My grandmother passed away last November. Her obituary | guestbook.
Tuesday June 24, 2008 -
Maybe the cable guy didn't quite get it right. Our phone is through them too, and every time we called any number today, we got Comcast. Yikes! They straightened it out after a call and it is ok now. [sound of fingers crossing].
Monday June 23, 2008 -
RIP George Carlin. A big loss to the entertainment world. In other events, We had Comcast out to the house because our internet and phone had gone out a number of times and the TV had an error message off and on. One guy came out and he fixed it all! It took a few hours but it looks like everything is working.
Saturday June 21, 2008 -
In the morning we went to the Farmers Market anb bought some fruit and vegetables. This location didn't have many vendors but we did find some items we wanted. In the evening we went to Bricka Bracka in midtown for a fundraiser for Barack Obama for president. There were three local musical acts, my favorite of which was Agent Ribbons. Then came artist David Garibaldi. This guy is awesome. You have to see him paint live. He puts on music and in maybe 10 minutes or so paints huge portraits of famous people, with brushes, hands, whatever. Check out his web site link above and navigate around, especially the 'rhythm and hue' area. Tonight he did John Kennedy and Barrack Obama portraits. Then they were auctioned off for over $10000 total for the two. There were also a lot of other artists who had donated works and those were all auctioned silently to raise more money for the cause. Oh, and there were snacks and wine available also. It was a fun and entertaining event attended by hundreds of people. It was a diverse and enthusiastic crowd, and a good cause.
Thursday June 19, 2008 -
Dinner at 524. Chili rellenos, beans, rice, tortillas, chips, salsa. Oh sweet joy.
Wednesday June 18, 2008 -
The Internet went out at our house. Argh! But resourceful Petra had a great idea, so here we are at It's A Grind coffee near our house. They have free WiFi here, so we both brought our computers and we're computin' and drinking some coffee drinks. Cool beans!
Monday June 16, 2008 -
Dinner at 524. I love me some Mexican Food.
Sunday June 15, 2008 -
The four of us went to a Father's Day brunch at the Tower Cafe. The food was good and of course the company was too. Then Larry and Robin took off for home (Santa Cruz). On the way home, near our house where the future park is going, we saw a coyote. Whoa! Lock up the cat. The jackrabbits seemed to undnerstand, they were high-tailing it out of there.
Saturday June 14, 2008 -
The four of us headed up to Amador county to pick up some wine we had ordered a while back. We hit a winery and tasted a bit, then devoured the picnic lunch we had brought with us. We saw a pretty big rattlesnake about 20 feet from where we were picnicing, but the winery guy came out with a shovel and scared it away. In sandals and shorts, no less! Yikes! But the snake took off and we finished our picnic. Then we tasted at a couple more wineries and came back to Sacramento. After that wen met up with friends Cal and Laura and had a slow but tasty dinner at Chicago Fire in midtown. Then we headed off for Second Saturday to see some more art amid the hundreds (thousands?) of people doing that same thing. We went to some galleries on the outskirts to avoid the crowd, but did end up later in a crowded area in midtown. But it was fun and everyone was having a good time.
Friday June 13, 2008 -
Our friends Larry and Robin came into town to stay with us for a couple days. We had lunch in midtown at Hamburger Patties (mmmm) and then went to see the Art Bra exhibit nearby. From their web site: "We have invited area artists to participate and create a special piece of art to be displayed in June of 2008. Using the “BRA” as a symbol, we invited them to sculpt, paint, stitch and embellish." Then we went to a few other nearby galleries to see more art.
Thursday June 12, 2008 -
Petra had a meeting of her women's artists group and I went to my Dad's to help get his email working properly. We were hoping to go for some Mexican food after but it got late and we ended up with Taco Bell. Not exactly what we had in mind. Not even close, really.
Monday June 9, 2008 -
This evening we went to a Prince's 50th Birthday Party celebration at Old Ironsides, with local bands playing Prince songs. It was very crowded and noisy and we couldn't see very well. But they did broadcast it on a video monitor so that helped. Some of the bands were good, others not so much, but it was ok overall. And it WAS Prince music after all.
Sunday June 8, 2008 -
We went to the Art Fiesta (50th annual) at Town And Country Village mall. Lots and lots of artists and most were high quality. We'll go again next year.
Saturday June 7, 2008 -
Happy birthday to our great friend Robin! And also happy 50th birthday to Prince.
Friday June 6, 2008 -
I guess the picture says it all. We bought a new lawn mower to replace to old POC (see below). It's a nice mower but I sure would have rather kept the money. A better use of money was the delicious dinner we had after mower shopping. Kiko's Mexican Food. If you liked the old Luis' on Alhambra (now defunkt), then you'll like Kikos. Thursday June 5, 2008 -
Our old piece-of-crap lawn mower finally died this evening. We had it in for a servicing a while back and they couldn't even help it, just said to run it until it dies. Which has now happened. Grrr. Just want I wanted to do, spend hundreds of dollars for a new mower. Not! We'll do that this weekend, most likely. I did get a couple strips of the front lawn mowed before it conked out, so it looks a little weird.
Wednesday June 4, 2008 -
Happy birthday to niece Sara's husband Jeff. In other news, Petra had a post-surgery follow-up appointment today. Things are healing. Slowly, because of the radiated skin, but healing. No infections either, which is a very good thing. And her nephew Dayn graduated from 6th grade. We attended the ceremony out in Wilton, CA, and then afterward had some Japanese food with her parents in Elk Grove.
Tuesday June 3, 2008 -
Election Day. And, like always, I voted. I was always told "if you don't vote you can't complain". So, the reverse must be true too, right? If you DO vote, then you CAN complain? Alright! So let the complaining begin! Complain here.
Monday June 2, 2008 -
Happy birthday to our friend Karl.
Sunday June 1, 2008 -
Happy birthday to Petra's Mom. During the day, Petra and I shopped a bit and she got a new bike. Nothing expensive, but a cool pink cruiser-style ride. Then the two of us went to Todo Un Poco for a great dinner.
Saturday May 31, 2008 -
Happy birthday to my Dad. Yay!!! We all took him out for dinner and a nice time was had by all.
Friday May 30, 2008 -
I was off today. I like that a lot. Petra went after her work up to Colfax to visit her friends who had surgery a few days ago. Then Petra and I went out to 524 Mexican Food for dinner. Hey, it's Friday! And payday!!
Wednesday May 28, 2008 -
Petra went back to work today. She's doing pretty well, but is still somewhat sore and tender.
Tuesday May 27, 2008 -
I went back to work today. Petra is doing ok so it was time. She's still got some recovering to do but she also drove for the first time today since the surgery. Her friend was having surgery on her cartoid artery and Petra went to be at the hospital with her. As for my work, well, it was ok. A few things to clean up after being off a week and a half, but not too bad.
Monday May 26, 2008 -
Movie meetup day. We went with a group of twelvve or so to see Then She Found Me, the directoral debut from actress Helen Hunt. It was pretty good, not great but interesting. It was a mix of comedy and drama with Bette Midler as the mother who gave her up for adoption many years ago. Colin First planned a strange but likeable love interest. We both liked this movie even though if wasn't perfect by any means. Here's the official site and here's the Rotten Tomatoes page. I recommend that Rotten Tomatoes site for movie lovers.
Sunday May 25, 2008 -
We took a theraputic trip up to the foothills for the Grass Valley Sierra Festival Of The Arts. It was smaller than we expected but still a nice day. There were some glass artists, also painting, ceramics, and more. Food too, and shopping in the nearby tourist district.
Saturday May 24, 2008 -
Petra is recovering and it is hard to keep her down. Of course there is a ways to go but she's doing pretty well.
Wednesday May 21, 2008 -
Petra is feeling ok so far, so we ventured out a bit. In the mid-day we went to the farmers market and bought some fresh vegetables. Then, in the evening, we went to a community meeting with three of the Mayor candidates. Before the meeting I wasn't sure but now I am.
www.stevenology.com endorses Heather Fargo for another term as mayor. Her main challenger has too many clouds hanging over his head, but more importantly, he is offering generalities and vague promises but no means to make them happen. I think he is still politically naive and not ready for such an important job. My suggestion is that he run for City Council first and get more experience about how the city works.
