding at home? Strange.

Almost dinner time. I can't wait. Food food food food FOOD!

02:46 PM | Family:Trips| Comments (0)

November 27, 2002 / Wednesday

Holy fark, I'm trading this:

Holy fark, I'm trading this:

For this:

Can't everyone just fly out and visit me instead? I'll bake you a turkey. Deal?

08:30 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

November 01, 2002 / Friday

Vegas, Baby, Vegas...

PoOkie X P l aya: wutchu goin for
PoOkie X P l aya: i'm goin to party
PoOkie X P l aya: thats it
SoopahViv: i'm going for the consumer electronics show
PoOkie X P l aya: hahhahahha
PoOkie X P l aya: u geek

05:42 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

June 19, 2002 / Wednesday

Happy Belated Birthday, Blog!

I just realized I missed my blog's birthday. It was on May 28th. I didn't even blog on that day. I was busy recovering from LA and Vegas.

Happy belated, Eh?

12:07 AM | Blog/Website:Trips| Comments (0)

June 10, 2002 / Monday

Yosemite

Back from Yosemite. Wish I didn't have to come back. My mind was so unburdened up there. Nothing but water and trees and stars and mosquitos. No phones ringing, no AIM windows popping up, no traffic jams, no people to dodge. I was happy there, bike and hike and cheese and crackers and waterfall and gorgeous view happy.

Left the Bay Area at 5 PM on Friday. Didn't want to miss the lovely Friday afternoon traffic, after all. I think we did a good job of catching every last minute of it.

Traffic cleared up about two hours later. The rest should have been cake. It sure seemed like it would be from the directions! 580E to 205E to 120E. How hard could that be?

Very hard if you miss the fork to 120 and go for miles and miles without realizing it. Oh, did I say miles? How about tens of miles? Tens of miles of windy road along the side of a mountain in pitch darkness. Two and a half hours of it, in fact.

That part of the trip went like this: Blah blah blah blah blah... Whoa! Windy road!... Blah blah blah... So dark!... Blah blah blah... Hey, we're passing Strawberry! It looks just like the Strawberry we pass up in Tahoe... Nah, it can't be the same Strawberry... Blah blah... You know, Yosemite shouldn't be this far away... Hey look, a road sign... 108... 108?! Where the hell ARE we?!

Dig map out. Oh-my-God a bit. Turn around:

Chuckle to self every 5 minutes in disbelief. Daaah! a bit. Chuckle some more. Only another two and a half hours to get back to the fork, right? Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! Daaah!

Back into town at 2 AM for some gas and some food. Denny's, of course. It was 2 AM, after all. Meat lover's skillet and coffee and wheat toast soaked in butter. Time to go out and try again.

I don't remember much of the drive into Yosemite. I was too tired. It was dark and the road was windy and I saw a river and a waterfall and then we were in the parking lot and the sun was coming up. Goddammit, it's not supposed to take 12 hours to get to Yosemite!

6 AM. Try to get some sleep.

7 AM. I hate kids. Especially when there are 4 of them outside your tent running around screaming their heads off.

8 to 10 AM. More kids. I think they were throwing rocks at each other.

11 AM. Uppie! Must go explore!

Ate a donut and got our bikes. Checked out lower Yosemite Falls. Ate some cheese and crackers. No, not the little handi-snack thingamadoohickeys. Had cheddar and gouda and garlic & herb water crackers. Dropped some water crackers in the water by accident. That's okay. They're water crackers, after all.

Biked some more. Froze a bit in cold mountain water. Hit a few trails in the woods. Mucked with my broken front brake a bit. Gave up on my broken front brake. Made it to a field underlooking the face of El Capitan. Some guy had a telescope set up there. I got to take a look. It's funny seeing climbers dangling off the side. They're so leedle up there!

Saturday night. Back at Camp Curry. What do campers eat for dinner? Ice cream and pizza! In that order, no less. Ice cream for dinner, pizza for dessert. Yum!

Tried to take advantage of the dark and stargaze a bit. My night vision sucks.

Stars schmars! Did you know you can turn your MagLite into a light saber? It literally shoots beams of light if you focus it right. Szhszhszhszhszhing!

Midnight. Time for schleep. The kids would be up and screaming again soon.

10 AM. Glah glah glah glah glah glah glah glah glah! A chorus of 5 year olds glahhing. Glaaaaah!

Donuts and beef jerky and ice cream for breakfast. Fuel for the hike ahead.

Where to? El Capitan! On second thought, let's do something slightly less ambitious. How about Yosemite Falls instead?

Less ambitious, haha. I can't freakin' walk today. That hike was painful!

Painful but worth it. It was beautiful up top. Beautiful and free of feeble people. They all turned back long before they could even see the top. More picnic room by the falls for me!

We even made it another mile past the falls to Yosemite Point. Got the bestest view of Half Dome from up there. Hopefully I'll post some pretty pictures for you all soon. Great wallpaper material!

And that's wallpaper for your desktop, not your walls, though I guess you could put the pics on your walls too. Oh hell, do whatever you want with them. Wear 'em on your shirt. Wear 'em on your head. Feed 'em to your fish.

I'm making no sense, I know.

Anyway, I'm back now. Not too happy about it. The mind started getting muddled once I got back to civilization. It got even worse when I stepped into my apartment. I was back. I didn't want to be.

It's amazing how by changing your surroundings you can remove yourself from all the problems in your life (or your head). Now I understand why some people just up and walk away from everything. No warnings, no goodbyes. No hint as to where they're going for people to track them down with. Leave and start fresh.

Hello, stranger. That's a nice clean slate you've got there.

05:24 PM | Hike:Trips| Comments (0)

May 29, 2002 / Wednesday

I'm back! I'm back!

I'm back! I'm back! No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I've just been too busy and too tired to blog. There's so much to blog about, too. Or so it seemed. I guess we'll find out...

So the reason I've been too tired to blog is I went to bed at 6 AM three nights in a row. Not a bad thing. Well, not a bad thing except for my health and my sleep cycle and my productivity and my blog.

Hey, I'm listening to a new CD. Tomahawk. One of Mike Patton's new bands. Can't believe it took me 7 months to pick it up. Next up is one of his other new projects, Lovage. Oh, and I just picked up Eminem's new album. So much music!

Okay, back to the weekend recap...

Drove down to LA on Saturday and went to 31 Flaverz, a small rave in an old theatre somewhere in the unfashionable fashion district of LA. I had my gloves and my sticks and Ted bought me a pair of spectra glasses so light-wise I was all set. I spun some and then headed toward the back where they had blacklights up to play with my gloves. Wanted to try out my glove shows on people. They like me, they really like me! My arms were hurting after about the 15th show. Sober arms need rest!

