miércoles

Ah, miércoles. One of the best words in the Spanish language. It is one of my favorites, along with melocotones and mariposa.

Ooo, we might have rain here as early as Friday. I'm excited. I do love the rainy season. It might mean I have to put up my Birks for the time being. Maybe I'll leave them here at work and change from my sneakers.

Here's the first pic I ever took from my first ever cell phone (we're at Red Robin in Newark). Sallie's contract with Verizon was up for renewal so we decided to get a family plan and we liked T-Mobile's MyFaves list. I can call 5 numbers for free at anytime. The stupid thing is that the phones in the family plan are not free as well. So Sallie is one of my five. Work had to be one as well as my folks and Joanna. That left one free for a wildcard which I can change every month. Last month it was Anne but I never called her so I'll leave her on again in October.

We got free phones and I liked the slider from Samsung. You can record memos to yourself and then use them as ringtones. I recorded myself saying "Sallie is calling you. Pick up the phone." and set it to Sallie's number. Today she called and I actually heard it from deep within my bag. I recorded the 24 phone ring from a website I found and set Joanna's cell phone to that. She has yet to call while it's been set up properly so I'll let you know if it works.

I was wanting a little sleeve or pouch to protect my new fancy phone and Sallie is so cool that she got out her crochet hook and made up a bunch in various colors. I liked the black one the best but now my phone gets lost in my bag since it's dark and everything else in that pocket is black. I thought I could find some reflective tape from one of the cyclists in the office but no one had any. Brian found a couple red reflective dots and gave them to me but they're rather ugly. What I really want is something thin that I can weave through the loops of the crochet.

Now that I have a cell I keep expecting people to call me. No one really called me before so I don't know why I think they will now. And I can't really expect anyone to call if I'm not calling them! It has come in handy a bit with me and Sallie when she's headed to Costco and wants to know if I need anything.

Ah, miércoles. Una de las mejores palabras de la lengua española. Es uno de mis favoritos, junto con melocotones y mariposa.

Ooo, puede ser que tengamos lluvia aquí desde viernes. Soy emocionado. Amo la estación de lluvias. Puede ser que signifique que tengo que poner mi Birks de momento. Quizá I' el ll los deja aquí en el trabajo y cambia de mis zapatillas de deporte.

Aquí está el primer pic que tomé nunca de mi primer teléfono celular (en el petirrojo rojo en Newark). El contrato Sallie tenía con Verizon estaba para arriba para la renovación así que decidíamos conseguir un plan y nos de la familia tuvimos gusto de la lista de MyFaves de T-Mobile. Puedo llamar cinco números para libre en cualquier momento. La cosa estúpida es que los teléfonos en el plan de la familia no están libres también. Sallie es tan uno de mis cinco. La oficina tuvo que ser una así como mi gente y Juana. Eso dejó uno libremente para un comodín que puedo cambiar cada mes. Era el mes pasado Anne pero nunca la llamé así que la dejaré encendido otra vez en octubre.

Conseguimos los teléfonos libres y tuve gusto del resbalador de Samsung. Usted puede registrar notas a se y después utilizarlas como ringtones. Me registré que decía el " Sallie le está llamando. Coja el phone." y fíjelo al número de Sallie. Ella llamó hoy y lo oí realmente profundamente dentro de mi bolso. Registré los 24 anillos del teléfono de un Web site que encontré y fijé Joanna' número del teléfono celular de s a eso. Ella tiene todavía llamar mientras que se ha fijado correctamente así que le dejaré saber si trabaja.

Quería una pequeña manga o la bolsa para proteger mi nuevos teléfono y Sallie de lujo es tan fresca que ella salió de su gancho de ganchillo y compuso un manojo en varios colores. Tuve gusto el negro el mejor pero mi teléfono consigue perdido ahora en mi bolso puesto que es oscuro y todo en ese bolsillo es negro. Pensé que podría encontrar un poco de cinta reflexiva a partir del uno de los ciclistas en la oficina pero nadie tenía cualesquiera. Brian encontró puntos reflexivos rojos de un par y me los dio pero son algo feos. Qué quiero realmente es algo delgadamente que puedo tejer a través de los lazos del ganchillo.

Ahora que tengo un teléfono yo guarde el esperar que de la gente me llame. Nadie me llamaron realmente antes tan de mí don' t sabe porqué pienso que ahora. ¡Y no puedo esperar realmente que cualquier persona llame si no los estoy llamando! Ha venido en práctico un pedacito conmigo y Sallie cuando la dirigen a Costco y quiere saber si necesito cualquier cosa.

martes

Paul and I had lunch today at the Indian restaurant nearby that has a korma that is tolerably mild. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the spices of India and sometimes not. I think I want it but then as I'm eating it I realize that I'd really rather be eating Thai. There's something darker and moodier about Indian flavors that I rarely appreciate. I always feel thirsty.

Anyway, at this Indian place they have daily specials that include the main dish (chicken korma, if the gods are with me) along with a spiced rice, a cucumber/lettuce salad and the vegetable curry of the day. The curry's always too spicy for me so, if I remember (which I did not do today), I request that I get more salad in exchange for the curry. They're very accommodating, so much so that we feel fine asking for korma or, in Paul's case, chicken tikka masala, instead of whatever's on special. Oh, I almost didn't mention that you also get a big basket of naan. How could I forget!? It's so yummy.

To complete my food finds of the day, I must mention that my Starbucks had the pumpkin muffins this morning. I love the combination of the pumpkin cake and the creamy cream cheese center topped off with some roasted pumpkin seeds. Such a good reason to love fall! My Starbucks drink is hot chocolate and they just came out with three signature hot chocolates: Signature Hot Chocolate, Salted Caramel HC, and Hazelnut HC. I may have to try all three.

Paul y yo almorzábamos hoy en el restaurante indio cerca que tiene un Korma que sea tolerable suave. Estoy a veces en el humor para las especias de la India y a veces no. Pienso que la quiero pero por otra parte como yo la estoy comiendo yo realice que sería realmente algo consumición tailandesa. There' s algo más oscuro y más cambiante sobre los sabores indios que aprecio raramente. Siento siempre sediento.

De todas formas, en este lugar indio tienen specials diarios que incluyan el plato principal (pollo Korma, si dioses están conmigo) junto con un arroz condimentado, una ensalada del pepino/de la lechuga y el curry vegetal del día. El curry es siempre demasiado picante para mí así pues, si recuerdo (que no hice hoy), yo pide que consigo más ensalada a cambio del curry. Son muy serviciales, tanto de modo que sintamos muy bien que piden masala del tikka de Korma o, en el caso de Paul, del pollo, en vez de lo que está en special. Oh, casi olvidé la mejor parte -- una cesta grande de naan. ¿Cómo podría olvidar!? Es tan deliciosa.