Tuesday May 20, 2008 -
Petra had an early appointment to get her hair washed and trimmed. She can't really wash it herself yet so this works. Afterwards we dropped some used CDs off and got some store credit, half of which was spent right away, at Dimple Records. Oops! Then we had a good vegetarian Indian food buffet at a new place, Udupi Cafe, in the nearby Gold River area. Then back to home for the rest of the day. It's still the recovery period.
Monday May 19, 2008 -
Happy birthday to my Grandmother Daisy. She is no longer with us but I did not forget. Meanwhile, Petra is a happier camper tonight because the drain came out today. Yeah, I guess a tube sticking out of your abdomen draining gunk into a plastic bulb is not much fun. Imagine that. But the doctor pulled it out (!) today and she is pretty happy about that. Yay!! The recovery continues. As a treat after, we went to the record store (The Beat) and bought some CDs: Gavin McGraw (self-titled), Duffy "Rockferry", Death Cab For Cutie "Narrow Stairs", DMC "Checks Thugs and Rock N Roll", and Shaun Mullins "Honeydew (both CD and vinyl in one package).
Sunday May 18, 2008 -
Her recovery continues. Yes, there is still a tube and a drain, and yes we are servicing those every couple hours. And bandages to change too. Don't try this at home, kids! Or anywhere else if you have a choice. The pain and discomfort is pretty manageble and she's up walking around, though not jogging much ;-)
Thursday May 15, 2008 -
As scheduled, Petra had her latest surgery as part of the reconstruction. The procedure took longer than anticipated but went well. Thanks to everyone, friends and family, that called, texted, and emailed to check on her.
Monday May 12, 2008 -
Petra had her yearly appointment with her radiation oncologist. Everything is going well, always good to hear.
Sunday May 11, 2008 -
Mothers Day. Since my mother died recently, she is not around but I went (with some family) to the cemetary and paid my respects. Take care, Mom, we're thinking of you.
Saturday May 10, 2008 -
We went to the River Park Art and Craft Show. Lots of locals selling their wares and fun to look around. We had dinner later with Petra's Mom and Dad for a pre-Mothers Day.
Friday May 9, 2008 -
Happy Aniversary to Larry and Robin and also to Sara and Jeff.
Thursday May 8, 2008 -
Petra went to the first meeting of the Swell Sisters group for women artists and I visited my Dad for a while. After her meeting she came and visited with him too.
Tuesday May 6, 2008 -
Petra had her every-six-month appointment with her oncologist. After telling her that she "loooked good on paper" (meaning the test results were fine), he then told her that she was doing great and still NED (no evidence of disease). Yay!!
Monday May 5, 2008 -
Tonight we went with the movie meetup group to see a charming, moving, and highly entertaining film called Young @ Heart. It's a documentary about a large group of seniors, average age of 80, who perform around the world singing modern-day songs, originally by unexpected artists such The Clash, Coldplay, The Ramones, James Brown, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth (yes you read that right), Bob Dylan, and many more. I highly recommend this movie. More about it here, where it got a very high 87% rating. Go see it, you won't be sorry. All nine of us that went liked it.
Saturday May 3, 2008 -
We took a long bike ride with a large group from the North Natomas Transportation Management Agency. We started at our home in North Natomas and biked to Old Sacramento and back, even taking a longer route back. The weather was nice and it was a fun ride. And now we know how to get to Old Sac by bike. In the evening we went to the new Benvenuti Performing Arts Center in our neighborhood to see a stage production of the classic Fiddler On The Roof. It's a very nice, new 364-seat theater and a great addition to the Natomas Park area. The play was very well done and reasonably priced. A very nice evening.
Thursday May 1, 2008 -
Dinner at 524 Mexican Food. Just got paid, need to get rid of some of it! Yeah! And that food was good...
Tuesday April 29, 2008 -
Blood test for Petra. This time one needle for two purposes: 1) the semi-annual checkup next week with the oncologist and 2) pre-surgery test for upcoming surgery. She'll get the EKG later in the week.
Sunday April 27, 2008 -
Petra went to a brunch with a friend of hers featuring the friends daughter and granddaughter. A nice time was had by all.
Saturday April 26, 2008 -
Larry and Robin headed home. We walked over to a vendor faire at the nearby Elementary School. There wasn't much there but we did get a 19" computer monitor for $10. Our old one went out and we have been using a very old 17"er that wasn't exactly great with colors. So now we can use this for a while, hopefully.
Friday April 25, 2008 -
It was a busy day for the four of us. After a typically late start, we all took a bike ride from Discovery Park to Sac State College and back along the American River Bike Trail. A little tiring but fun. Then we met up with friends Karl and Betty, Mike D and Cozy, and John M and the nine of us went to see Shine A Light, the Rolling Stones film, at the Imax theater. If the idea of six-story tall image of Keith Richards scares you, well, I can relate. But the movie was fun and enjoyable, if not exactly great, and we all had a good time. Then we all went out for some frozen yogurt and toppings. And then Mike D and Cozy invited us to their house for a little while to see the status of their "two-month" remodeling project.
Thursday April 24, 2008 -
Happy birthday to my ex-sister-in-law Connie. In the late evening, friends Larry and Robin returned from Portland to Sacramento and will stay with us for a couple days before heading to their place in Santa Cruz.
Wednesday April 23, 2008 -
A big ol' happy birthday to my sister Steph! Hope you have a great one and many more. The pest control guy came today too, but big deal.
Monday April 21, 2008 -
I was at work, but friends Larry and Robin came into town very briefly, to catch a plane at the Sacramento airport. Petra gave them a ride there, and now they are off to Portland to visit with their son.
Sunday April 20, 2008 -
We went to the Earth Day celebration in Southside Park. Lots and lots of vendor and informational booths. Food and fun too, all with a green theme. What have you done to help save the planet today? Afterward, we went to my Dad's house for a visit. He's doing pretty well and it was nice to see him and visit for a while.
Saturday April 19, 2008 -
Petra went to her scrapbooking meetup and I took the car in for it's 20000 miles servicing. In the evening we watched a DVD, Batman Begins. I liked it. It was a dark, brooding look at the Batman story, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming sequel now.
Friday April 18, 2008 -
We worked in the yards today. Yep. Both front and back. See, that's the kind of exciting news that you can read about here on www.stevenology.com! The only web site that matters! Well, the only with with that address anyway. Tell the world!!
Tuesday April 15, 2008 -
Tax Day. A followup trip to the dentist. Petra's mammogram. Hey, we know how to have fun! But on the plus side, Comcast did bring us a new DVR with more capacity. We think it has about 33% more but we're not positive. Let's record a bunch of stuff in High-Definition and see what happens!
Monday April 14, 2008 -
The Kings lost to San Antonio. Petra met with an official at the nearby K-8 school to discuss her possibly doing some mentoring. And we went to the "in-urn-ment" for my Mom today. That is where they put the urn with the ashes into the container in the monument. The pastor said a few words and we said goodbye. RIP.
Sunday April 13, 2008 -
So Comcast was back again today. After a few hours, they (three techs in three trucks, different from yesterday) finally got our phone working. And surprise, everything else still worked too. What a two-day ordeal. I asked if they could upgrade our DVR to one with more storage capacity in return for all our trouble. They said they might be able to and would be in touch. Just as they were leaving, mayoral candidate (and former NBA star) Kevin Johnson came by the house. He was walking the neighborhood,
Saturday April 12, 2008 -
Friends Karl and Betty had tickets to the Kings game and we did too. The good news is that they came by a few hours earlier to visit and then to go to dinner before the game. They had a nice visit at our house with Petra, but I spent a couple hours instead with the cable people. Three different cable people in three trucks. It was supposed to be a simple DVR replacement. Our DVR had lost all of our recordings. But in troubleshooting the reason for the equipment failure, they managed to rewire a bunch of stuff and then our phone service (through Comcast also) went out. No dial tone.They worked on that for at least an hour and finally got a dial tone right before we had to leave. Then we grabbed a quick bite at a local taqueria and headed to the game. Unfortunately, when we got home, you guessed it. No dial tone. Aaaargh!
Friday April 11, 2008 -
Today was a more somber day. It was the funeral service for my mother. The sadness was pervasive, of course, mixed with a sense of relief for the end to her suffering and a feeling of closure that we were able to say goodbye. She wasn't there to hear it. Or was she? Anyway, the service was very nice and my Dad was pleased with it. That is important. Goodbye Mom, we love you.