The highlight of Saturday night was this happy little 19 year old boy who came up to me a few minutes after I gave him and glove show. He thank-you-thank-you-!-ed me again and said emphatically, "You're sooooo cuuuuute!" Yeeeah! 19 year olds dig me. So what if it's chemically induced?

Left at 4 AM to try to get some rest. Sunup around 5:30. Bedtime at 6.

8:30 AM Sunday. Time to get up and drive to Vegas. Yawwwwwn...

Got into Vegas in time for the Kings-Laker game. What a game. I thought the Kings had it. I really did. But damn, what a comeback. What a shot. I was watching the game in a casino with a bunch of Lakers fans. The final seconds of the game seem so surreal to me now. I remember Kobe driving, missing, relief, Shaq rebounding, missing, relief, Vlade whacking the ball out, Horry picking it up, shooting... I shouted, "Noooooooooo!"... swish... and everywhere around me people started jumping up and down in celebration.

Crazy freakin' Lakers fans.

Speaking of which, I want either a Lakers-Celtics series or a Kings-Nets series in the final. In any case, I want a west coast team to win it all. Sorry to everyone back home, but I was never a Celtics fan anyway. At least I'm not a Knicks fan anymore.

Needed a nap after all the basketball excitement. Rested a couple hours at the hotel and headed out to eat and drink and gamble. Well, I guess I headed out to eat. Didn't drink much. Didn't gamble much either. It was cool just to take it all in. It'd been 10 years since my last Vegas trip. All I can say is, either I've forgotten a lot then or they've built a lot since then. That place is pretty!

Okay, so not drinking and not gambling (okay I did gamble a bit but after a while it was gambling to wait for people and that only made me lose money so I stopped) got old after a little while. That and it was 4 AM so I was starting to get tired. Fortunately we headed to Mandalay Bay around that time. They were blaring trance at the House of Blues there. I ditched everyone and hung out by the speakers outside the place, pulled out my lights, and did my thing. The security guards looked at me kind of funny. I thought they were going to throw me out for trying to turn their casino into a rave. Then the strangest thing happened. People leaving the club started coming up to me to ask me for light shows and to show them how to spin. That and I got smiles from pretty casino boys. Yay for me. Yay for lights. Yay for non-casinolike behavior in the middle of a casino.

Okay tired drunken people, the sun's up so it's time to get some sleep. What time is it? 6 AM? Not again...

Got up at noon to go eat and gamble some more. I played some and lost some, played some and won some, played some and lost some more. Down 50 bucks. Entertainment fees. Cheaper than a night out. Cheaper than a rave. Drugs are expensive, you know.

Kidding! But speaking of expensive, so is alcohol. You know where all my CD money comes from? It's the alcohol fund that doesn't get spent. Hooray for whatever gene it is that's responsible for my being pathetically unable to consume more than one drink over the course of an entire night.

7 PM. Time to head back to LA. Thank you HT for driving. I got an hour or so of much needed sleep. No thank you Wayney Thai for freaking me out with stories about cabinfuls of dead people falling from the sky. Thank you Christina for taking us to the store with the product labels that make no sense.

Snoopy on a glass bottle with liquid inside. The label on the box says it's a bottle of BOTTY COLON. Mmm! That sure makes me want to dab the stuff all over me.

1 AM. Leave LA for home. Good thing for the little nap earlier. Thank you Wayney Thai for driving the second leg of the trip. Thank you also for not telling me any more freaky dead people stories.

That's freaky as in scary, not grindy. Dead people freakin' would be gross.

5:30 AM. Where are my sunglasses?

6 AM. Schleepballtime!

And now you know why I'm dead tired and couldn't blog for 2 days. I guess it's been more like 4 days for you. Or 5. Or however many days it's been since I last wrote. Anyway, it's good to be back. I plan on retiring early the entire weekend. Bedtime at 6 PM!

07:18 PM | Music:Trips| Comments (0)

May 15, 2002 / Wednesday

N'awlins Photos

Okay, the New Orleans photos have been transferred, censored, resized, captioned, and posted! Not for those with weak stomachs... literally.

12:04 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 14, 2002 / Tuesday

New Orleans, Day Five

Worn out! Couldn't get out of the hotel until 1:30 PM Monday. Tired tired tired tired tiiiiired!

Got up, got out, got scared by a mother and daughter pair for reasons too politically incorrect to state here. Headed over to a restaurant called Mother's to have po' boys and crawfish etoufée. I ordered a smoked sausage po' boy and got 6 inches of bread around about 2 pounds of greasy red sausage. Muncha muncha!

So... full. My stomach decided to go on strike. Too much sausage grease, it said. It flatly refused to process anything, and I wound up carrying it around all afternoon feeling blah.

Blah.

But not blah enough to skip dessert! couldn't pass up ice cream! Got us a couple cones for the afternoon walk. Lick lick lick. Yum...

Tried to visit a cemetery in the area for the 2nd or 3rd time this trip. Damned thing was closed. They all close at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Not good for visitors on the stay up all night wandering and eating schedule. No delapitated personal above ground mini crematorium grounds tour for us. Poopie.

Along the way we encountered a fast and fierce rainstorm. The air suddenly went from hot and muggy to air conditioner cold, followed by a downpour about half a minute later. Just like I remember it from back home! California doesn't get kind of pre-storm instant temperature change so I'd been kind of missing it. We were totally drenched walking around in the stuff but it was worth it. It's nice to walk in the rain without a care every once in a while.

Hotel. Shower. Nap. Dinner cruise time!

Dinner cruises for locals are cool. Dinner cruises for tourists are not.

The cruise was more thrown together than put together. It was nice to check out all the freighters on the river, though. I'd never been close enough until last night to really appreciate their size. Those things are cooooool.

Back to shore. What to do? Eat! I'm told that Bananas Foster was invented at a restaurant in the Garden District of New Orleans. I had to try it while I was in town. Headed to a place called the Palace Cafe on the southern edge of the French Quarter and ordered one up for dessert. Flaming dessert! Very cool. Quite yummy, too. My stomach was happy once again, and I was forgiven for feeding it too much greasy smoked sausage.

Hotel. Pack. Darnit, we're leaving in a few hours? Let's go eat some more!

Back to Bourbon Street for one last stroll. All they had at midnight on a Monday night was pizza. Expensive bad pizza, expensive dry pizza, expensive dried to a gnarly crisp pizza, expensive... ooh... fresh pizza! Good thin New York style crust. Happy happy, yes yes.