Para terminar mis hallazgos del alimento del día, debo mencionar que mi Starbucks tenía los molletes de la calabaza esta mañana. Amo la combinación de la torta de la calabaza y del centro cremoso del queso poner crema rematados apagado con algunas semillas de calabaza asadas. ¡Una tan buena razón para amar caída! Mi Starbucks bebe es chocolate caliente y acaban de salir con tres chocolates calientes de la firma: Chocolate caliente de la firma, caramelo salado HC, y avellana HC. Puedo tener que intentar los tres.

lunes

I stayed up last night until after midnight so I could listen to the last Midnight Baseball re-broadcast of the year. I do love going to sleep listening to a baseball game. I'm more a fan of the A's than the Giants but KNBR replays every Giants game at midnight so I listen to the Giants. I enjoy their broadcasters too, especially Jon Miller and Dave Fleming, though all of them are good.

I'm a bit sad the regular season is over. Having two teams in my area means there's a game on almost every night. I don't get that much hockey coverage especially with the NHL not being on ESPN anymore. I do get the NHL channel now though so I get to watch the Canadian hockey shows. That's almost as good. I should see if they're ramping up to the season with any preview shows or training camp reports. I bet they are.

I wonder how soon I can sign up for NHL Center Ice. I had purchased it a couple seasons ago and when baseball season started in the spring I got to watch baseball for free. The two packages share channels in my system. Somehow the channels never got turned off. I made the mistake of actually ordering Center Ice last season and they found out I was getting Extra Innings for free so this baseball season I was blocked out. I didn't need it this summer anyway with my favorite pitcher not playing anymore and both the A's and Giants on all the time.

I'm watching Monday Night Football right now and I love HD but I really don't need to be looking at some guy's eye injury that closely. Thanks. It's just gross.

As a special bonus, I'm translating this week's posts into Spanish using Babel Fish. Enjoy the fun mistakes!

No me fui a la cama anoche hasta después de medianoche así que podría escuchar la retransmisión de medianoche pasada del béisbol del año. Amo el ir a dormir escuchando un juego de béisbol. Soy más un ventilador del A' s que el Giants pero KNBR juega de nuevo cada juego de Giants en la medianoche así que escucho el Giants. Gozo sus locutores también, especialmente de Jon Miller y de Dave Fleming, aunque todos son buenos.

Soy un pedacito triste la temporada he terminado. Tener dos equipos en mis medios del área allí es un juego en casi cada noche. No consigo a eso mucha cobertura del hockey especialmente con el NHL que no está en ESPN más. Consigo el NHL ahora acanalo sin embargo así que consigo mirar las demostraciones canadienses del hockey. That' s casi como bueno. Debo ver si ramping hasta la estación con cualesquiera demostraciones de la inspección previo o informes del campo de entrenamiento. Aposté que son.

Me pregunto cuando puedo firmar para arriba para el hielo de centro del NHL. Lo compré un par hace estaciones y cuando la estación de béisbol comenzó en el resorte yo conseguí mirar el béisbol para libre. Los dos paquetes comparten los canales en mi sistema. Los canales nunca consiguieron de alguna manera apagados. Incurrí en la equivocación realmente de pedir el hielo de centro la estación pasada y encontraron que salía los turnos adicionales para la esta de béisbol estación libre así que que me bloquearon. No la necesité este verano de todos modos con mi jarra preferida que no jugaba más y ambos los A' s y Giants encendido todo el tiempo.

Estoy mirando el balompié de la noche de lunes ahora y amo HD pero no necesito realmente mirar alguÌ�n guy' lesión de ojo de s que de cerca. Gracias. Es apenas gruesa.

Como prima especial, estoy traduciendo los postes durante esta semana a español usando Babelfish. ¡Disfrute de los errores de la diversión!

Friday

I use the basic Quicken to write checks for our main checking account. In order to avoid duplicating my effort, I'll be switching to using Peachtree to write checks pretty soon. I'm a little bummed about it though. The Mac version of Quicken has such a nice look with which Peachtree cannot compete. It's just so ugly.

Also, having to running Parallels to get to my check register may cause me a bit of a hang up. I'm used to being able to switch back and forth between many programs at once including some pretty heavy CPU and memory users: Excel, Photoshop, InDesign, FileMaker to name a few. Parallels eats up a lot of power and memory so I almost can't do design work when I have it running. Which would mean not being able to write checks -- or look up a check I've written -- on the spur of the moment. Something I do many times a day.

Today for lunch I went over to the SF shopping center and got some potstickers and brown rice from the Bristol Farms hot food selections. I was really looking for their roasted turkey cuz it's so hella good. I almost got some scalloped potatoes from the comfort food bar but the rice and gyoza just looked yummy. I spied some organic honey crisp apples so grabbed a couple. There was no birch beer or sarsaparilla in the specialty soda case so I made due with water back at the office. All in all it was a good lunch.

I have this weird habit of staying late on Fridays. I explain it by saying the other days I know I have to come in the next day so there's no reason not to just go on home. But on Fridays I tend to just keep on working. I've been tending to work until after 7 most days anyway. Then I don't come in until 10:30 or so. I get loads done after most everyone else has gone. I do have one late night companion down the hall so I'm usually not here by myself.

Have you ever wondered who the strange phone number is calling you? Try visiting WhoCallsMe? or Who Called Us to see if someone else is getting the same calls.

I almost forgot to comment on Survivor. Hhmmm. Not a clear fave for me yet. Perhaps Ace. Bob the Bow-Tie-Wearing Physics Teacher is pretty awesome too. I was agreeing with Charlie as I saw the tribes forming. Almost all the predictably weak people on one tribe? Not too smart. Love the tribe names though: Kota and Fang. Are those African words? I have to report that the HD was true HD and I switched my DVR recording over as soon as I got home. I caught over half of it and it was lovely. Jeff's looking hot (Emmy-winner!).

Thursday

Today has been a bit crazy with coming in late from my eye appointment and having to process payroll and get a cash flow report done for our Board Treasurer. Tomorrow morning we're having the first monthly conference call with her since she started in this role. It's one of those things that I don't think I need to be involved in but my boss likes to get me involved in. It's not like he can't answer any questions I can (and more).

So, new glasses. I have to say I love my new optometrist. She is awesome. We're the same age even. She went to see Journey last night so was tired and husky-voiced. She answered all my questions and didn't mind me asking them. They took a digital photo of my retinas which looked super healthy. Now we have a baseline to check against for the future. It turns out that my prescription actually has decreased a bit in power since the last time I had an exam (which was over two years ago). Dr. Atkinson said that that is typical and normal for someone my age with myopia.

I picked out some new frames that are half rimless. I was thinking I wanted metal frames all around but this will be better since I've been wearing rimless ones for so long. I'm no girly girl who likes patterns and pretty things much but the frames I picked have a subtle pattern at the corners near the hinges. They're by Sigrid Olson (SO116 in graphite).

We had a bit of a kerfluffle with our internet service today. Someone made a change on the router and, whoops! we were all less productive for awhile. I actually got a bit scared because I do payroll online. I actually could've waited and done it tomorrow, I suppose. It has to be done two days before payday which is Tuesday. We pay once a month on the last business day.

I got a call from my credit card company yesterday asking me to confirm some recent charges. Turns out someone had gotten a hold of my card number and was somehow using it to make purchases at Office Depot and Wal-Mart. I had to use my ATM card to pay for my glasses this morning since they cancelled my Visa. Good thing I didn't fall in love with some fancy designer frames. Actually, I was surprise how reasonably priced the designer frames were. I really liked some Juicy Couture ones that were less than $200 until I saw their little label on the temple. No, thanks. The most expense ones I looked at were at a bit over $300 (Calvin Klein). The two I ended up choosing between were $135 (Revlon) and the $150 ones I got.