Thursday April 10, 2008 -
Tonight was the fist grade open house at our granddaughter's school. Josephine showed us her projects that she had been working on and we met all the teachers. She was also in a presentation in the multi-purpose room, about what makes people the same and what makes them different. It's nice that they are teaching tolerance and diversity. More adults could use that too. Our other granddaughter Jasmine was there too and was very happy to see us. The feeling was mutual. And grandson Raziel was there too. Great to see them all!
Sunday April 6, 2008 -
The Kings played their rivals the Lakers. And the Kings lost badly, very badly. Mercifully, the season will be over soon!
Saturday April 5, 2008 -
Our friends Larry and Robin left town but not until we accomplanied them to Bella Bru for breakfast. Later in the day we went to our new gym to check it out. We just walked around to get the feel of the place. It just opened and was pretty chaotic with people getting accustomed to it and the signing up of new members. We'll come back in a week or two.
Friday April 4, 2008 -
Our friends Larry and Robin are in town and yes, my mother passed away yesterday. We had already made plans for today too, and we would keep our plans. I thought about my Mom on and off throughout the day, glad that her suffering was ended yet nostalgic for the times we had spent together. The day's distractions were a positive thing. We went to Villa Toscano in Amador county for our "free" dinner. We had bought a case of wine futures last year and the wine was now ready. When you pick it up you get a nice buffet dinner. We enjoyed that and did a little wine tasting at Toscano, Montevina , and Karmere wineries. We picked up our quarterly shipment and Montevina, three bottles of various reds. At the latter winery we bought some futures for next year. We all came back to town and headed over to El Novillero for some great mexican food. And then back to the house for a little Wii bowling and Wii tennis. Yeah, that's right, video games.
Thursday April 3, 2008 -
My mom died today. Even though her health had been declining rapidly of late, it was still a shock. The family, including Petra and I, was in the emergency room with her and watched her go. That was pretty difficult and terribly sad but we were fortunate the family could be there to say goodbye. The positive news is that she is finally out of the pain she has suffered for years now. Goodbye, Mom. You were loved and will be missed. I don't really even know what else to write about it. It is so heavy that words don't really work.
We had previously made plans for company to come into town for a couple days, our friends Larry and Robin. The arrived later in the day. Once we told them, they offered to leave and come back another time. But I was very ready for some diversion so I asked them to stay. We had made plans with them and some other friends, John and Mike D. I though about not going and really couldn't shake the events of the morning. I've never watch someone die before and for it to be my mother? Can you imagine? But I decided to go out anyway to try to take my mind off things or at least take it down a couple notches. We had a nice dinner at the Crest Cafe and then a movie, oscar winner Taxi To The Dark Side. It was good but I was feeling my own darkness, though trying to be social if a bit quieter than usual. But really, it helped to have friends around.
Wednesday April 2, 2008 -
I was supposed to help my Dad take my Mom to the doctor today. Her condition has been worsening and he has been doing an incredible job tring to take care of her. But this morning he hurt his back trying to do that because she is beyond the care that he or anyone can give at home. So the time has come and we instead needed to take her to a nursing home. She can get care there and my Dad can recouperate.
Tuesday April 1, 2008 -
The Kings played a really good team, the Houston Rockets, and the Kings won. No, that's not an April fools joke!
Monday March 31, 2008 -
Today was the Cesar Chavez holiday. W spent most of this long weekend at home. Petra was studying for an exam at work. I helped when I could and got a few things done around the old homestead.
Saturday March 29, 2008 -
Another bike ride via the Hammerin' Wheels, one of the meetup groups that we belong to. This ride was quite a bit longer than last weekend. We rode about 16 miles along the American River Bike Trail, along Sacramento's treasure, the American River Parkway. Anyway, here are some pictures of Petra, me, and the group on this ride. Of course, after that we were starved so Petra and I headed to the Natomas location of Taste Of Thai" target="_blank">Taste Of Thai for some really good Thai food.
Friday March 28, 2008 -
Petra had another appointment with the reconstructive surgeon. Looks like there will be another surgery this spring. Sigh. And in the evening we went to the Kings game. They played Washington and the Kings choked badly in the second half. And lost.
Wednesday March 26, 2008 -
Happy birthday to my brother John! Party on, dude!
Tuesday March 25, 2008 -
The dentist. What else do you need to know? That says plenty.
Saturday March 22, 2008 -
We belong to a few meetup groups. One of them is the Hammerin' Wheels bike group. And today was the first ride we did with the group. It was short (4-5 miles) and slow-paced but a lot of fun. Pictures are here on their site. And in the evening we went to another meetup, this time the Vegan group. We are vegetarian, not vegan, but it was still fun. Vegans are, well, a bit quirky. But we all had a nice dinner at a vegetarian restaurant in Rancho Cordova. The name escapes me. Darned memory.
Thursday March 20, 2008 -
We had a nice dinner with friends Cal and Laura. We hadn't seen them for a while and it was nice to visit. We had a very good dinner at Hamburger Patties in Midtown. I suggest the Meatless Pattie, then add grilled onions and a Boca pattie. On the multi-grain bread. With the regular fries. Mmmm.
Wednesday March 19, 2008 -
L&R left for home and Petra and I went to the Kings season ticket holder's party. All the players were there doing various things. Mikki Moore had a bunch of snakes on display, Ron Artest sang some Karaoke, Spencer Hawes hosted a comedy and improv show, Francisco Garcia had some batting cages, you get the idea. There were also interviews, autographs, raffles, free snacks and drinks. It's nice to get a thank you party for all the money we pay for those season tickets.
Tuesday March 18, 2008 -
L&R actually came to town to see the Golden State Warriors play the Sacramento Kings and they went with us to that. Lots of fun and the Kings won! Earlier in the day we all shopped a bit at Kohls and Borders and then had a tasty meal at 524 Mexican.
Monday March 17, 2008 -
L&R are still town so we went for dinner to BJ's. Check out their extensive menu. I highly recommend the deep-dish Spinach Artichoke Pizza. And for a cocktail or two, try the Poisoned Caramel Apple. Yes, I am serious, it is GOOD!
Sunday March 16, 2008 -
Friends Larry and Robin came into town for a few days. Tonight we went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I hadn't been there in many many years. But oh that mizithra cheese is a delicious as ever! Afterward, we stopped by Rick's Dessert Diner on K Street to pick up some "Death By Chocolate" for later. Diet, shmiet. Then we went back to the house to watch a DVD, Across The Universe. Critics were split on this film, but I liked it quite a bit. Very visual, much of it was like a series of music videos, and all set to Beatles songs performed by the cast. There were spoken parts to advance the plot, but the music was the main thing. Not a prefect movie, but very entertaining.
Saturday March 15, 2008 -
Petra had her scrapbooking meetup group today and got some pages done featuring the grandkids.
Friday March 14, 2008 -
The #$%^ washer is on the fritz again! Is this four or five times to have the repairperson out? Argh!! When will it end??? Did you like that saying "on the fritz"? Then read this.
Thursday March 13, 2008 -
My brother and I helped my Dad take my Mom to the doctor. She's not doing to well right now and we are all wishing her to feel better and stronger. Tonight Petra and I went to Kings game. And they won!!
Monday March 10, 2008 -
OK, so Comcast came out to the house. And they couldn't see a problem so they left. No troubleshooting. How lame. At least it's all working now.
Sunday March 9, 2008 -
We had a nice dinner with our neighbors, Rick and Flo. We ate some Italian food at Johhny Carinos which was quite good. Then we stoped at Baskin Robbins for a little ice cream. They were out of my first four picks for ice cream flavor, and I was not pleased. But I managed to find one that was a tasty treat and all was well. We had a good time with some pleasant conversation too. In the late evening, however, our cable, internet, and phone all went out. They are all handled by Comcast. They said the best they could do was to send someone out in the morning. Argh!
Saturday March 8, 2008 -
Petra's friend Vickie had her 50th birthday celebration tonight. Congratulations! We spent the evening with her and her family. Some of her family is, well, let's call it outgoing. But her daughter Felicia is a pleasure. She grew up to be a very nice person. As for the celebration, we started with dinner and drinks at Joe's Crab Shack. I won't link to them because they were sorely lacking in vegetarian options. We found something to eat though, we usually do. And the drinks were vegetarian ;-) Then it was across the street to Laughs Unlimited, the comedy club. The opening act was a woman comediuan who was pretty funny. But the headliner was Jimmie "JJ" Walker from the show Good Times, way back in the seventies. No, he didn't say "dy-no-mite!" even once. He was funny though. And Laughs Unlimited is a nice comedy club.