Hotel. Change. Schleep!

12:06 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 13, 2002 / Monday

New Orleans, Day Four

Got up Sunday at... 9:30 AM! That was not the plan. I was hoping for something closer to 10 or 10:30, but the cleaning people decided to have a little shouting match by the "Do Not Disturb" sign on our doorknob. Grrr...

Whatever. I went downstairs to the courtyard and called home to wish mom a happy Mother's Day. Mom wasn't home but I got to talk to sis. That always makes me feel better. That plus I got to sketch some light fixtures down there. That always makes me feel better too. Yeah, strange, I know.

Sunday was car rental day. Headed to Hertz and picked up a Taurus for our trip to the bayou. Wanted to get lunch beforehand but everything was closed for Mother's Day so I wound up having coffee flavored sugar water and a Boston Kreme doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts. I was actually quite happy about it, actually. Can't pass up a Dunkies. They don't have those out in California. So so sad.

All fueled up on fat and sugar. Good to go! Headed to Lafitte for Bayou Barn, where we rented a canoe and paddled up and down a swampy swamp swamp. We was alligator huntin'! Didn't find no alligators, though. They kept making noises at us but wouldn't show. I think they were throwing their voices and taunting us. It was pretty hot out and eventually I got hungry and thirsty and decided it was time to head back before I passed out and fell out of the boat. Back to shore we went.

You know, I bet if I had fallen out of the boat the alligators would have come out to eat me and then we would have gotten to see them. Too bad. I guess I was too tired to think of it at the time.

Kidding, kidding. You know I'm just kidding. We actually managed to see a gator after we got back to shore. A cute little 4 foot long gator swam up toward us and kinda floated around and watched us for a while. We kinda stood around and watched him. Then he got bored and floated away. Bye little dude.

So hungry! So thirsty! We headed for the area near Loyola and Tulane hoping to get some student grub. Found their eateries to be a bit like swamp gators... nowhere to be seen! Where do all the students eat? Hungry! Huuungry! Rohhhhhh...

Fortunately we had our New Orleans guide with us and found our way to a little brick shack near the tracks called Franky & Johnny's. Got us some crawfish pie, some gumbo, and a meatball po' boy. Headed back to the hotel with our happy tummies and took a nap. Canoeing wore me out!

Woke up and drove east. Made it into Mississippi! Took the 90 along the gulfcoast and made a stop in Bay St. Louis to visit the Gulf of Mexico. Done! Took some pics and drove on. 20 miles later we were in Biloxi. Biloxi, Mississippi, home of pretty homes and pretty beach and a ton of casinos.

Hello Beau Rivage. Eat eat. Gamble gamble. Pretty place you got here. Oh, what's that, you spent $650 million building this place? So that's why your water tastes so good! You must have your own water supply or something.

Time to go. Drove back and had some more beignets at 4 AM. Tired! So tired! Time to schleeeeep...

09:47 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 12, 2002 / Sunday

New Orleans, Day Three

Got up at 3 or so again today. Got dressed and ate and walked around with a couple more hours of sun to spare. Not a bad way to do New Orleans. Gets you out of having to deal with most of the uncomfortably hot parts of the day.

Today we had our late late lunch at an outdoor place with live music near the water. Our original plan was to eat buckets of crawfish at the Jackson Brewery, but all we found there was what appeared to have been a cool hoppin' restaurant. We flipped a coin to decide which direction to walk and wound up at The Gazebo Cafe. There we finally go to eat crawfish and alligator meat. Interesting, but perhaps a tad overrated. The crawfish tasted like what I would imagine the Mississippi River would taste. I'm sure that description helps you a ton. The alligator meat was interesting. It had kind of a tough chewy consistency. The best word I can come up with for it would be "ngugn" in Cantonese. I'm sure that description helps you a ton also.

After that we headed over to the Riverwalk Marketplace, which is basically a mall for tourists. They had a mini Café du Monde there. I got to see them make beignets. Very cool. Very very cool. Yum.

Walk walk sweat sweat. Headed back to the hotel and got pretty for dinner at Nola's. Pricey as all hell, but worth every penny. I had the best damned pasta I've ever had and perhaps will have for quite a while. If I try really hard I can still recall the taste and texture of it in my mind. Mmm...

With happy stomachs we headed back out to see if we could find a good party that didn't involve beer and boba (or booze and boobs, of you prefer). I had just purchased some cool glowsticks earlier in the day so we decided to check out a club called 735 on Bourbon Street to see if I could find a beat worth cracking them for. The music was decent but there were all of 3 people there moving to it. Everyone else was just standing around drinking. Silly people. Bust out your sticks and play! There was no one to learn from but they had lots of floor space and a mirror so I got to try out some new moves and refine some old ones. Yay for clubs that cater to narcissistic glowstick fiends.

And now it's 4 AM and I have to get up in less than 6 hours. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep. What is it with me and my strange need to blog? I hope you all feel special. I'm writing this for you, you know.

Just kidding. I'm writing this 'cause I have a weak ass memory and won't remember jack if I don't document it somewhere.

Anyhow, the plan is to check out some swamps and plantations tomorrow. I'm gonna go wrastle me an alligator. Wish me luck!

02:07 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 11, 2002 / Saturday

New Orleans, Day Two

Okay! It's 6 AM and I'm about to go to bed. The sun's up. It's bright out. Kinda strange, going to bed when others are just getting up. I think there were people on their way to work as we were heading back to our hotel a little while ago. They'll probably be getting off their shift right around when I wake up later today.

So anyway, We woke up around 3 on Friday and headed to a restaurant called Napoleon House. I'm told the place has some sort of historical significance. Sure, okay, whatever... I was there for the food, not the history. The service sucked but the food was more than worth it. Had a super awesome cheese platter and a super awesome italian sausage po' boy. Bread, I say. It was all about the bread. Yum.

After our late afternoon lunch we headed over to the Garden District. It was a nice break from the French Quarter. It's basically a residential area with lots of big pretty houses. Pretty pretty houses. Someone mentioned something about architecture. Sure, okay, whatever... pretty pretty houses. Yay. They had some good cafes in the area, too. We went to one called Rue de la Course to sit and scrawl in our journals a bit. Very nice. Yay again.

One thing's for sure: There aren't a lot of Asians around these parts. Are they all staring at me or am I being paranoid? Maybe I'm just imagining it. Oh wait, I know what it is. They're all checking me out! Cool.