I did get to the library before my appointment so got the books. I can't wait to sit down and start reading them. I'm on a romance kick right now, specifically Regency romances. I checked out a bunch of eBooks but then had to reserve some actual physical books to fill in the holes of series that weren't completely available electronically.

Were you sad that Ted McGinley got eliminated from Dancing? Me, either. Good riddance. Survivor starts tonight. They say it's going to be on in HD but all the ads I've seen have not been. If they mess with the proper proportions I'll have to watch it in regular definition on the regular channel. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Wednesday

My boss works at home on Wednesdays so it's a free day for me. Well, not really but sometimes it feels like that. Not that he's always looking over my shoulder or anything. But I don't have to worry about it if I'm surfing the web for iCal calendars for my favorite hockey teams.

I really should stop getting distracting by new software. I just wanted to provide a bit of support to our IT guy since he's the only one who really knows how to use iCal and it's dragging him down a bit. Trying to persuade people that switching is a good thing is hard. Nothing will be the same so we have to find out what's good about it and try to ignore what we'll be missing.

Today was the monthly meeting of what we call the Money Squad. It includes the people most involved in dealing with the nitty gritty of incoming funds. Because we enter every check, money order and credit card charge into our main database, we often deal with issues related to how information is entered, not just money-related items. It's a good place to work out the best way of collecting and tracking that info. Not only am I involved in the finance part of the equation, but I'm also the resident FileMaker expert. The two go pretty well together for me but I wish I had more time to really concentrate on making the database the most functional it could be.

I just checked my library account and 5 of the 9 items I have on hold are ready to be picked up, including a book that wins my Best Title Ever award, By Schism Rent Asunder. Too bad the library would be closed by the time I'd get there. I wish they were open until 8 every night instead of just Mondays and Tuesdays. I guess I should be happy for that much. Maybe I'll stop by tomorrow before my eye appointment. It's at 10:30 and the library opens at 10.

Yes, I'm finally getting my eyes checked and getting new glasses. We changed insurance two years ago and I never made the effort of finding an optometrist. I used to just go down the block to Site for Sore Eyes. But now our insurance doesn't cover them. The real reason I'm getting new glasses is that mine are about to break. They're rimless and there are big cracks radiating out from the holes they drilled to attach the nosepiece. I'm afraid they're going to fall apart at any minute. I'm still seeing great so I don't think my prescription will need changing much.

Who was sad that Jeffrey was eliminated from Dancing last night? You? You? You? Anyone? I didn't think so. I'm definitely still loving Lance and Lacey with the blond kids a second fave. I have no prediction who will be gone tonight. I hope it's not Mark and Kim only because he's hot and I like how he dances with his mouth open so much!

Tuesday

Wasn't Dancing with the Stars awesome last night? I just have so many favorites to choose from. Should I be for the two blond kids, Cody and Julianne? Or Kim and Mark? Or Brooke and Derek? Hmmm, I liked them all but my favorite last night had to be Lance and Lacey. I loved her on So You Think You Can Dance.

I got distracted today by reading about FileMaker Pro. We've been limping along with FMP 6 for many years because it's such a huge cash investment to upgrade. I think we'll still need to do it even if we choose to move our main contacts database to another system. While reading about FileMaker Pro 9 and doing the tutorial, I felt a bit sick to my stomach as I discovered all the added functionality and fixes they've built in over the last few upgrades. My job would've been much easier if we had upgraded and converted a few years ago.

I really shouldn't be working on FileMaker anyway. I still have Peachtree to conquer and July and August bookkeeping to finalize. I'm late going on my bookkeeping because of the audit and switching over to Peachtree. I'm very close though.

Another distraction is our transition to using iCal for our office calendar. Some of it is good but there will be plenty of things to miss from our Now Up to Date system. My pet peeve of iCal so far is that in Month view you can't scroll week to week, you're stuck seeing the entire month no matter what day it is in the month. For example, today is the 22nd so I'm only allowed to see one week ahead though I can see three weeks behind. That's not very helpful.

I'm sure you've all been wondering if Enid did discover her husband wasn't really her husband and he wasn't. He was his cousin! She ended up with him anyway once she discovered her estranged wastrel of a husband had died in the explosion that damaged the laird. Now I'm wondering when Caroline will discover that Jude, Lord Huntingdon is actually a spy instead of the fop he appears to be.

Monday

I woke up 45 minutes before my alarm was to go off and decided to catch a bit more shut-eye since I stupidly stayed up until 3am last night. I was successful in falling back to sleep but felt horrid when the alarm went off. However, I was kinda glad to get out of the dream I was having because it was about my audit and how I wasn't doing things right.

I made it to the BART station and found a good parking place but missed the 10-car train so had to sit squashed into a 4-car. I think they should all be 10-car trains at least until noon.

I've been learning my new accounting software and today was so into it I didn't break until 4pm to have lunch. I only took the time to run down for a slice of pizza and a Coke. I don't think it's going to last me very long. I really need to go to Safeway and get milk and other things. Yesterday I found this great pesto in my bare cupboard which I mixed with some plain tomato sauce for a lovely spaghetti sauce. I may have it again tonight.

My accounting software (Peachtree) is Windows-only and one crucial function I need is to export reports so I can combine and edit them in Excel. I didn't have Excel installed in my Windows system (it's running in Parallels on my iMac) and Peachtree won't export to a text-only file; it has to have Excel. I had install discs for Office 2007 for Windows but my XP is so old it wouldn't install. I tried to upgrade my XP to no avail. I ended up finding an Office 2003 disc and was able to install Excel finally. Peachtree basically copies the report into an Excel file with no intermediary step. I can then save it and open it in my Mac Excel to manipulate it.

I am really enjoying learning Peachtree though it's still a struggle to convert for-profit thinking to my not-for-profit reality.

I was just about to sign off and head out when my late-night colleague down the hall came by with an offer of some cheesecake. I'll stay for a bite and then catch the train home. I have to get back to my eBook and find out if Enid's amnesiac husband is really who everyone thinks he is.

Too Hot to Think

According to weather.com, the observed high temp for my town yesterday was 99º. I believe it and am glad I wasn't there during the day time to live through it. When I got home last night, my inside thermometer said 90º so that was hot enough for me! I'm surprised I got any sleep since the low wasn't very low. Thank goodness for fans and frozen water bottles.

We got up to 94º here in SF yesterday and today it's supposed to be a bit cooler but it doesn't feel that much cooler to me. I need to get a cross-breeze going in my office, I think.

Sallie and I were thinking of going to the zoo tomorrow but it might be too hot for us. We'll go to IKEA and enjoy the air conditioning (along with hundreds others, I'm sure).

The new Borders in Alameda opened its doors to the general public yesterday afternoon. I stopped by after work and Sallie showed me around. Then I browsed the sci-fi and mystery sections. I could've bought a bunch of books but limited myself to three. I wrote down a list of others to get at the library.