Friday March 7, 2008 -
The Sacramento Kings played Minnesota tonight. The Kings stunk.
Thursday March 6, 2008 -
The damn washer is broken again. Still, I mean. Argh. I wish I was in Acapulco.
Tuesday March 4, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 8 - A sad day? In a way, since it is the last day of the trip and vacations are always too short. This one was no exception. We did manage an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast. And I ate a lot since it was the last buffet until, well, who knows when? The made-to-order quesadillas made an impression on Petra and I think we will be having those at home one of these days. We caught a taxi to the airport and had a long wait there. On the plane back, drinks were free so we had a few just to get our money's worth. The plane was quite warm and a bit uncomfortable, though the drinks helped. And then soon enough we were back in our California home. This was a really fun trip! I gained seven pounds in eight days but I don't care, it was hella worth it. I'll get some pictures on the site soon, check back for those.
Monday March 3, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 7 - Of course there was a buffet breakfast! Of course! Then we visiting some of the shops on the beach. Not really shops, more booths where the locals would try and try and try to get you to buy something. Anything. And then more. Petra did buy a nice bracelet with some fused glass. Then we took a walk on the beach. A local guy came up to me wanting to sell me a cheap t-shirt. I said no. He said "Wanna buy some grass". Yikes! I said no, no, no. Not anything! And he went away and we finished our walk along the ocean shore. You just gotta get your feet wet in the ocean. I love that experience. Then we headed to one of the pools for some more relaxation, including a visit to the swim-up bar. I am really liking these mango margaritas. Then it was time for a buffet dinner (hey, at least we skipped the buffet lunch today!). Some drinks, a stroll, some talk, and then some sleep.
Sunday March 2, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 6 - OK, so we are a little tired. But that can wait, we can sleep when we get back home. This morning, another buffet breakfast, if a little bit later in the morning. The rest of the day was typical. Well, typical for here. Some time at the pool, relaxing, reading, etc. A lunch buffet. More time at the pool. A few drinks thrown into the mix. A drink or two with Petra's parents. And then the four of us had yet anotheer all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner. This one had pasta and pizza and a ton of other stuff. And I seem to remember something about a few rum-and-cokes. Then to one of the bars for some talk and a couple more drinks. And then a much quieter night's sleep!!
Saturday March 1, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 5 - Another day, another all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. If I only had a second stomach. After eating and more eating we took a much-needed walk. We walked out the very long entrance from the resort, and into the real Acapulco. Well, not so much. It was just a mall, with a Starbucks, a Wal-Mart, a big store called Mega, etc. We had coffee at the Starbucks (670 pesos for the two of us). Petra's order was right, but my latte was wrong, more chocolate than coffee, but whatever. It's like they don't even speak the same language here! But they were nice. We started walking to Costco but decided against it. Too far and too many "helpful" taxi drivers. They kept pulling up and swiging their door open while still moving. Even one small car filled with five or six guys. Uh, I don't think so. Next we shuttled over to the sister resort for a buffet lunch at a different restaurant. Good, lots, you know. Then some time lounging by the pool. La, di, da. Enough of that for now. We freshened up and headed to a resort bar to have a couple drinks with co-vacationers Nick and Lori. Then the four of us headed to dinner at, you guessed it, an all-you-can-eat buffet. Petra's parents showed up and joined us there. Then back to the bar where Nick told the waiters to make any drink that Petra ordered a double. Funny. After a bit of that we headed back to the room. Remember the music last night? Well, it was even louder tonight. All night. At 4:40 AM I called the desk to complain. At 6:00 AM it stopped. It had something to do with the tennis tournament and thankfully tonight was the last night of that. Sheesh. Overall a fun day though!
Friday February 29, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 4 - Leap day. Although every day is leap day for those cliff divers. Ha! Well, by now you know how we are starting our days here. Yep, a big-ass buffet breakfast. Mmm. After that we visited some of the vendors on the beach. Talk about high-pressure, they really want to sell you something. Anything. We didn't buy this time. We came back and decided to hang out at the pool for a while. Relaxing, a little getting wet, some reading, maye a few free drinks. Tonight was our special dinner at the Tachiban restaurant at the sister resort. Very fancy (had to wear long pants!) and a wonderful presentation of the delicious food. It was a real pleasure. Later, back at our resort, the nearby tennis matches were going late into the evening. We could see the bright lights but our blinds cut out most of it. But there was some really loud music afterwards. Good thing it ended at 2:00 AM! Better if had ended a couple hours before that! And oh, yeah, there was an earthquake. Small, sounding and feeling more like a nearby explosion. No aftershocks. Isn't it ironic that we live in California which supposedly has lots of earthquakes, but we had to go to Acapulco to actually experience one? Really, though, our tower didn't even sway so it was very tame.
Thursday February 28, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 3 - We had an excursion planned today so we got up and had, you guessed it, a big all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. Mmmm. Then seven or eight of us hopped into the van for the excursion. Well, as much as you can hop after eating that much! First stop, Capilla de la Paz (Chapel of Peace). This was a nice place with a really (and I mean really) big cross and a great view. Click the link to find out a little more. Then off to downtown for some shopping. The local merchants were all over us and wouldn't stop. I bought a souvenir t-shirt. We walked a half a block or so and found a CD shop. We didn't recognize too much except a few latin artists (Jose Feliciano, Paulina Rubio) and, of all people, The Doors. We made a quick stop at the Flamingo Hotel (the "Hollywood Gang Hideaway"). Then it was off to watch the cliff divers. This was impressive. It looked pretty dangerous too! We watched from a veranda of a restaurant, sampling some mexican food and of course a margarita. Petra bought a nice fused glass bracelet at the gift shop. Then it was back to the resort. That's right. More sitting around the pool, relaxing, reading talking. A few drinks. Then an all-you-can-eat buffet (what else?) at a different resort restaurant, this one with pasta bar, outstanding thin pizza that I wish I had a piece of right now, and tons of other good food. And unlimited wine of course. After, we watched some mexican musicians entertain and Petra had a pleasant conversation with a Mexcan woman who knew a little English. We took a walk and ended up at one of the bars with Petra's Dad and friends Nick and Lori. And that was day 3.
Wednesday February 27, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 2 - We got up when we woke up. No alarm clock! Then headed out to a leisurely brunch buffet. Yow! Tons more food and darned good too. Then we went to one of the pools to hang out for a while. Pictures will be on the site one of these days. Between dipping into the pool a little, reading, talking, and relaxing, we were having a very nice time. And that's not even counting the swim-up bar. Yeah, how cool is that?! And the drinks were free. You swim (or wade) up to the bar and that is a totally cool thing. There are bar stools in the pool that come up to about a foot or so below the water level. I could tell that I was going to develop a real taste for the Mango Margaritas. After an afternoon of this, we changed clothes and then it was time for the tour group cocktail party. We drank a bit and chatted a bit more with the other folks on the tour, including Petra's parents and their friends. Everyone was very nice. And then for dinner we ate at one of the very nice restaurants at the resort. We had some unusual but good soup, arty cheese enchiladas, a variety of breads, and desert. And of course the waiters poured the wine so that your glass was rarely empty. There were about 15-20 in our party and the whole event lasted 2-3 hours. Two different groups of mariachi musicans entertained us while we ate. After dinner, a few drinks and then we called it a day. A fun day!
Tuesday February 26, 2008 -
Acapulco trip - Day 1 - 5 AM. That's when we had to be at the airport. Not my best time of day but for an all-inclusive trip to Acapulco I can do it. Oh yeah. The plane left a few hours later. This was a charter trip and most of the people were golfers that knew each other (except us) and it was a happy bunch. The drinks started around 10:00 AM, free Bloody Marys, Screwdrivers, Rum and Cokes, whatever. We lost a couple hours to the time zone monster and got there in the late afternoon. After clearing customs and immigration we headed to the resort hotel where were were staying, the Fairmont Acapulco Princess. We also had full food/drink/pool/etc priveleges at the sister hotel a few minutes away, the Fairmont Pierre Marquez. These are really nice hotels, way better than we usually stay at. When the shuttle from the airport pulled up to the resort, we were greeted by a bunch of folks with trays of free Pina Coladas and Rum Punch. Things were looking promising. We attended a short orientation to learn about the resorts and our benefits. Then we switched rooms. We wanted a king bed instead of two doubles and after whining just a little, we got it, in the upgraded tower no less! Hmm, a little unpacking and then our first all-you-can-eat buffet of the trip. Tons and tons of good food, lots of meat-free choices, oh boy oh boy. And free drinks. After dinner we hung out at one of the bars for a while, then explored the resort a bit. Nighty night for now.