Headed back for the French Quarter after coffee for some jazz at the Preservation Hall. It's literally this hole in the wall place half a block off of Bourbon Street. Just a few musicians with old tarnished instruments playing. The place was about the size of a living room and had no air conditioning, no concessions, and very little seating. Totally ghetto, but the musicians were amazing. If you go to New Orleans you have to check it out. Hopefully the frail 85 year old trombone player will still be there. I'll try to post a picture of him when I get back. Even if everyone else had sucked (though it was quite the opposite), watching him play would have made it all worthwhile.

Had dinner around 10:45 PM. I think I'm picking up Eric's dinner schedule.

Oh oh, the dinner report: Raw oysters and shrimp etoufée. Slurp! Yum.

Midnight. Time to hit Bourbon Street. A slightly younger crowd and a lot more boobies tonight. This one woman on a balcony actually took it all off. Shorts, then shirt, then thong. Ted was happy. Then later some cutie coming from the gay club down the street flashed his tight thonged ass in our direction. I was happy. Hooray for gay asses. So pretty... pretty pretty... pretty like those Garden District houses.

Somewhere along the way I got me a free mini glowstick on a string. WhoO!

Then it was somehow 4 AM. I was hungry! Time to eat. Headed over to Harrah's to check out their 24 hour buffet. Yes, a 24 hour buffet! Cool, huh? Wanted to eat there just 'cause you don't find many of those open at 4 in the morning. But in the end we decided on a diner we had passed by earlier in the day. Turned out to be a good decision 'cause we had a cool waiter who knew his DJs and could tell us where we could go to possibly find some good trance tomorrow. That and we got fed. Hooray for food.

Hooray for sleep. Time to go get some.

Happy Friday, everyone!

04:42 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 10, 2002 / Friday

New Orleans, Day One

It's 4:30 AM or so here and my first day in New Orleans has drawn to a close. I'm tired as all hell but I figured I'd get my thoughts down while they're fresh in my head. Remember how I said New Orleans was gonna be hot? It's hot! We didn't go out until 8:30 PM and it was hot. Tomorrow's going to be a sweaty sweaty day.

Tomorrow's going to be a yummy yummy day too, just like tonight was. We found some divey place in the French Quarter called Coop's and chowed on some surprisingly decent food there for dinner. Gumbo, jambalaya, special wabbit jambalaya, cajun chicken, rice and beans, shrimp creole, coleslaw. All quite tasty. The coleslaw was a very pleasant surprise. I usually don't eat that stuff, but tonight's glop of coleslaw was goooood. It was super creamy and had all the right spices. I could taste it for hours afterward. Come to think of it, I can taste it now, 7 hours after the fact. Amazing!

Oh, and after years of ordering jambalaya everywhere I go I finally found out what the stuff's supposed to taste like. I love it! Love it love it love it!

Must try: Alligator meat.

Walked around a bit more after dinner. Hit a bar with a nice jazz trio for a bit. Got lost for a bit. Got found a bit later. Stopped back at the hotel for a break. Headed out again.

Finished off the night at Café du Monde, where we had iced cafe au laits and beignets. The beignets were sooooo good! I think I'm gonna try to go back each day we're here to have 'em. My dad always used to rave about them. He said every time he came to New Orleans he'd go to the cafe and have 3 beignets before he left. Now I understand why.

But enough about food. We went up and down Bourbon Street a few times. Saw some boobies. Saw some asses. Saw some guy with an enormous boba bead necklace. He managed to exchange it for a private ass flash. Suave negotiator.

My only complaint: Where's the trance at? They had rock, hip-hop, jazz, blues, zydeco, house... but no trance. Apparently they're also not very glowstick friendly in these parts. They seem to have this crazy notion that it promotes drug use or something. The few places that had trancey music either had "no glowstick" signs posted or stopped playing their cool trancey music the minute they saw me actually enjoying the stuff.

I think Ted has a complaint too. He was having issues with the way Bourbon Street smelled. The people and the booze and the trash and the horse poop mixed with all the humid air was getting to him. Poor Ted. Good thing I have a poor sense of smell.

Okay, time to schleep! If I'm good I'll have another update for y'all tomorrow. Hopefully the post will involve more beignets...

02:59 AM | Food:Trips| Comments (0)

May 08, 2002 / Wednesday

N'awlins Tomorrow!

Hey everyone, I'm off to New Orleans tomorrow. It's gonna be HOT! Hot like cool hot. Hot like literally hot, too. It's gonna be humid and 90 degrees there. Hooray for weather I'm no longer accustomed to. Maybe I'll get to work on getting rid of that damned sunburn line I got in LA last weekend. You know, I never do long rambling posts that go everywhere but nowhere and take up a big huge paragraph and are really hard to read. So why don't I try doing that? I know, it's out of character for me, but I've been working like a fiend all week and my brain's a bit loopy. Or maybe it's the drugs. Kidding! Kidding! Speaking of drugs, you get even bigger holes burned in your brain when you couple them with disturbing memories. Tsssss! Hrmm... sounds like searing. So anyway, I just whacked my right hand with a glowstick and it's looking like I burst a vein. Good think I keep a cold pack in the freezer. Man, it's late. 11:30 and I still need to pack for tomorrow. Oh hey! I was just looking through my useless stack of BMG flyers and saw a 6" portable blacklight for sale. A portable blacklight! You know what this means? I'll be able to give glove shows wherever I go! Does that not rock or what? No, wait, that DOES rock. Yeeeeeah! Rocks like Block Rockin' Beats, which is currently playing through my kind of too tight headphones. Hey have I lost you yet? Still reading? Impressive! I know I've lost me already. Where am I? Oh, wait, I'm here. And you're there, wherever that is. Yes, I'm sober right now. Just trying to destress a bit. I'm supposed to be on vacation, after all. Gonna go eat! Gonna go play! Eat and play! Eat and play! WhoO!

11:27 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

May 06, 2002 / Monday

Back From LA

Back from LA, yo. Played and ate and now I'm tired and fat.

Blub blub. MooOOOooo... A shout out to all the cows in schtinky Coalinga.

Made a stop at McDonald's on the way down. I got me a Happy Meal! My first Happy Meal since elemtary school, I think. It came with a useless boxy Battlebot with scary spider claw leg thingies that kind of jiggle up and down. 'Twas a sucky toy but the Happy Meal was exciting nonetheless. Too bad they don't still come in those cool McDonald's boxes.