I forgot to take my camera into the store (at least it was in the car!) and when I went back in to take a few shots, Sallie had disappeared. I'll try to upload at home when I have a functioning mouse. Maybe I'll borrow the one I use here at work.

Sallie's Here!

Sallie arrived safely here Friday night at 7pm. She left Minnesota Wednesday morning and drove through six big states in three days. One day she drove over 770 miles! When she got here we had some Chinese food (yummy!) and watched hockey, chatted and read until midnight.

I had printed out the CA driver handbook so Sallie could study up for her written test at the DMV. She read a lot of it Friday night and took the practice tests Saturday morning. She got a few questions wrong so had to do some additional studying. I hope she passes!

Saturday we went up to IKEA and bought chairs and lamps and dish scrubbers and bowls and meatballs. We'll definitely need another trip there after Sallie's big stuff arrives tomorrow and she figures out what else she needs. She's fallen in love with a very versatile gateleg table so we'll probably go back for that. I got two new dining room chairs to replace the ones that are falling apart. I have to warn people about them and that's not safe.

We stopped in Alameda to check out the new Borders location. It's right beside the coolest Safeway store ever. Then we stopped by Sallie's new place at Lakeside Village. We couldn't go in, of course, but she got a good sense of where the windows are and how far it'll be from her parking place.

I had gotten a big frying pan at IKEA so I made us some fried rice for supper from our leftover Chinese from Friday. We watched a couple movies (Sweeney Todd and An Ideal Husband) and a little Minnesota hockey (they lost).

On Sunday our goal was some comparison shopping for a monitor and TV. Sallie also wanted to get a DVD recorder with a built-in digital tuner so she can get all the digital TV channels through her antenna. We headed down to BestBuy but they didn't open until 11! So we went next door to OfficeMax (they had nothing) and then to Wal-Mart. I picked up a few tops and Sallie took notes on the TVs she was interested in.

At BestBuy we found a 17" monitor on sale for $150. Then we looked at 26" widescreen LCD HDTVs and couldn't resist the Westinghouse with its Energy Star rating and crisp picture. We determined that she could hook it up to her PC as well so we took the monitor back to the guys in the computer section. Then Sallie said let's take the TV home now instead of waiting. Now there's no need to drive back down there.

We discovered a Thai restaurant a couple miles from my house to have lunch at. I got the garlic chicken and it was awesome. Sallie loved her yellow curry as well. We got the mango with sticky rice to go and we had it for an afternoon snack. Sallie put together my new lamp and my two new chairs. They're lovely. We watched the Sharks lose to the Flames, forcing the first Game 7 ever at the Shark Tank tomorrow night (very exciting!). For supper I combined leftover garlic chicken from lunch and even more Chinese from Friday for another lovely bowl of fried rice.

This morning Sallie packed up and we picked up a cashier's check at the bank for the security deposit and first month's rent. Then we got her car smogged and I got gas in my car and we headed over to Lakeside Village. Sallie signed a lot of papers and got the key to her new home. We unloaded both our cars and Sallie decided which cabinets were for food and which for dishes. Luckily she found the TP in one of her boxes as the Village management had not supplied any. Sallie hooked up her DVD recorder/digital tuner to her little TV and we found loads of digital broadcast channels.

We had an appointment at the DMV at 2:15 so we grabbed a quick lunch and went to get Sallie a California driver's license. Unfortunately, she forgot to put her passport in her bag so all we could do was pick up the application form and hope to make another appointment another day instead. (I was just able to get one at the same time for Wednesday so now Sallie just needs to make sure she takes all the paperwork and documents she needs.)

After our disappointment at the DMV we felt a little retail therapy was in order so we headed over to our favorite store -- no, not Borders -- Target! Sallie picked up cleaning supplies and batteries and trash cans and a detailed map book for Alameda County (by far her favorite purchase of the day). When we got back to Lakeside, I watched Ellen on the little TV then Sallie broke out the new one. When she hooked up the antenna directly to it, we were able to get HD -- with her little rabbit ears!

We went back out for supper at Chili's (delicious) and then, since we were at the mall anyway, we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond for the dish drainer we had forgotten at Target earlier. Of course we couldn't just stop at one item so we got a bathroom trash can, a shower caddy, a paper towel holder, a shelf system for over the toilet, and covers to protect the stove's back burners that Sallie will never use. I dropped her off at home will all her new things where she will be sleeping on her airbed tonight.

We're meeting the movers at 9 tomorrow at the ABF service center and once they've moved everything into the apartment, the rest of the day is for unpacking and organizing. And maybe some grocery shopping. We're out of leftovers.

We're Approved!

I got word on my answering machine at home last night that Sallie has been approved for her new apartment! So that's all settled. Everything just fell into alignment, including a local moving company to help us haul boxes and stuff from the long-distance movers service center to the new place.

Here's a photo of a gazebo by a pond near Sallie's new home.

Big Move

For the past month or so I've been acting as a real estate agent for my sister Sallie who was hoping to get a job at a new Borders opening up next month here in the Bay Area. They delayed the opening at least once so she wasn't actually able to apply for the job until a couple weeks ago. She finally heard yesterday that she did indeed get the job. Woo hoo!

So all my visiting apartments.com and actual apartments were not for naught. I had already sent Sallie the application for my apartment of choice so she was ready to move on it. She faxed me all her proof-of-everything papers which I took over to the apartment complex last night. Now we just need to get approved (I applied as a co-signer to make sure our income was three times the rent) and we're good to go.

Here's the floor plan of the studio apartment we've reserved for Sallie:




I like this layout because the front door opens towards the kitchen so even if the bedroom area was a bit messy and the sliding accordion door was open, your visitor doesn't immediately see it! It's also 600 sq ft which is a big size for a studio. What the floor plan doesn't show is the balcony (it's on the second floor) which is accessed through a sliding glass door in the living room.

If you want to see photos of this apartment complex and the model studio apartment, visit my photos website, scroll down to the fifth row of photos where the label says "studio". The model is on the ground floor so, instead of the balcony area Sallie will have, it has a patio.

Sallie is leaving Minnesota next Wednesday and should arrive on Saturday or Sunday to move in on April 21. It's all so exciting!

How is That Possible?

or Why didn't I wear long sleeves today?

I was just checking the BART schedule in my Dashboard when I noticed my side-by-side weather forecasts for the Bay Area and Grand Rapids, MI. Three of the five days displayed had higher temps in Michigan than here. I guess I need to find that hoodie I didn't think I needed anymore.

Hope you're enjoying the warm spring weather, guys!

TV Updates

Dancing with the Stars
I’m having trouble getting behind any of the contestants this season. It was quite disappointing to see that Julianne was paired with that creep Adam Carolla. He just doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously enough for them to improve. They’ll be gone sooner rather than later I expect. Kristi and Mark are by far the best this year but she seems a bit dead in the face to me. I hope she can kick it into another gear.

American Idol
If David Cook would shave more often, I would get behind him 100%. His style of music is right up my alley. I have really enjoyed his performances. I really like Carly as well. I was so worried that week she was in the bottom. And I don’t care what clothes she’s wearing, Simon. I have absolutely no use for Kristy Lee. She should’ve been out of there a while ago. I think the most impressive this week was Michael Johns. His performance was spot-on and he’s just so hot.