Monday February 25, 2008 -
We took the dog and the cat to their respective kennels for boarding. Tomorrow we leave for Acapulco!
Sunday February 24, 2008 -
I visited my Mom and Dad for a while. My Mom is not doing too well and my dad is taking care of her. We hope you feel better soon, Mom. And hang in there Dad, you are doing a great job. Meanwhile, the Academy Awards were given out tonight. I usuallly look forward to this, but didn't see too many of the films this year. I liked Juno a lot and No Country For Old Men was good but it was also bleak and violent. Do you have an opinion on the Oscars? Let me know here.
Saturday February 23, 2008 -
A busy day. In the morning we took a tour of the Sacramento Kings practice facility. As season ticket holders, we were invited and, even though we had seen it once before, we went again. And it was interesting once again. The it was off to a free movie. It was an advance screening of Penelope (view trailier) that I had won tickets to. Here are some reviews. I liked it quite a bit. It was suitable for any age without being dumb. It's a fairy tale but not sugary sweet. Not perfect but good with a good message. And it stars Christina Ricci, an added bonus!
And then in the evening, we went to Luna's for dinner and some music. Local musicians David Houston, Anton Barbeau, and Kepi (from the Groovie Ghoulies) each did a set. Guest Sal Valentino, from the Beau Brummels in the 60s, sat in with David for a few songs too. But though David was ok, his moody songs dragged a bit in spots. Kepi was fun and catchy pop, like his Ghoulies music slowed down and a little hookier. And Anton was great as usual. Quirky, catchy bent pop with some backup vox by Allison Seconds made for an entertaining set. We've seen Anton a bunch of times and he has always been charismatic and interesting. This was no exception. A really good set.
Wednesday February 20, 2008 -
The Kings played Atlanta, with new Hawk Mike Bibby, former King. And the Kings won!Sunday February 17, 2008 -
Today we went to Chuck E Cheese. No, not because we like the pizza (which isn't very good). But it was a birthday celebration for two of the grandkids, Jasmine and Raziel. Yep. The daughter invited us and there was no way we were going to miss that. The kids had a great time playing and opening their gifts. And we were glad to visit with them. Petra even climbed up into the tubes that run along the ceiling for the kids to play in. Happy birthday, kids!!
Saturday February 16, 2008 -
Petra had her scrapbooking meetup group today and got some pages done featuring the grandkids. In the evening her parents invited us over for dinner and to discuss our upcoming Acapulco trip. On the Sacramento Kings front, they traded away Mike Bibby today. Bye bye Bibbilicious. He wasn't performing as well last year and this, though he certainly still has some great moments. But it's part of the team rebuilding effort and let's hope it works for next year.
Friday February 15, 2008 -
Friends Karl and Betty and Larry and Robin met us for a tasty dinner at Amarin Thai and then we all went to see the 3D music movie at the Imax theater on the K Street mall. Yes, it was the one and very same U2 3D, a concert film from U2's recent tour, that we saw a few weeks ago. It was really good then and it was really good again tonight. Highly recommended if you like their music at all. And on a different note, it was Petra's last physical therapy session today. Her back is quite a bit better, thanks.
Thursday February 14, 2008 -
Friends Larry and Robin (check out their web site) came into town from Santa Cruz for some business and some pleasure too. We had a nice dinner at Zelda's Pizza. Good pizza, stiff drinks, and surly waitressees. Cash only. What a combination. Mmmm.
Wednesday February 13, 2008 -
Oooh, Friday the 13th came on a Wednesday this month. We had a quick dinner at 524 Mexican adn he headed downtown to the Imax theater. The Sacramento Kings were having a special event for season ticket holders (read: us) and we went. Free catered food, hot and cold, and free beverages. But the main event was the broadcasting of the Kings game on the huge screen, six stories high! That's some big-ass b-ball. They gave away shirts, tickets, etc, but with our usual luck we didn't win any. And the Kings lost. But man that screen is huge! It was still big fun.
Tuesday February 12, 2008 -
Happy second birthday to grandson Raziel. Petra and I went back to Berkeley today, sinmilar to the trip on the 9th. It wa a combination of driving and BART, once again, this time to see the latest Woody Allen film, Cassandra's Dream. It only played for a week in Sacramento and we missed it, so we had to go 90 miles to see it. Well worth it, though, as it was very good. It's a british drama about people and what they will and won't do, and how they deal with each of those things. Great writing, acting, and directing, as usual for the master Woody. No laughs and there aren't supposed to be. Very good. Other than that, we ate at Herbivore and shopped at Rasputin Records this time.
Monday February 11, 2008 -
Alex was back working on the washing machine again. Will it work this time. Only time will tell. Meantime, Petra went to her physical thereapy. What did you do? Tell me here.
Sunday February 10, 2008 -
We went shopping We bought some clothes. I can tell you are excited about that.
Saturday February 9, 2008 -
We traveled down to the San Francisco bay area to meet Larry and Robin for the day. Petra and I drove to Richmond and then parked, then caught the BART train into Berkeley, where we met up with or friends. We grabbed some coffee then took walk which brought us Herbivore, a vegan restaurant with a wide variety of very good food. Now full, we walked over to the Telegraph area, where there are lots of street vendors and, of course, the Berkeley location of Amoeba Records. We shopped there a bit, peeked in some other stores, soaked up the local ambiance, and the headed back to the BART station to catch the train to our other destination, the Oakland Arena, aka the Oracle Arena in nearby Oakland. We had tickets for the game there, with opur Kings playing a road game against the up-and-coming Golden State Warriors. The Kings didn't play very well, but still were very close and only lost by a little bit. And by the way, the Oakland arena was awful. No leg room, narrow corridors, bad sight lines, no stat boards for rebounds, steals, etc, even higher prices, ugh! It was a lot worse than the supposedly outdated Kings arena here in Sacramento.
Friday February 8, 2008 -
Well, the washer is still acting up so the repairman was back again. More parts, more time, more laundromat. Argh! We also had the heater serviced today. We got a good deal and it hasn't been serivced in seven and a half years. So it got cleaned out and it's all fine now.
Wednesday February 6, 2008 -
The Kings lost a stinker of a game. But our tasty dinner at 524 Mexican made it all ok. Well, more or less.
Tuesday February 5, 2008 -
Today was the presidential primary election. Does one person's vote count? Well, let's hope so. Regardless, I voted anyway. I'm a Democrat (the only choice, at least of the two major parties). Let's all hope a Democrat wins in November. Four more years of this ridiculous Republican war, fear-mongering, breaks for the wealthy, law-breaking, and stupidity have just about ruined the country. But it's not too late, remember, vote Democrat in November.
And on a different note, Petra had her bone scan today. Let hope nothing cancerous shows up. In the evening we went to an advance showing of a movie I had won tickets to: Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. It was dumb in many parts and used about every black stereotype in the book. But some of it was funny too and overall it was ok at least. Maybe better than that since it was free!
Sunday February 3, 2008 -
I watched one football game this season. It was today. The big one, the super bowl. I like to root for the underdog so I was hoping the Giants would win. I didn't really care but you gotta root for someone, don't you? And the Giants won in a big upset. I'm not saying I caused it but you never know...
Saturday February 2, 2008 -
Oh boy. We did some laundry at the laundromat. Yeah, the washer is still broken and we are still waiting for a part. But the day got better when we had a very nice dinner with friends Karl and Betty. It's alwys nice to visit with them and talk, and eating some delicious food at El Novillero didn't hurt either!
Thursday January 31, 2008 -
Happy birthday to my niece Sara! In the evening Petra and I went to the Imax theater downtown. We saw U2 3D, a concert film from U2's recent tour. You can read some reviews here. The concert film was good, but the 3D effects really made it great. I highly recommend it.