Got into LA around 11 PM Friday. Got a lovely cafe vanilla from Coffee Bean to fight off the Zzz's. Walked around Westwood a bit and wondered where all the pretty people were. Then headed over to Sunset Boulevard. Eureka! Lots of pretty people with pretty cars to match. It was the strangest thing, seeing a traffic jam at 2 AM. Traffic was so slow we were beating the cars on foot. Slow but not boring. It was almost like an event. Show up and be seen, and while you're at it compare you and your car to the guy next to you and his car. Then it was 3 AM. All those pretty people were making me hungry. What to eat? Chili burger and chili cheese fries! Filled my stomach full of grease and went to bed.

The damned cleaning people kept knocking on the door Saturday morning. Apparently the little doorknob signs don't really say "Do Not Disturb". Or maybe "Do Not Disturb" is Spanish for "Knock On This Here Door And Wake Us Up Every Hour". Sleepy wakey sleepy wakey. Okay, time to go skating! I finally got to do that LA thing they all do on TV and went rollerblading along the beach. Took the path on the way out and the sidewalk with the food and shops on the way back. It was like Westwood vs. Sunset all over again. Pretty people on the path, not-so-pretty people on the sidewalk eating chili cheese dogs and other not-so-pretty-for-your-arteries food.

I gotta stop making pretty people comparisons. It's bad for karma. I'm gonna be a butt ugly snail in my next life and ooze out of my shell and stuff and die some horrible salting death at the hands of vengeful unpretty people.

After the beach I ran to yet another Coffee Bean and got myself some wonderful ice blended black forest coffee drink. Walked up and down the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica a bit. Watched a bunch of street performers. I don't remember if they were pretty or not. I was too busy drinking my drink. It had real cherry chunks in it. Coooool.

Met up with a bunch of Bruins for dinner at Versailles, home of the garlickiest garlic chicken breath I've ever had the misfortune of having to deal with. Well, not that they served garlic chicken breath. That was just the aftermath. No, I didn't not have the garlic chicken. I had some lovely oxtail dish. In retrospect I probably should have asked for it garlicky chicken style. Protection from vampires for the next month!

Attended some Bruin alumni function in Pauley Pavilion after dinner. Free pizza and cookies and ice cream! Too bad I was too full to eat much of it. Free drinks, too! Too bad I can't drink. Free money to gamble with! Too bad I lost it all.

No no, just kidding! The Bruin thing was fun. I learned to play Let It Ride. It was the only game where I actually won a few hands. Fun to play, too. Las Vegas, here I come!

Let's see, what happened after the Bruin thing? K-town, I believe. I had 3 sips of soju and turned lightbulb red. Then we drove me and my pulsing lightbulb head over to sing Karaoke. The place was kinda ghetto but they had some good songs. The rapper in me had a great time with Eminem and Limp Bizkit and Bloodhoung Gang. At some point some random guy came in to rap with me. Then he busted out some rhymes of his own. Then he took off. Then I sang some Smash Mouth. Then I sang some Patsy Cline. Then I sang some Color Me Badd. Yeeeeeh.

Sunday SUNDAY Sunday... went to a monster truck rally. No, just kidding. I just always have this notion that Sunday SUNDAY Sunday is for monster truck rallies. Okay now I'm making no sense.

Slurped some super sushi and spicy scallops on Sunday. 'Twas the best damned stuff I'd ever had. More! More! Where can I find more?

Walked around the UCLA campus after lunch. Everything's so clean and new there compared to Cal. It was all brick, though. Reminded me of the east coast. Brick! How does that stuff stand up to earthquakes?

Played some cool DDR-like dance game at the student union arcade. DDR but with hands! Loved it. Loved it loved it loved it. I have to find one of those machines up here. Must find. Must play. Play play play!

Play play play. Eat eat eat. That's been the theme so far, huh? Went to Boba World and headed back. Bye bye LA. I'll be back to play and eat some more. Yum.

P.S. I saw the sisters.

01:23 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

April 10, 2002 / Wednesday

Yay! I'm going to New

Yay! I'm going to New Orleans!

04:58 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 11, 2001 / Tuesday

A store sign at a

A store sign at a ski shop near Boston College read "24h ski tuning".

me in white // sis in grey

- Wow, that's awesome! 24 hour ski tuning!
- Eh.
- Come on! You can get your skis tuned at 3 AM!
- I don't think that's what they mean.
- Oh.

That kinda sucks. You have to wait an entire day to get your skis tuned?

10:52 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 07, 2001 / Friday

Just got back from D&B's

Just got back from D&B's in Providence, RI. I ruled the Pump It Up! machine there because apparently no one back home plays dancing video games. That and I have a better basketball shot than people expect me to have... at least according to my friend Kimmy, who was watching someone watching me shoot. Whoo for me!

11:30 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Newbury Comics rocks!! I went

Newbury Comics rocks!! I went there today and found me a Transformer! Bumblebee, my first ever Transformer, on a keychain. And now I own it (again, I suppose). Yay!

And they sell Gumbys! Yeah, that bendy green guy with the funny head!

I also got me a couple grinny face stickers, one for my new sketch book / journal and one for my snowboard.

Like that, except that it's sparkly silver in the middle. And the outline is sparkly blue for my journal and black for my snowboard.

And in other news, I ate a Boston Kreme (when did they change the C to a K?) donut for breakfast at 1 PM today. I've discovered that Dunkin' Donuts is not as good as I thought it was. Actually, neither is Papa Gino's. I guess I was just homesick back in the day when I missed the stuff. Nowadays, Dunkie's is no match for Chuck's, and Papa's is no match for Arinell's, both of which are hole-in-the-wall places back the lovely but anti-hockey state of California.

Okay, from now on, all you Boston people have to come visit me instead.

Oh, and I thought I lost my cell phone earlier today. Turns out the passenger seat ate it. Phew!

Well, Bobo just stank me so I have to go change. I smell like dog ass.

11:58 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 06, 2001 / Thursday

Hey everyone, it was a

Hey everyone, it was a sunny 70 degrees here in Boston today. So much for snowboarding back home. I could probably take a mountain bike up the lift, though. That would be fun. And incredibly dangerous. But fun. That's what matters, right?

So what have I been up to? Played with the dog, surprise surprise. Went to the gym this afternoon and worked every single muscle group. Well, I tried to, at least. The sex machine at the Aerobic Annex in Quincy sucks (i.e. rocks not). I'm gonna have to make up for that when I get back to California. I went to this cool sandwichy bakery cafe place afterward called Panera to eat salad and to sketch their lighting fixtures. Yeah, I've sort of taken up sketching recently. I came across my old journal and realized that I haven't written in it since I started this blog. So I figured I'd put it to use sketching. Sketching is fun. And I don't suck at it nearly much as I thought I did. Whoo for me!