Survivor
Can you say boring? Is anyone still watching this show? Does anyone still care? I’m just tuning in for Jeff at this point.

Deal or No Deal
After all the excitement with the Million Dollar Mission, things have quieted down over Howie’s way. This week a contestant was offered a family vacation but was required to say goodbye to one family member each time she said No Deal. Good thing she had some in-laws and a niece to choose. I love it when people go a long way into the game but if I were giving advice, I’d say as soon as the offer get close to a quarter million, take it and run.

Ace of Cakes
My new favorite DVR recording is FoodTV’s cake meisters at Charm City Cakes. Mary Alice is too cool to be real and the other employees in the bakery are characters right out of your favorite funny novel. Geof has to be my fave though for his understated style and amazing aptitude in creating architectural masterpieces out of sugary foodstuff.

Birthday Week

For my birthday this year I’m getting a great present. The Interruptor’s last day is Monday. Woo hoo! They finally had to let her go because of budget woes (and her incompetence). It makes me so happy even though I’m going to have to do part of her job. I just don’t care.

Oh, I also got a lovely check from my folks, a late-night-for-him phone call from my little brother, a funny voice mail at work at 4:30amET from Joanna and the kids along with various email greetings. I also got an espresso chocolate bar and a gorgeous little book, Heirlooms: Letters from a Peach Farm, by David Mas Masumoto, the father of one of our board members) at the all-staff meeting yesterday.

We had Monday off for Cesar Chavez Day which just happened to be Opening Day for many baseball teams so I took advantage and watched baseball all day. It was lovely pre-birthday gift.

Most Satisfying

That had to have been the most satisfying conclusion to a Project Runway season ever. I loved Christian from the start and was so so happy to see him win. His garments were amazing even with all the black. He really lucked out that Victoria Beckham was the guest judge because she loved loved loved him. I hope she does wear him sometime. What a coup that'd be for him.

I was sad to see that Jillian didn't come through. Her stuff was terrific separately but it was kind of all over the place. I'm sure she'll find success though; she is so talented. I especially love her coats.

I was never a big fan of Rami and when Tim visited him on the next-to-last episode the mustard color of some of his designs was so scary. I noticed that none of them made his final collection but I agreed with the judges that the colors he did choose were questionable. I didn't really like some of his dresses either. It's just not to my taste.

I'm kinda sad this season of PR is over. I guess I'll just have to hope that one of the contestants on Dancing with the Stars will strike my fancy. This season's crowd doesn't look too promising.

New Shoes

I finally got my butt in gear and bought some new shoes yesterday at DSW, just up the street from the office. I'm a big adidas fan but this time I wanted some slip-ons. I tried on over 8 pairs until I broke down and tried some with laces. I ended up buying two pairs, both Skechers.

The Urbantrack, a Sport Fusion shoe
I haven't worn this one yet. It's cute, huh?



The Urbanspike, a Sport shoe
I wore this pair home from work last night and I've worn them all day today. They're doing pretty good and are easy to put on (with the help of the long long long shoe horn I got at Walgreens!).

Hot Spot

It was freezing here in the office yesterday afternoon and into the evening. My hands were starting to hurt when I left around 6:15. There are a couple other people who stay later as well and they were still here when I left. Turns out they discovered where the thermostat for our floor is and turned up the heat. Waaay up!

When people arrived at the office this morning it was 85°! So not only did they forget to turn down the heat setting when they left, they also were under the impression that if you turn the heat way up, the space will heat up faster. Not true!

So it's been sweaty here in the office today. I'm glad I normally wear layers though my light sweater is still too much and I have the fan turned on to medium. Maybe I should open a window.

Drat!

I forgot to stick my umbrella in my bag this morning and it's raining! I need to go out and grab some lunch too. Maybe I'll check the radar and see if it's going to clear up anytime soon. I might be stuck with running next door for a slice of pizza (no!). Maybe I can make it down to the soup place. Mmmm, Grandma Mary's chicken soup sounds pretty good right now.

Raise Your Hand

Raise your hand if you're excited about the new Survivor! The series starts February 7 with a new Fans vs. Favorites format.

I was looking forward to this season until I saw that Jonny Fairplay is one of the "favorites" then I wasn't so sure I even wanted to watch it. I can only hope that he gets voted off early and doesn't make the jury so I don't have to see his smarmy face very long. Perusing the list of returning castaways makes me wonder whose favorites they are. Certainly not any of mine.

The most intriguing fan just from reading a few bios on cbs.com is Chet. He describes himself as "magical" and is a pageant coach for Miss America!

TV for Tonight

Project Runway

You know it's not gonna last long when the designers are excited about a challenge. You can just sense that soon Tim is going to be gathering around the designers to throw them for a loop. Chris was so thrilled about creating a look inspired by a hair style. Plus he was partnered with his mini-me, Christian. This challenge was right up their alley. Their avant garde look was amazing. I was a bit surprised by their choice of color. It wasn't really that pretty, you could even say boring. No one was happy about having to come up with a ready-to-wear version but C&C did an okay job. I was happy to see Christian win, especially after his scare last week.

I found it very painful to watch Victorya and Jillian try to work together (V kinda gives me the willies), but their final product was awesome. Jillian's coat was my favorite creation of this season so far. Pairing a satiny punk trench with riding boots and jodhpurs was inspired. Of the last-minute, surprise ready-to-wear dresses, I think Sweet P's was the best of the lot. Rami needs to lighten up on her.

Ellen DeGeneres Show

Poor Ellen. She's sick with a cold but she's still doing her show. For her monologue (currently sans writers), she stretched out on a sofa with an afghan and had a couple of her audience members dance around the set since she couldn't.

In one of the oddest segments I've see on her show, a crazy guy with a brush in each hand (then later with no brushes at all) slapped various colors of paint on a huge rotating canvas all the while dancing to some tunes. At the end he flipped the painting 180º and all of a sudden it became Ray Charles. They got some great reaction shots of the disbelieving audience as they rose in a standing ovation. I guess he's huge on YouTube.

Tonight on My Telly

American Idol: Dallas Auditions

I have a new favorite for Hollywood Week: Kyle, the Politician, with his red tie and adorable smile and curly brown hair. Right, that Simon is confusing sometimes. I couldn't believe he immediately said yes to this college boy. I guess what he admires is when people are themselves and Kyle was genuine and really didn't have that bad a voice.

Oh, dear. The teaser for this commercial break just made me pee my pants. A guy in a wig and floral print says, "Just give it a try. Pants can be restricting." Yes, you guessed it, a man in a dress. Can't wait to see Simon's reaction to this guy in pearls... .... .... ... Rats, he was just part of a boys-as-girls montage. Oh, well.

Wow, there's a guy from Edwardsville, Illinois, auditioning in Dallas. The rocker with eyeliner. Oof, he's horrible. Plus he has a really fake tan. The judges vote no.

Man, I love those montages when they have everyone singing the same song. Of course, since we're in Dallas, they're singing Kelly Clarkson's Since You've Been Gone. Such funny editing.