Wednesday January 30, 2008 -
The Kings won! Yeah!!
Tuesday January 29, 2008 -
Petra continues to see her physical therapist.
Monday January 28, 2008 -
Petra had an appointment with the reconstructive surgeon today to discuss options and the possible next surgery.
Sunday January 27, 2008 -
The Art Of Glass. That was the name of the exhibit we saw today at the Sacramento Public Library. Fused glass, blown glass, stained glass, and more. A small but very nice show.
Saturday January 26, 2008 -
We had a $20 gift certificate for nearby Chili's so he had lunch there. With tip we ended paying about three bucks over that, but we were both totally stuffed! And yes, we found some vegetarian fare! We spent the rest of the day at home, working at an easy pace on some projects around the house.By the way, remember back on December 22 when I talked about pig stacking? Well, as you can see at right, it is a beautiful thing. Are those real pigs? Sorry, that's confidential information.
Friday January 25, 2008 -
We had another pre-retirement class this afternoon. No, we're not doing it yet. But down the road... After we stopped at Corti Brothers to pick up a couple deli sandwiches and the headed to the laudromat (Perky's) since our washer is broken and they are ordering a part for it.
Thursday January 24, 2008 -
We went up to Foresthill to visit someone, and it was snowing! Wow! So exciting that we needed some mexican food when we came back to our area! Yeah, you guessed it. 524 on Northgate.
Wednesday January 23, 2008 -
The Kings lost by 26 points. Sheesh, hardly got a chance to enjoy yesterday's blowout.
Tuesday January 22, 2008 -
The Kings won by over 30 points. Go Kings!!
Saturday January 19, 2008 -
Petra went for the first time to the scrapbooking meetup group. She had fun and hit it off with the hostess. For dinner, we had a 2-for-1 coupon for some mexican food at Vallejos. My chili rellenos were very good. And don't get me started about the margaritas and chips and salsa. Mmmm.
Friday January 18, 2008 -
We had a nice dinner with friends Karl and Betty at BJ's here in Natomas. It was a fun evening and good food and drinks too.
Thursday January 17, 2008 -
After work we went to a rally at the state capitol. It was presented by Susan G. Komen For The Cure. The subject was Close The Gap, referring to the gap in breast cancer care between people with money and people without. From not getting the same treatments, to not getting the same lab tests, and more, there is a big gap and we need to close it. This disease kills thousands of people every year and early diagnosis and treatment is the only hope at this point. It shouldn't matter who you are, decent health care should be a given, like it is in every other industrialized country. People shouldn't die just because they are poor. Read more about closing the gap here.
Wednesday January 16, 2008 -
I love the telework days, when I get to work from home. Yes yes yes. Late in the afternoon the refrigerator repairman came by. Hope it stops freezing our stuff now!
Monday January 14, 2008 -
The Kings beat a great team, the Dallas Mavericks. Yeah, baby! Go Kings!!
Saturday January 12, 2008 -
More food, more friends, more music. Life is good. Larry and Robin are still in town until tomorrow. So, we all went to Kiko's for some very tasty mexican food. Then we headed out to Second Saturday Art Walk in mid-town. This is always a lot of fun. We saw a bunch of great art, all types from painting to glass, to mixed-media and much more. There's music all around too. Local fave Justin Farren was busking outside the Kool Kat Gallery, for instance. After that, as if that wasn't enough, we headed out to Orangevale to see cover band Stonekold. Lots of oldies but they have talent. Our friend "Cappsy" plays some great keyboards.
Friday January 11, 2008 -
At work today it was my bosses last day where I work. I know, my boss retired LAST year. But the woman who took her place is retiring today. Must be something about that office. Anyway, Petra and I attended and had the potluck lunch for Roberta. Then we did some shopping at CostCo. It's not as crowded there on a weekday but there are less free samples too. Call it a trade-off. Then friends Larry and Robin came into town for a couple days. So, in the evening we all headed to mid-town. We went for a quick drink at R15 and the over to Luna's to get some dinner and see some music. The headliner was local singer-songwriter Anton Barbeau. He's been around a long time and his quirky songs and his stage charisma are legendary. In the photo, he's playing backward, facing the wall, because he wanted to be able to see his notes on that song! Yes, he took requests for songs like Banana Song, Third Eye, Drug Free, and many more. It was a great show.
Thursday January 10, 2008 -
The Kings are struggling this year. But tonight they beat the Memphis Grizzlies. Go Kings!
Wednesday January 9, 2008 -
What excitement! A repairman came to try to fix the fridge and the washer. Gotta order parts so the suspense is building. Ha! But nothing that some mexican food at 524 couldn't cure. Chili Rellenos, beans, rice, tortillas,and "dos Negra Modellos" (and the blog goes bilingual)!
Monday January 7, 2008 -
Back to work after some holiday time off. My job is fine but I'd rather be doing other things. Not QUITE old enough to retire yet.
Sunday January 6, 2008 -
The last few days we just hung out at the house. We got a few projects done, got a little rest, watched some video, and tried to catch up (or get less behind at least).
Tuesday January 1, 2008 -
Happy new year! Let's hope for peace in 2008. One thing for sure, George Bush will be replaced this year. Anyway, we were invited to Petra's parents' house for dinner. We had a nice meal and visit.
Monday December 31, 2007 -
New years eve. We usually stay home because there are so many drunk and crazy fools out on the roads. This year we went out to dinner at 524 Mexican Food (yum). In the spirit of the holidays, we bought dinner for the woman at the table next to us. She looked very poor and was going to pay her $7.00 bill with coins that she was carrying in an old tube sock. Sad to see on Christmas or anytime really. So we picked up her check. Then we went on to friends Michael and Shirl's party. We stayed and visited a couple hours and then headed home before the craziness started all over town. We spent the rest of the 'eve' nice and safe at home.
Sunday December 30, 2007 -
Friend and fellow mixmaster Brett was in town on business, up from Los Angeles. He came by the house for a while. We talked music and other stuff and we gave him a tour of the house. Then we all headed out to Hamburger Patties on J Street for some lunch. We also did a little shopping at The Beat, a local music store. We all had a nice visit. If you are curious, Brett's blog is here.
Saturday December 29, 2007 -
In the evening we went out to the 24th Street Theater, nice, small local venue, to see Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. Yep, Dan has been working hard or hardly working ever since the 60s and the sound is still the same. Swingy pop-jazz with quirky lyrics and his trademark sarcastic and deadpan personality. I loved 'em then and I love 'em now. The band was super-tight and talented and backup singers The Lickettes were fun and right-on. The theme was Holidays In Hicksville but as always they were all over the map. A great show.
Friday December 28, 2007 -
OK, I turned 55 today. Yep, I know I don't look a day over 54. Or is that 34? Or is that 84?Whatever. Anyway, I had a great day, especially for someone my age. We slept in a bit and then headed over to Kiko's for some lunch. You know that was some good mexican food. We had a little time to kill so we went down the street to Dimple Records and did a little shoping. You can find our totally massive music list here.
Next we went to a movie. We saw Juno. The official site is here and some reviews are here. Check them out. I thought it was quirky, very funny with some dramatic feel too, and liked it a lot. Highly recommended, sez I to youse.
And then it was off to the Sacramento Kings game. Did they win or lose? Doesn't matter and here is why. It was overshadowed by what Petra did. First, she had a huge birthday greeting broadcast on the big screens on the scoreboard! And if that wasn't enough, she had three of the Kings
Wednesday December 26, 2007 -
Petra's parent were not able to go so they gave us their tickets to Riverdance. I wasn't sure how much I would like it but it ended up being very entertaining. The talented cast, the band, and the production made for a spectacle that won me over.
Tuesday December 25, 2007 -
Happy Christmas. This year for the first time we spend it with Petra's family. Her Mom and Dad and Grandmother. We had a nice dinner and a good visit. Friends Karl and Betty and son Jeremy came by for a bit on their way to her sister's house, which was a pleasure too.
Monday December 24, 2007 -
We had a really nice Christmas (eve day) visit with my Mom and Dad. Mom was feeling better than she had in a while and we had a nice talk and visit. Happy holidays!
Sunday December 23, 2007 -
We headed back from Santa Cruz, arriving home in the early afternoon. Then, in the evening, we went to the daughter's to give the grandkids their Christmas presents and watch them open the gifts. Man, do kids love presents! And it was great to see the grandkids.