A few hours later I had dinner with a friend I hadn't seen in longer than I can remember. Oh, hey, I did that Wednesday night, too. Apparently I don't spend enough time around these parts. That's probably better for my waistline anyhow. Blub blub. Moo.

I hate when I write boring entries just for the sake of having something to post.

Sorry about that.

I'm going to sign off now.

'Cause I'm boooring.

Boooooring.

ZzzZzzZzz...

09:04 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 04, 2001 / Tuesday

Gloved!

After going to about 8 sporting goods stores in California and trying on countless pairs of size 12 and 14 hockey gloves, I bought a pair that kind of fit to use when I got back from Boston. Today, back in my hockey-loving home state, I went to the Sports Authority. Instead of a 4-foot wide section of hockey equipment they had an entire aisle stocked full of every piece of hockey equipment imaginable. And their glove selection? I got to try on about 10 different pairs of size 13 gloves. They all fit so well! I'm now the happy new owner of a pair of Bauer Impact 300's. Yay!

12:26 PM | Hockey:Trips| Comments (0)

It's always nice to come

It's always nice to come back home and see all the local brands in the stores. I was at Osco Drugs earlier today and they had those cookies that I used to buy in the school cafeteria for 40¢.

Of course, nowadays they sell for a dollar.

12:14 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Greetings from Boston! Bobo got

Greetings from Boston! Bobo got fat.

12:07 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

December 03, 2001 / Monday

UAL RCC

Plane watching rocks! Especially if you're sitting in a cushy armchair next to huge floor to ceiling windows with free snacks, free drinks, a cell phone with a hands-free set, and an internet-connected laptop.

I know, I'm such a SiliValley geek.

Oh whatever. 747's are taking off in front of me. It's sooooo cool.

12:36 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

October 18, 2001 / Thursday

Airport Food

+2 'cause I'm in St. Louis

Why is airport food always so bad? It's worse than prison food, I'm sure. And the lame thing is, we go to the airport voluntarily and actually pay way more than you would anywhere else for the stuff. And it's gross! It's really really gross! The only decent thing I ate today was a Butterfinger. I think I'll go get my dinner from the hotel vending machine now.

06:29 PM | Food:Trips| Comments (0)

September 26, 2001 / Wednesday

doG Will Save Us!

actually 7:59:11 PM and I'm on my flight back to SFO

My seatseatmate mumbled something right as the plane started accelerating for takeoff. When I glanced over he had his head bowed and was frantically making the sign of the cross across his chest. At first I was amused, but before I could crack a smile I realized he must have been really scared to have to do that. Then I felt bad. Poor guy.

11:52 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

September 25, 2001 / Tuesday

Portland Bound FASes

actually it's 5:49:26 PM and I'm on a plane waiting taxiing for takeoff

I'm flying up to Portland, OR with a couple new field applications specialists (FASes) today. We were killing time at the Red Carpet Club at SFO when the following conversation took place:

FAS 1: So Air Canada has one plane on its fleet that's specially painted.
FAS 2: What's it look like?
Me: Cool! I'll have to be on the lookout for it.
FAS 1: I haven't seen it either. I can't wait to see it!

Yeah, so this is what people who fly way too much do to amuse themselves.

- - -

By the way, the RCC at SFO kicks major ass because they just finished rebuilding the whole place so if you ever find yourself in the United terminal there go check it out. Lots of free food and drinks!

10:52 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 28, 2001 / Tuesday

Greatest City My Ass!

+3... Baltimore makes my sinuses hurt

I wish I had had my camera out, but unfortunately it was in my suitcase, which was in the trunk. About half a mile down from the hotel there's a bus stop bench. It's an old brown wooden thing with newspapers and wrappers and other random junk tangled in its legs. 6 or so feet from the bench is a lopsided wire wastebasket that looks like it hasn't been emptied in a while. A utility box with a bunch of flyers stuck to it sits in a mess of overgrown weeds just behind the bench. And carved on the bench are the words:

Baltimore

The Greatest City in America

Riiiiight.

04:05 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Mmmirrors

+3... hello from Plymouth Meeting, PA

This room I'm in has lots of mirrors... right near the bed. Mooyo!

But gosh, what a waste. Just poor sick me in here. Sigh.

06:33 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 27, 2001 / Monday

Inteprid Lady

10:43:46 PM EDT... whoa, it's late here!

Picture this: Blond woman. Mid to late 40's. 5' 4". 100 lbs.

We're at the car rental place and they clearly have more business than they're staffed to handle. Blond woman is late for a dinner meeting. Like, say, 2½ hours late. It's 9 o'clock and she's been waiting 30 minutes for them to get her car. So then she starts stomping around the lot shouting at the employees. "I want my Dodge Inteprid and I want it now!" It was funny because: 1. She didn't know what that car looked like. 2. She couldn't pronounce "Intrepid" properly. and 3. They wouldn't help her and just kept telling her to get back to the waiting area.

I think she finally got her car. Dunno. She was ahead of me but I got mine first. Bye-bye funny Inteprid lady!

She did have some good names for a couple airlines she flies, though:
- DELTA: Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport
- TWA: Try Walking Again

She sounds a tad impatient, huh?

07:43 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 22, 2001 / Wednesday

Hotel Vending Machine Gripe

+3 and I'm hungreey!

Whoa, I just typed "blacc" instead of "class". My fingers are farked.

I will gripe, not rant, because ranting reminds me too much of the sales critter I'm afraid of. Not that he rants. But I keep expecting him to!

Okay, so there are three connected Marriott hotels where I'm staying: a Marriott, a Courtyard Marriott, and a Fairfield Inn.

There is, in this massive three-hotel complex, one vending machine.

This vending machine contains food sold at 150% of the going rate.

This vending machine is half empty. No savory snacks. Just candy.

This vending machine does not accept coins. It's broken.

This vending machine does not give change. It's out.

So I spent 10 minutes hungrily wandering the three-hotel complex looking for other vending machines only to wind up at the one I began with and had to settle for peanut M&M's even though I wanted Honey BBQ Fritos and ended up paying a full $1.00 for them even though they were only supposed to cost 85 cents.

"Only" 85 cents. They were 55 cents at the Courtyard in Raleigh.

Oh, and my M&M's were crushed and melted.

Yes, I'm still hungry. Dammit.

09:00 PM | Rant/Whine:Trips| Comments (0)

They Don't Speak English In Miami

+3 for Miami time

Okay, so my first 5 minutes in Miami were kind of interesting. Interesting for me, at least. I heard about 3 different languages walking to the curb from the gate, but no English. One of them was even over the intercom! Did I understand any of them? No. Apparently it's not enough to know English, French, German, Italian, and Chinese anymore these days. I'm language deficient, yo.