Deal or No Deal

Awhile back Howie was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and they showed a clip of her guest spot on DoND. Well, tonight was that episode. Strangely enough on Ellen's show today I didn't hear mention of it. Maybe I just missed it. Sometimes when the heater's running it's hard to hear.

Like I said on Monday, Howie's on a Million Dollar Mission so tonight's contestant has seven cases each containing one million dollars. Let's play!

The case models come down the stairs but there's one spot missing so Howie has to call out for the last model and Ellen comes out (so to speak). She's wearing a green, sparkly, spaghetti strap dress. Don't have a heart attack! She's also wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and black trousers and sneakers. Of course. Take a deep breath. When Howie starts explaining the Million$Mission, Ellen has to sit down on the stairs and call her mom. While they're taping!

Okay, on with the game.

1. Round 1: My first deal is $55k and Shaquilla, after sadly opening two million-dollar cases, gets a record-breaking first offer of $145k. No deal! *
2. Round 2: Another million-dollar case exposed for our contestant, but her offer goes to $166k. Mine dipped slightly to $49k. No deal!
3. Round 3: Ellen has now removed her dress and left the stairs to stand with the supporters. I guess the stage manager couldn't let her case remain un-modeled so they brought out a replacement model. But then the contestant chose her case (why?) so Ellen ran back to open it. She gave loads of different hilarious faces and finally opened the $300 case, then left (bye, Ellen!). My offer went up to $67k and after opening another million-dollar case, Shaquilla's offer went to $181k. No deal!
   
4. Round 4: Man, another million-dollar case gone for our contestant. Her offer goes to $197k. I still have my top two cases, so my offer increases to $78k. Two cases to open in the next round. I think she should take the deal but she doesn't. I'm refusing mine too. No deal!
   
5. Round 5: Ouch, my million is gone and my offer drops to $56k. Shaquilla opens both her remaining million-dollar cases. I told her! Her offer plummets $15k. Her highest case left is $75k. No deal!
   
6. Round 6: S's offer: $18k. My offer: $67k. No deal!
   
7. Round 7: S's offer: $27k. My offer: $107,730. Do I risk one more round? Hell yeah. No deal!
   
8. Round 8: Paid off for me. My offer is $154k. I gonna take it. Shaquilla's offer went to $36k. Everyone's telling her to take it. So she does. Deal!
   

Did I have the $750k in my case? Nope. Surprisingly enough we both had the $25,000. So we both made good deals. Tune in Monday for eight cases filled up with one million dollars. Should be fun.

*OMG, did I just see a Knight Rider promo??!! Get out! I will be all over that show.

Today in My Lunch

My friend Paul and I went to the sister restaurant of our favorite Thai hole-in-the-wall today for lunch. Our place is currently undergoing some rather significant remodeling so we are reduced to lunching across the street in the slightly higher-priced, somewhat fancier place which is owned and run by the same people. Our familiar wait staff are working over there now too.

We walked in and the place was packed and noisy. I decided I wanted to splurge and get not only a Thai Iced Tea (delicious) but also some spring rolls (yummy). I noticed that they had brown rice on the Sides menu (I did say fancier) so I asked for brown instead of steamed along with my ginger chicken (surprisingly less tasty than normal). Our waitress wasn't writing anything down so I just knew one of us was going to have something wrong with our order. Of course, me requesting no bell peppers in my entree didn't help either. But, hey, I like what I like.

Our orders came and, yes, we both had white rice. Bummer. Next time I guess.

Tonight on My TV

Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann

Ooo, I'm so glad my two faves were picked by Bruno. I did so want to root for his team. I admire Carrie Ann but I just luuuv Bruno. Zack is my favorite guy. He's got it all. He's good looking but not too pretty. He can really sing and he's got the moves. Bruno also picked my favorite girl, Kelsey. She's the one who came to auditions with her two friends both of whom didn't make it into the top 14. She's a really strong dancer and has a lovely husky voice. Bruno got to go first for the last two and picked my other favorite guy, Phillip. Carrie Ann had earlier picked my second favorite girl, Elizabeth, who is not a trained dancer but has an amazing voice and incredible green eyes. Drew Lachey is the host and is doing a great job. He got some practice when he filled in on Dancing with the Stars when Samantha Harris was out having a baby. I'm hoping Tom and Len show up sometime on Dance Wars. That would be hilarious.

Deal or No Deal

DoND has fast become my not-so-secret obsession. I love it so much. I'm even taping all the re-runs on CNBC. Howie Mandel is a perfect host for this show. Lately he's been on a Million Dollar Mission where if a contestant doesn't win a million, the next contestant gets that million in one of their cases. Tonight's contestant had six, that's SIX, cases with $1,000,000. Crazy.

1. Round 1: Her first offer, even after opening one of the cases with a million, was a record $131k. Needless to say, she refused that deal. I love to play along online (yes, I'm a nerd) and, without having so many million dollar cases, my first offer was only $50k.
2. Round 2: Her $170k second offer (she knocked out another million dollar case) was also refused, as was my $65k second offer (I still have my million dollar case in play.)
3. Round 3: My third offer was just under $65k after knocking out the $300k case (but I still have my top four cases). This time she didn't knock out another million dollar case so her third offer was again record-breaking -- $268,000!
4. Round 4: I opened my $400k case in the fourth round so my offer went down to just under $59k. Margarita opened another million case with her last choice so her offer also dropped to $239k. She only has to open two cases in the next round and there are still three million dollar cases on the board.
5. Round 5: Her husband had to use his inhaler. He is so stressed. Wow, after opening up two more cases, I still have the top three in play so my offer went up to $79k. Margarita opened up another million dollar case and the penny case so her offer was $284k. We both said, "No Deal!!" She has two million dollar cases left.
   
6. Round 6: Only one case to open: Ouch, mine was the $500k case; even ouchier, hers was another million dollar case. My offer went up, though, to $130k! Hers had to drop, down to $173k. Is she brave enough to open one more case? Her next highest case is $100k. But she's gutting it out. No Deal, Howie!
7. Round 7: Yes! My $100 case is knocked out and my new deal is $207k! Do I take the deal? No way! Margarita opened her last million dollar case. What a shame. I'm going to win more than her. Her deal is $22,000. Does she take it? No way. She's after the $100k.
8. Round 8: Oof. My million is knocked out. I should've taken the deal. But I'm going one more round. Margarita's offer is $33k and she doesn't take it either.
   
9. Round 9: I knock out my $5 case and my deal is $238k. I'm taking it. Margarita's offer went up to $40k and the banker adds in flying lessons for the would-be pilot making the offer $55k. She takes her deal too.
   

So did we both make good deals? Nope. Her case held $100k and mine, well, my game has stopped responding so I either had $5000 or $750k. I guess I'll never know. Tune in to the next DoND on Wednesday for seven million dollar cases. Will that contestant win the million? Will guest model Ellen DeGeneres successfully open her case? I can't wait to find out.

Greatly Exaggerated

Hi, I'm back from my self-imposed hiatus. Though my absence may never be fully explained I can refute the following strangely persistent rumors:

• I am not dead
• I did not become a chef and move to Nevada
• I have not lost my ability to speak
• I have not been on strike along with other writers
• I am not a contestant on American Idol
  

So, thanks for all your concern. Now, back to my book.