Saturday December 22, 2007 -
Larry and Robin's annual Christmas party! This years even was another winner. Maybe 25-30 people made the drive from Sacramento (some were actually from Santa Cruz). There was lots of good food, conversation, drinks, and of course pig stacking. Wouldn't be much of a party without pig stacking now, would it? Check out the 2006 photos for more on this pig stacking phenomenon sweeping the nation. Get ready now for next year's big event.
Friday December 21, 2007 -
We headed down to Santa Cruz for the weekend. Tomorrow is Larry and Robin's annual Christmas party! You can see pictures from a couple past parties here.
Thursday December 20, 2007 -
More holiday preparation and then a tasty dinner at 524 Mexican Food. So good.
Wednesday December 19, 2007 -
And it just gets better. The Kings got their third road win of the season tonight! Yow! That's two road wins on back to back days too! How often does that happen? Very cool!
Tuesday December 18, 2007 -
The Kings got their second road win tonight. Now we're getting somewhere.
Saturday December 15, 2007 -
More holiday shopping. Isn't it January yet?
Friday December 14, 2007 -
We both had the day off (yay). First Petra had a doctor's appointment, yet another big syriinge and fill. Then it was the eye doctor for me, with a nice needle in the lower eye lid. Ouch! Now it's bruised and purple. Well, I do like purple at least. The good news is that the Sacramento Kings got their first road win tonight. Yes, go Kings!
Wednesday December 12, 2007 -
Petra and I did some holiday shopping and then headed out to the Laguna area, to one of our favorite testaurants, Todo Un Poco. We had a great dinner and the place was hopping. Marie, the owner, had rented the main room out for a private party but the smaller back room was available, lucky for us. Petra had the Punjabi Pizza, as usual. And for good reason, it is great!.
Tuesday December 11, 2007 -
We had dinner with former neighbors and still friends Karl and Betty. We went to Original Pete's Pizza here in the Natomas area. I still don't know how their pizza is, but the salad, onion rings, and Fat Tire Ale were all good! Nice dinner, huh? But it was good to visit with our friends.
Monday December 10, 2007 -
The Kings beat Milwaukee (sorry Dean). And happy birthday to our friend Betty! And also to Petra's grandmother.
Sunday December 9, 2007 -
Friends Larry and Robin left for Portland to visit their son Brian. In the evening, we went to Petra's parents' house for dinner. It was a good salad followed by a very good spinach tortellini soup. Mmmm. Her brother and his family were there also, so we got to visit a bit with her niece and nephew.
Saturday December 8, 2007 -
We took Petra's car in for routine servicing and while we waited we had a down-home breakfast at nearby Cindy's in Davis, CA. Later in the day friends Larry and Robin came into town for the night on their way to Portland.
Wednesday December 5, 2007 -
Happy birthday to Petra's dad! And in the evening we went to see Richard Thompson at the 24th Street Theater, a small local venue. Richard was great. He is an amazing guitarist, number 19 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time. He has a rich and expessive voice and is a very witty and charismatic performer. He was solo, just him and his guitar, but it was never boring. Go see hime if you get a chance.
Tuesday December 4, 2007 -
Kings lost to Utah.
Saturday December 1, 2007 -
The Kings played Houston. And the Kings won! Our old coach now coaches Houston and it was nice to beat his team. He coached the game badly, in my opinion, giving up with plenty of time still left. Oh, well, not our problem. On a different note, Petra took a short wire-wrapping class today and had a lot of fun doing it. And on an even different note, happy birthday to filmmaker, comedian, and author Woody Allen.A few quotes from Woody:
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying."
"If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever."
"I'm not afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens."
"Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon."
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once. "
You get the idea. Brilliant.
Wednesday November 28, 2007 -
The Kings played the Golden State Warriors and lost in a heartbreaker. Grrr.
Monday November 26, 2007 -
The Kings played the champions, the San Antonio Spurs. And the Kings won!
Saturday November 24, 2007 -
After a nice breakfast at Zachary's, we headed home from our brief trip to Santa Cruz.
Friday November 23, 2007 -
Still in Santa Cruz, we did a little shopping at Streetlight Records, the cookie store, and the hemp clothing store. Then we headed up to the Burrell School Winery for a little tasting and relaxing. We stopped on the way to pick up a few snack items. Mmmm. I promise to sip my wine...
Thursday November 22, 2007 -
Thanksgiving. I called the parents and wished them a happy day. Then the four of us had a vegetarian Thanksgiving feast. Nut loaf, Tofurkey, two kinds of gravy, mashed potatoes (from scratch), and various side dishes. And pie, of course!.Wednesday November 21, 2007 -
We headed down to Santa Cruz for a couple days with friends Larry and Robin.
Tuesday November 20, 2007 -
The Kings played Phoenix today and lost in a close one. Most teams lose to Phoenix but I still wanted a win.
Sunday November 18, 2007 -
In the late morning, we spent about an hour and fifteen minutes at a nearby park, playing and visiting with the grandkids. We hadn't seen them for a while and it was great to see them. They seemed pretty happy too! In the evening we went to the Jackson Rancheria casino to see a concert. See saw Jewel, in a solo acoustic show. She was really good, singing, playing guitar, and telling stories. I didn't realize that she had such stage charisma. Or that she played guitar so well. And of course there is that voice. The songs were from good to really good and since were in the third row center we had a close-up view of the whole thing. After it ended, we gambled for a few minutes and ended up ahead about $8. Whoop-de-doo! We took the money and headed home.
Saturday November 17, 2007 -
First the bad news. My 96-year-old grandmother passed away this morning. It had been a long time coming and it was certainly her time, but the loss is real nevertheless. You can read her obituary and view or sign her guestbook here. If you knew her, you know what a special person she was.
The rest of the day, we had made plans and we kept them. Most of the day was spent with Larry and Robin at the Celebration For The Turkeys. That's right, we don't eat animals. No need to. I wouldn't want them to eat me, so I don't eat them. Anyway, the four of us had a good time up on the farm visiting the animals, listening to the speakers, and having a vegan non-turkey feast. Afterwards we drove to nearby Chico for a visit to the Sierra Nevada Brewery. It was too late in the day for a tour of the brewery but we did stop by their bar and tried their sampler tray. Sixteen (I think) small samples of all different kinds of their beer's. I lean toward the stout and porter, and of course Larry's love for their pale ale is legendary. When we got back to Sacramento we were hungry again, so we went out for a late dinner at the new J Street location of Chicago Fire Pizza. We waited forever for a table, the place was beyond packed, and the service was slow but the food was good.
Friday November 16, 2007 -
Friends Larry and Robin came into town for a couple days. The ladies went to the Sacramento Kings basketball game, while Larry and I (along with friend Mike D) went to a movie. The Kings won in an entertaining double-overtime effort! And the movie was No Country For Old Men, the latest film by the Coen Brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple, etc). It was a good film but you might not like it. It was violent and had an ending that left you with two hours spent on a bleak landscape of pessimism. The dialog was very good, as usual in their films, and the acting was good or better. But the message was unrelenting even if it passed quickly and kept you glued to the screen. But if violence bothers you, go to a different movie.
Thursday November 15, 2007 -
More jury duty, and the case finished today. Some info about the case can be found here, but I don't see the disposition and sentencing yet. Basically it was two DUI counts and a hit-and-run count. She was found guilty. As the alternate juror I didn't get to vote, but it was pretty obvious that she was guilty.
On a different note Petra got the blood test results back today and she is still NED (No Evidence of Disease)! Yahoo!! We went out to dinner at 524 Mexican Food to celebrate!!
Wednesday November 14, 2007 -
More jury duty, the case continues. It's pretty interesting, seeing the justice system at work. And in the evening we went to see a speaker, Dr. Susan Love. She's a well-known speaker, researcher, and author on the subject of breast cancer. She used humor to talk about a serious subject and was very personable, even taking questions and talking to people one-on-one afterwards.
Tuesday November 13, 2007 -
Sound the trumpets! Ring the bells!! Today is our 21st wedding anniversary. Holy moley, how cool is that?!!! I love you, Petra B.
And on a different note, I was called for Jury Duty today. First time ever in all my many years. And I was of course, chosen. As the alternate! So I will sit and listen to it all and just in case a real juror gets sick or dies, then I will be ready!