08:51 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 21, 2001 / Tuesday

DMD Everywhere!

+3 for EDT... but now I'm in Atlanta

One thing I liked about Raleigh... ubiquitous Diet Mountain Dew!

05:16 PM | Drinks:Trips| Comments (0)

August 20, 2001 / Monday

Stuck in my Head

+3 for EDT from... North Carolina? I'm not sure where I am, actually.

how many people wanna kick some ass?
i do. i do.

On an entirely unrelated note, I didn't hate either of my seatmates on my two flights out last night. One of them did have a scary sleeping face, though. Open mouth, keep eyes half open, nod head slightly. Creepy.

09:59 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 19, 2001 / Sunday

Monterey

actually it's 2:21:00 AM but I can't get online

I finally made it to the Monterey Peninsula. After 3 years of talk and 2 years of off and on planning I finally made it. Josepi and I went and did the tourist thing (as opposed to the resort getaway thing). It's pretty there. It's sad there. It's angry there. At least for me. We did the 17-mile drive, which was quite beautiful. At the first few pretty views I thought, "It'd be nice if he were here," and got a bit sad. And as we drove and saw more pretty sights, I got a bit upset about the fact that he wasn't there to share the sights with me. And then we drove to Carmel, past all the bed and breakfasts that he and I had talked and planned and talked and talked about going to but never went to and I got a bit more upset. And then we made it to Carmel and I saw the beach and the shops and the galleries and the restaurants. And I realized that all the stuff we had done on that whole peninsula, all the stuff that I had wanted to see and do, took less than two days. And when I realized that he couldn't take 2 days out of almost 3 years to take that trip with me, I was pissed. Very, very, pissed.

I talked to him when I got back. He asked me how it was. I had wanted to tell him about how I was pissed that he couldn't take 2 damned days out of three years to do something I really wanted to do. But I couldn't. What good would it do? It's like those newspaper advice column dilemmas people write in with. The answer is always to keep your mouth shut, because if you tell whomever whatever it is you want to get off your chest all it does is make that person feel bad but it doesn't change anything as far as what's happened and where things are now. So I kept my mouth shut.

And so I have to tell all of you instead. It wouldn't be fair to burden any one person with my sadness and anger. I will tell it to everyone and no one, all at the same time. I tell it because I need to. You can read if you want to. But the best part is, you are not obligated to say anything in reply.

09:34 AM | Trips| Comments (0)

August 01, 2001 / Wednesday

First Class Food

7:26:16 PM... waiting for dessert

The great thing about first class on a long flight is they drag the meal out over 2 hours. You're so busy anticipating the next course that you never get bored. At least not until after the foodfest.

Did I mention they have real cream for the coffee?

And a Ben & Jerry's hot fudge sundae for dessert!

And they fold your little square drink napkins into triangles!

11:35 PM | Food:Trips| Comments (0)

3rd Out Of 12 Ain't Bad!

5:33:41 PM PDT... dinner time!

Remember my post about how the million mile passenger got his food first?

Well apparently they take dinner orders for everyone up front based on miles now. I'm number 3 out of a first class cabin of 12. Not bad!

More importantly, I have more miles than my sucky seatmate. They ran out of fish by the time they got to her! Nah nah!

11:33 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 31, 2001 / Tuesday

That's A Lotta Miles

10:54:11 AM... did I mention I'm right behind business class?

Dude, the million mile flyers get their food BEFORE everyone else in the plane!

05:29 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Randomness

actually it's 9:24:38 AM and I'm at the airport waiting for my plane to get fixed

The ticket agent at SFO today was wearing a shiny new Yakoo pin on her blazer. I said to her, "You're from North?" She looked a little puzzled so I pointed at the pin and explained, "That's my high school mascot." Her face perked up and she said, "Oh, that! Someone came by and gave these to a bunch of us! We were wondering what it was!"

Whoa. Stop. Wait a minute here. Someone was going around San Francisco International Airport giving out pins of my high school mascot? My high school's in Massachusetts, on the other side of the country. I found this a tad strange.

Anyway, I told her the mascot's name (it's the Yakoo if you didn't pick that up already) and explained to her where it came from. For all of you who weren't privileged enough to go to high school with me (where you would have learned that my nickname was at one point Metalhead), here's the story. Many years back there was a student there by the name of Allan Yacubian (thus, the name Yakoo). He had a big nose. They decided to model the mascot after him (or, rather, his nose), paint it red, give it an axe and a couple feathers, and make pins and stuff out of it. So now you know.

And knowing is half the battle.

Aug 2, 2001... Click here for a picture of the pin.

05:17 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 13, 2001 / Friday

Stupid Flight Attendant

9:10:10 PM EDT

Remember how I said I sometimes felt bad that the flight attendants had to server me? Well one of them just dropped a tray of food near me and when I realized that some of what fell had splattered onto my pant leg I didn't feel bad anymore.

Heh. I just re-read what I wrote and I realized that did that damned server thing again. Serve! I meant serve!

10:49 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

No Movie For Me

9:01:21 PM EDT

Today's in-flight movie is Sweet November. I can't watch it. Something about what it's about that makes me not want to watch it even though I want to watch it all at the same time. I'm not listening to it, but there was just some funny scene involving posters of girls enjoying disproportionately large hot dogs. Should I watch? No, I can't. It's like having Ben & Jerry's.

But damn! Keanu's got a hot bod!

Um... I think. I guess it's kind of hard to tell on the little reflective airplane monitor.

10:47 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Lady,You're Wasting Away

8:57:54 PM EDT... somewhere over the US

I think the lady sitting next me is on some ultra mega low calorie diet. All she's had is a few sips of Coke and a salad. No meal. No meal! I know airplane food is bad, but it's dinner time! Eat something, will you lady? My forearm muscles are larger than your biceps and triceps combined!

I vill krahhhsh you vith my fingers!

10:47 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Yucky Yucky NYC

actually it's 4:45:54 PM EDT... sitting in the Newark Airport Red Carpet Club Lounge

It just took me 3 hours to go less than 30 miles to get to the airport. Why? Because traffic on the highway (yes, it's a highway on the east coast, not a freeway, and that despite the fact that the road was actually lower than the surface streets) was 5 mph going through the Bronx. If I lived in NYC I'd probably be in a chronically bad mood (as opposed to now, when I seem just to have strange mood swings all the time).