Twizzlers Are My Favorite...

Dress??

Yes, that's right. Only on Project Runway, of course. A dress made of the delicious strawberry-flavored licorice was one of the creations on a recent episode where the challenge was hosted by the Hershey's shop in Times Square. The contestants were set loose in the candy store with five minutes to collect materials for a garment they had to make that day. Only Jillian had the eggs to use an edible material. All of the others grabbed pillows and toys and wrappers. My favorite, Christian, used the brown wrappers from peanut butter cups glued to a brown halter dress. My least favorite, the oddball Elisa, was finally "auf" of the competition for her boring brown dress. Jillian's confection creation gave her a lot of problems but the judges approved of her finally completed design.

This past week's episode was a prom dress challenge where the clients were high school girls from New Jersey and were also the models. Christian's client was a design student herself who had very definite ideas for her gown. He was caught between trying to put in all the elements she requested and creating a garment that had his look. He wasn't that successful and on the runway he blamed his client for his difficulties. That turned off the judges and he only escaped being cut because Kevin had a really bad week. My favorite gown of the week was Chris' green creation. Lovely.

Lame Blogger

I am lame, lame, lame. I have had so many fun happenings around here and have told you nothing about them. I thought I'd get some photo editing and post writing done this weekend with a couple days off but I did not. And I apologize. Which does you (and I) no good until I actually get something done. I will try this week to upload some images and tell some stories. In the meantime you can check out my photos website for a peek at my parents' visit.

Back home

Our trip to Yosemite was great. I'll post some photos and stories from the trip later but, in the meantime, you can get a sneak peek at my photo website.

Anne & Don in California: San Francisco

So Sunday night I left Anne and Don at their hotel near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and loosed them onto the City. I didn't see them again until this afternoon. Here's a rundown of their week so far (sorry, no photos):

Monday: They woke up super early (pre-dawn!) so went walking about on the wharves. A guy on the street stopped them asking, "Are you hungry? I've got clam chowder in a bread bowl." They thought that sounded pretty good so they got a couple bowls and sat on a bench in the big parking lot watching the seagulls (and enjoying a good chowder). Later they took the cable car down to Chinatown and joined three dozen others in a walking tour. That's a lot of people to organize in and out of those little alleyways. Supper was a Wharf staple: Scoma's (Don had the swordfish).

Tuesday: It was clam chowder bread bowls for breakfast again (those crazy kids). Then they hopped on the F line streetcar around Herb Caen Way... to Market Street for their morning tour of the historic Palace Hotel. After lunch, they caught up with the historic Market Street walking tour in the financial district. They ended up near my office but Anne couldn't remember exactly which building it was (and had forgotten her cellphone I guess). They cable-car-ed it back up to the Wharf and I forget where they went for supper, somewhere delicious, I'm sure.

Wednesday: Chowder again for breakfast? Out at 9 and back at 2, Anne and Don spent most of the day out on the Rock, also known as Alcatraz. They had a late lunch at Houston's to fuel themselves for their hike up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. They found a different set of stairs back down and just kept walking back to the Wharf. They took a self-guided tour of the famous sourdough Boudin bakery and I think it was In-N-Out for supper.

Thursday: They were actually able to sleep in this morning so had to skip their chowder but after catching a cable car down to Union Square they found a nearby diner where Don had corned beef hash and Anne had a turkey breast omelette. They met up with the Victorian Home Walk group at Union Square where they caught a bus out to Pacific Heights. They got to see where Mrs. Doubtfire was filmed and where Don Johnson lived when he was here filming Nash Bridges.

They made their way back my way and decided to come by so I gave them a tour of our office and they met some of my co-workers. We made plans for tomorrow's pre-Yosemite rendezvous then I sent them to the BART station to buy tickets for their morning trip (after chowder, of course) over to my place. They discovered the movie theater in the mall next door so decided to see Dan in Real Life and by the time that let out it was suppertime so they checked in with me about plans for dinner. I was just finishing up a project for the day so was happy to get out of the office before 7. We had a lovely supper at Out the Door (shrimp spring roll, crispy vegetarian roll, grilled prawns with rice noodles, cellophane noodles with crab) where they told me all about their week so far.

Oh, my BART trip home was uneventful. Well, I did just miss a train and had to wait 18 minutes for the next one (had a book though {of course}).

My BART Adventure

Whew! I'm finally home.

This afternoon we had a going-away party at a local diner for a collegue who's leaving (even though she was sick and couldn't come). I hadn't eaten lunch so I ordered some breakfast for an early supper. I was ready to go about 5 or so but still had a few things to do at work so, instead of heading home like a smart person, I went back to the office. Big mistake.

About an hour later I headed home but when I got down to the BART station there were crowds around the gates. People were only coming out and not going in. I hung out a bit to see what was going on and heard a BART cop say the station was closed. As I left to go back to the office to wait it out, I heard someone say that a train had run over someone. Oh, no!

I checked online to see what was going on. One website said there was a person under a train, condition unknown. They figured it might be a couple hours before the trains were running through the station again. In the meantime, trains were being sent back at the neighboring stations.

The next station in my direction is pretty close so Gunther and I decided to hoof it. It only took a few minutes to get there but the lines to get through the gates were ridiculous. Gunther was reluctant to stand in line and was getting hungry so we went to a nearby Chipotle. I was still pretty full from my early diner breakfast but couldn't resist sharing a basket of crunchy tacos with black beans and rice. Yum!

That wasted about a half hour and by that time the lines had dispersed and when we got down to the platform the trains were running in both directions again. My train came in about 5 minutes so I left Gunther in the City and settled in for my commute. I even got a seat!

But that wasn't the end of my evening's adventure. We were in the tunnel in Oakland when the train pulled to a stop and an announcement came over the PA system that there had been an earthquake so we had to hold there for at least 5 minutes. I didn't think that would be so bad but after each earthquake they have to do a track inspection so we had to go very slowly for a long time. I overheard a station announcement when the doors were open that the quake was a 5.6 centered in Alum Rock down near Fremont where I used to live. That's pretty big.

Anne & Don in California: Napa & the GGB

Disclaimer: Some of the following photos were taken by Anne.

Today Anne & Don and I headed up to the Napa Valley and wine country. It was again a lovely day for sight-seeing. We stopped off first at the Visitors Center to pick up some ideas of where to go.

We decided to start at a big name so drove up the road to the Robert Mondavi Winery. The tours were a bit pricey for our taste so we just looked around. It's a beautiful place. As you enter, a statue of St. Francis welcomes you.

(detail of statue)


The parking lots are surrounded by fields of vines.


Colorful flowers...

...and a lively fountain beckon you inside.


We strolled around (some of us hand in hand) enjoying the sun and manicured vineyard.




Since I'm not a fan of wine I was hoping to find somewhere to taste some local olive oil. Just up the road from Mondavi we saw a blackboard sign advertising "Local Olive Oil Tasting". How lucky were we? Soooo lucky. The fun, off-beat store of the St. Helena Olive Oil Co. was offering tastes of not just olive oils but balsamic vinegars, fig compote, barbeque sauce, honey, pesto, and mustards. The flavor of olive oil that caught my fancy was lemon. It was so fresh tasting I just had to buy a bottle. I also got some Italian pesto and some local barbeque sauce. It was great place.