I noticed during my 2+ hour crawl through the Bronx stretch of 95 south that the NYC infrastructure is crumbling. I'm not kidding. You know the brick wall that lines the sides of the road? The bricks are rotting away. All you see is the mortar outline of where the bricks used to be. It's truly disgusting. It made my stomach turn. I can't stand rotting holy (no, not as in godly) things. Blech!

Rude people, incessant traffic, rotting infrasture... and they say New Jersey is hell?

01:45 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 12, 2001 / Thursday

Okay, I'll Slow Down

actually it's 4:10:13 PM 'cause I'm somewhere in CT right now

I was going up 684 in Connecticut earlier today and I saw a road sign near a bunch of construction workers. It read:

Slow down
my daddy
works here

I wasn't driving at the time, but if I were I would have slowed way the hell down and been on the lookout for dads on the road.

I guess they found my soft spot.

01:10 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

July 11, 2001 / Wednesday

Flying Blob

actually it's 1:30:19 PM

Flying makes me feel like a blob. All I can do is sit here and eat airplane food and think about how I'm developing secretary's spread as I'm hurled across the continent in a pressurized metal tube. Perhaps they should pressurize the plane more, to help keep my ass from spreading.

Oh boy, that sounded bad. But I'm going to leave it because I know you all get a big kick out of my blog blunders. So kind I am!

Like Yoda I talk!

05:33 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Farty Plane

actually it's 1:12:51 PM and I can't get off this plane soon enough

Someone on this plane smells like fart. At first I thought maybe someone farted and if I hold my breath for a minute or so the smell would go away. Well it's been many minutes and it still smells. What the hell is that?

05:32 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

No No, I'll Serve Myself

actually it's 12:56:18 PM

Sometimes I feel bad that the flight attendants have to serve me.

Is this normal?

05:32 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Feeding The Laptop

actually it's 12:29:55 PM

Holy shit the flight attendant almost pushed my lunch tray onto my laptop.

05:31 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Whee!

actually it's 11:30:48 AM and we just took off

My god! The pilot flies like I drive!

Accelerate for 5 seconds.
Take off at 60°.
Bank hard right.
Shift flaps.

Above the clouds in 10 seconds!

05:23 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Exit Row!

actually it's 10:54:20 AM and I just got me a seatmate

The nice thing about exit row seats is that the armrests don't come up so even if someone really fat sits down next to you they can't ooze into your seat.

We still need the de-armer for the space above the armrest, though.

05:22 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

I Don't REALLY Know You, But...

actually it's 10:51:24 AM and I'm on the plane waiting for takeoff

It's weird when a complete stranger reminds you of someone you know and you haven't seen that someone you know in so long that you just want to give the lookalike stranger a big hug.

05:19 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Airport Business Talk Is Blah

actually it's 10:42:41 AM

Even if it's coming from someone who looks like a J. Crew model.

05:18 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Laser Butt Surgery Candidate

actually it's 10:37:40 AM and I'm at the airport

The guy in front of me on the people mover belt who's moseying along at strolling speed and taking up the entire width of the belt.

Darn! I forgot I'm not in my car. I guess I'll have to rely on my Tai Chi master skillz instead.

I will set his ass on fire.

05:16 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

June 22, 2001 / Friday

I Am So Plane Evil

actually it's 5:22:25 PM PDT

Oh, the joys of flying continue.

When the person in the seat behind yours keeps inconsiderately bumping your seatback, doesn't it feel great to lean it back and sardine them?

Isn't it even better when they push back in angry futility?

Don't you just want to start laughing when you realize you're doing all this sardining from a roomy exit row seat?

Am I a jerk or what?

Heh. They started it!

08:42 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

There's Your Elbow! Fetch!

actually it's 5:22:25 PM PDT
yes, west coast time, even though I'm not quite there yet

Today's flight #2 seatmate would not be de-armed, but de-elbowed. I wonder which end of the cabin he would prefer travelling to to retrieve it.

08:41 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Four Thirtay?

actually it's 4:48:12 PM EDT but what time is it really if I'm flying?

Whoa. I started this entry to write something else but this "what time is it really" thing has really got me thinking. When you fly into another time zone, it's like you're in a time warp in the air. I mean, I have no idea what time it really is for me. I was in Eastern time and I'm headed for Mountain time but right now I'm probably passing over the Central time zone. So then what time is it?

Fo' thirday, as the Spin Doctors would say.

Yes, the Spin Doctors. Talk about a time warp!

08:41 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

Hot Apple Juice

actually it's 4:38:00 PM EDT and I just got fed

The flight attendant comes by asking us what beverage we want with our meals. The guy next to me says, "Uh, apple juice." Flight attendant woman stops and looks confused for a moment, then says, (imagine British accent here) "I'm sorry sir, we don't have hot apple juice. Would you like cold apple juice instead?"

What? No hot apple juice? I guess that means they're not going to make me my dry nonfat double cappucino. Darnit.

08:40 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

LegRooooom

actually it's 4:35:01 PM EDT and I'm on a plane

There's even more legroom than the last time I wrote about it! WOooWOoo!

08:40 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

June 21, 2001 / Thursday

Low-Speed Bandwidth Squeeze

actually it's 11:22:35 PM EDT. Grrrrr....

Wow, a blast from the past. It just took me 45 minutes to download 5.5 MB.

Schlooooow...

08:22 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

June 20, 2001 / Wednesday

I Know You Want My Seat

actually it's 11:08:52 AM PDT and I'm on a plane

There's so much legroom I can't reach the seat in front of me!

Oh, the jealous stares! Mmm-ah-ha-haha-haha!

02:17 PM | Trips| Comments (0)

June 03, 2001 / Sunday

Outta My Space Dude!

actually it's 3:49:40 PM PDT but that's not really my time zone 'cause I'm on a plane flying cross-country

I hate it when the person in the seat next to mine on the plane takes up the entire armrest. The guy sitting next to me is doing just that, and then some. At least he's not so fat that he has to put the armrest up and spill over into my seat. I really hate it when that happens.

D'oh. He just leaned over and talked to me. Now I can't write anything bad about him. For some reason I just can't be harsh or mean once a stranger humanizes himself.

And, yes, that's himself or herself. I was trying to be grammatically correct, not sexist.

Anyway, back to this armrest thing. I truly believe that seat boundaries should be enforced. Perhaps the airlines should look into installing some sort of laser that zaps seat boundary violators. Wanna keep your arm? Then keep it on your side of the boundary! If it crosses over then you're losing it and don't ask me to give it back because I'm chucking it to the other end of the plane. Bye-bye, arm!

10:40 PM | Trips| Comments (0)