Anne & Don aren't big wine people either but they've had some and they knew they liked one from Sutter Home so we stopped at their store after seeing the sign for "Complimentary Tastings". As I was browsing I saw these funny flip flops that seemed to be sized for small round feet. Turns out they are coasters for wine glasses. I'm not sure why they need to wear crazy looking flip flops.

We then crossed the valley to a less-travelled road where Anne spotted a field with some grapes left on the vines.




Then I spotted a bunny.


We were not anticipating just how many wineries are in Napa Valley and just how concentrated they are. We drove by one after the other after the other after the other.



We were going to go to the geyser at Calistoga but I had read online that it costs $8 so we decided to skip it. We also choose to forego the petrified forest, so sorry, you'll have to wait for pics for a couple weeks until Mom & Dad and I visit it. We crossed over the hills to the west then drove south through the Sonoma Valley and landed in Sonoma for a late lunch at the awfully, unbearably cute and tasty Black Bear Diner (pot roast for me, ham steak for Don, chicken avocado club for Anne).

As we drove south on the 101, we spied the Marin County Civic Center which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (better photos)


We paused at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge...


...crossed over it...


then paused on the south side and walked out on it for a bit.


It was getting darkish and I still had to drive back home so we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf and Anne & Don's hotel where they checked in, I used the facilities and we parted. I started home only to be stopped by a jam of cars trying to go home the same way as me.


I eventually made it across the bridge and home.

Next: Anne & Don visit San Fran without me (sniffle) then Yosemite with me (yea!)

Anne & Don in California: Berkeley Pier

On our drive north after lunch I mentioned (as we passed through Berkeley) that it had been a really long time since I had been to the pier at the Berkeley marina. It's quite long and from it you can see many of the famous bridges and sights of the SF Bay. It was just about sunset on our way back south so I suggested we stop and walk out on the pier.

The view to the northwest of the pier.


Don and Anne (left of frame) walk off into the sunset.


The Golden Gate Bridge shares the golden spotlight with the sinking sun.


Mt. Tamalpais and other Marin hills where we had just been a short while ago.


Sailors head home in the soft light of dusk. Can you spot the Richmond Bridge in the background?


The San Francisco skyline behind the sister islands of Yerba Buena and Treasure Island.


One last view of the GGB spanning the Golden Gate -- entrance to the SF Bay.


Next time: A&D visit Napa Valley, Calistoga, and the Petrified Forest (oh my)

Anne & Don in California: Muir Woods

My sister Anne and brother-in-law Don are spending 10 days here in my neck of the woods. Just as I was putting on my shoes this morning I got the call from Anne that they had arrived. She said there was no rush so I made a quick stop at Starbucks on the way. Once I got to the airport, I paused at the curb just long enough for them to pop the hatch, toss in their bags and climb aboard. We exchanged hellos then Anne said, "What do you think about going up to Muir Woods today?"

I had no problem with that though I worried their day would get long (their flight from St. Louis left before 6am!). Once we were on the road, it was too early (and out of the way) to check them into their hotel so we came back to my place to find maps and consider our route. By that time we were hungry so grabbed lunch at a local family restaurant (rib-eye with shrimp for me, chicken burrito for Don, breakfast burrito for Anne). It was a gorgeous day for tripping around the Bay Area so Anne and I enjoyed the weather and scenery on our drive north while Don caught a few winks in the backseat (sorry, no photo).

We arrived at Muir Woods to find the typical weekend parking hassle. They have two parking lots but if they're full you're supposed to park on the side of the narrow road. We drove to the end of the long, long line of parked cars but decided we'd rather spend our time waiting for a parking spot to open up than walk that far from -- and back to -- the car. We circled the main lot a couple times then shifted to the auxiliary lot where we got lucky and snagged a spot after only 15 total minutes of stalking.

If I had a color design for my life, Muir Woods at this time of year would be it.
(Click on the photos to see a larger size.)


Wouldn't you like to just hang out in this living room?


There was just a slight sense of fall in the woods with a few yellow leaves...




and just a trickle of water in the creek.




I love being in amongst the super tall trees with their orangey-brown trunks on display.


The fallen logs and branches of shorter non-redwoods strike a counterpoint of mossy green.




I was headed back down the main path when I spotted a deer several yards away. It was crouching low to the ground acting almost like it was injured or ill. Then all of a sudden others were there and two of them were fighting. They were close enough that we could hear the crack of their antlers crashing together. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to catch it with my camera and the shots I did get of the deer were too far away and blurry (as you can see).




Of course, we had to take the traditional "there are people inside a tree!" shot.


The angle of sunlight in the late afternoon provided some dramatic views of these amazing trees.


Next time: A&D visit the Berkeley Marina fishing pier

Words for Hunger

For all you vocabulary fans: FreeRice.com

For every correct word chosen from a four-word multiple choice list, FreeRice.com will donate 10 rice grains to the United Nations World Food Program. So far 232.7 million grains have been donated and the site only began on October 7. I earned 1000 grains tonight.

The site itself is gorgeous and they customize your test as you answer the questions. Read the FAQ for a description of how it works. I fluctuated around the mid- to low 40s. How 'bout you?

Here are some of the more difficult words I got (descriptions in the comments):

teredo
hebdomadal
meretricious
amercement
leister
rumen

SoCal on Fire

I've mentioned here before how much I love views from above. This view is sadly lacking in joy, however. The red marks on the satellite image of Southern California represent active fire areas this afternoon. And it's easy to identify the smoke flying out to sea. What's crazy to me are the plumes of dust kicked up by the gale-force winds blowing down from the desert and through narrow canyons thanks to those awful Santa Anas. Click on the link below the image to see a larger view (takes awhile to load) which you can zoom in on.

One interesting thing I heard on Nightline tonight was that they got plenty of rain down in the Southland a couple years ago so there's loads of fuel (read "shrubbery") this year for the fires to burn. One of the most dramatic videos I watched was a darkened street full of burning embers being swept away to start up more fires wherever they may land.

The area of high pressure over Salt Lake (that's causing the severe winds from the east) is supposed to diminish and move on by Wednesday so there may be some help for firefighters in getting some of the fires under control with some higher humidity levels.

That same high is giving us some pretty warm weather up here in the Bay Area as well. I hope people are being very careful with their cigarette butts and are making sure they put out their camp fires and grills.

Phantom Unsafe Passenger Reading

I have so many library books on my front passenger seat that when I added the weight of my work bag to the pile it triggered my car's seatbelt sign sensor and the dashboard light began flashing warning me of an unbelted passenger.

Books on the seat:
The Bishop's Heir (read), The King's Justice (in bag), The Quest for Saint Camber, King Kelson's Bride by Katherine Kurtz
Dark of the Moon by John Sandford
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

Can You Speak Up?

Ah, Fleet Week. Who doesn't like screaming engines and screaming to be heard over them? I'm surprised we got any meetings accomplished today with the Blue Angels and their jets flying over downtown all day. I'm sure glad our big anniversary party isn't this week. I may have to wear ear plugs tomorrow.