Monday November 12, 2007 -
Petra's mom and dad and niece Rhys stopped by in the morning. They had just come from Maryhouse, where they had volunteered to serve breakfast to homeless women and children. What a nice thing to do. Maryhouse is part of Loaves and Fishes, a very worthy organization here in Sacramento. If you have a few dollars you can spare, they can sure use it. Donate here, they even take PayPal.
Saturday November 10, 2007 -
Today the Kings lost. Oh, well. But it was RegDay, so we spent the day at our nearby Borders store, educating and talking with people who have been touched by adoption and are looking for a loved one or family member. This is an annual event that we participate in. Check out the web site here. In fact, Petra is the national coordinator!
Friday November 9, 2007 -
The Sacramento Kings second home game. And they won again! To be fair, they lost some road games and are struggling a bit.
Tuesday November 6, 2007 -
Petra had a blood test today, every six months now, formerly every three. We'll find out the results next week. And tonight was the Sacramento Kings home opener. And they won!
Saturday November 3, 2007 -
Tonight was our first time attending the vegan meet-up group. We're vegetarian, not vegan, but they didn't mind. Nine of us ate at the Ding How in Davis, CA. Lots and lots of non-meat and faux-meat items. We all shared all nine dishes and some of them were really good! And it was nice meeting some other non-carnivores too. There's plenty to eat without eating meat.
Thursday November 1, 2007 -
We had a great dinner at 524. Chips and salsa, good mexican food, mexican beer. Ahhhhh. Let us know when to meet you there.
Wednesday October 31, 2007 -
Happy Halloween! We stayed home and passed out Play-Doh to about 80 or so kids. Hey, they get enough candy. Most of them actually seemed excited about getting Play-Doh instead.
Monday October 29, 2007 -
We went up to the Jackson Rancheria Casino in the evening. They had given us each $35 in free play and we couldn't pass that up. We ended up coming home with about $38 more than we went with. Can't argue with that. And we had fun too!
Sunday October 28, 2007 -
Today was the annual Bridge School Benefit concert in nearby Mountain View, CA. The weather was great (not like that freezing downpour a few years ago). The show was great, lots of music! Here's a recap:
First, there was an Indian dancer and singer who did a couple numbers. Then Neil Young came out and did two songs. He was acoustic, that's how every act is for this concert. And some of these acts don't play acoustic very often. Then came the official opening act, Regina Spektor. She's a relatively new alt-folk singer songwriter with clever songs and an interesting voice. Her latest CD is quite good and so was her set here. She played a few songs from the latest album and some from earlier albums. I would go see her again, certainly. Very good. Next up was Tegan and Sara, twin sisters that play kind of a folk-pop with a little edge. Their onstage banter was either cute or cloying depending on your taste. But I liked them more or less. Not great, not as good as Regina, but entertaining. Next up was My Morning Jacket. They did some decent alternative rock (acoustic of course). OK, not bad, but I don't think I would pay to see them. Then it was time for John Mayer, who's getting pretty well-known now on the radio. He has recorded a couple songs I don't like and a couple that are ok, but here he was fairly entertaining. His set was kind of short but pleasant.
So then we moved from pleasant to Tom Waits with the Kronos Quartet.Yow! We're not in Kansas any more! Tom was wonderfully weird and the Kronos strings were moving on the "normal" songs and striking and jarring on the weirder songs. He was great and very strange. But you wouldn't expect anything else from him, right? Always outstanding. Then on to the low point of the show, Jerry Lee Lewis. I know, I know, he's a legend but he could barely walk and looked like he was about 200 years old. He could barely move his mouth and arms too. His piano playing was poor and his voice was worse. Of course, he did his hits and the audience lapped it up but it was all nostalgia with little talent left. Good thing Neil came out and played guitar for him. But next up was Neil Young, with his full set and he was great as usual. He did a bunch of new songs, some long ones too, and of course some old ones too. He was acoustic with an acoustic band but played them like his amp was up to 11. Long live Neil. Then it was time for the show-closer Metallica. I don't like them and was expecting them to be weak, but they actually weren't bad at all. Being acoustic tamed their growling hard rock. Then there was also the fact that the first six or so songs were cover versions of other people's songs. Odd choices too, like a faithful version of Dire Straits' mellow "Brothers In Arms". And their first song was the old chestnut I Just Wanna Celebrate. Yikes! It was a different side to Metallica and ok after all. Some people wanted them to rock out more but not me. And that was that. It was a great show and a wonderful day.
Thursday October 25, 2007 -
Petra and I took a short drive to the Thunder Valley Casino. We hadn't been there and wanted to check it out, plus they were having some promotions that made it intriguing. We had mixed results and didn't win the big one. Or the small or medium one for that matter. But between the two of us we had some fun and came home $6.00 ahead.
Wednesday October 24, 2007 -
We went with Petra's parents to see her niece Rhys perform in her elementary school play, Aladdin Jr. The sound was a little tough and you couldn't make out all the lines, but Rhys did a great job and rest of the cast did too.
Monday October 22, 2007 -
More Kings. Tonight was "fandemonium", an annual event for season ticket holders to kick off the new season. The coach says a few words, they have some goofy games, the mascot and
Sunday October 21, 2007 -
The Kings won their preseason game tonight. Go Kings!
Friday October 19, 2007 -
Larry and Robin left town and headed up to their cabin at Tahoe. We ran some errands, including taking a can of coins over to the credit union machine to count them. We ended up with a couple hundred in saved money! Yah-hooey! Of course it goes for bills but still, it's amazing how fast coins can add up. Whenever we come home with change, we toss it into the can and don't take out of there. And then once in a while we take it in and get a nice surprise! I also went to my Mom and Dad's for a visit and to help with his computer.
Thursday October 18, 2007 -
Larry and Robin were in town. We went to dinner with them and their friends Eric and Betty (the Boopster). We ate at Todo Un Poco, a great restaurant in the Laguna area. Eric and Betty brought their granddaughter Lindy, who was a real charmer and cute as could be.
Wednesday October 17, 2007 -
We went to dinner with neighbors Rick and Flo at Tuk Tuk, a nearby Thai restaurant. The food was good and we had a nice time. Afterward we went to their place for a glass of wine and some conversation.
Tuesday October 16, 2007 -
I won free tickets to a movie that we went to tonight. It was Things We Lost In The Fire. It was a good drama, not a perfect one but still good. Halle Berry was pretty good but the real star was Benicio Del Toro. What an expressive face. Anyway, worth seeing.
Monday October 15, 2007 -
Another day, another appointment for Petra with the reconstructive surgeon. Oh yeah, another needle too.
Saturday October 13, 2007 -
Lots of errands to run today. But we managed to fit in lunch at the all-vegatarian Sunflower Drive-in in nearby fair Oaks. The super-nutburger is SO good. And so is the nutty taco. Tell 'em no sprouts and no tomato. If you want. We also went to Sloughhouse for some fresh fruit and vegetables to bring home. And we took some of those to my Mom and Dad later when we went over there for a visit and to work on my Dad's computer.
Friday October 12, 2007 -
Finally my car was ready to pick up. They had to have some body shop specialists work on the rattle in the sunroof but they seems to have fixed it. So far so good.
Thursday October 11, 2007 -
This evening was the second Sacramento Kings game of the season. It's preseason and doesn't matter, as I mentioned before. Good thing, since they lost. But we did meet friends Karl and Betty before the game for dinner and that's always nice. Good to see you...
Tuesday October 9, 2007 -
This evening was the first Sacramento Kings game of the season. It's preseason and doesn't matter but it was still nice to see them start with a win.
Monday October 8, 2007 -
Happy birthday, Mom! I went to visit and wish her well. Earlier in the day the Comcast rep came out and switched us over to their phone service. Bye bye AT&T. We'll be saving money too, which is usually a good thing.
Sunday October 7, 2007 -
We spent most of the day, same as yesterday, going from one art studio to another. Here is the link again. In the evening we headed back to Sacramento. Nice weekend!
Saturday October 6, 2007 -
Still in Santa Cruz, the four of us spent most of the day going from one art studio to another. Most of the artists would discuss their art with you and many of the provided demonstrations about their craft, whether it was glass, metal, paitning, collage, etc etc etc. Here is more info about this annual event. Nearly three hundred artists participated. Yow!
Friday October 5, 2007 -
First we dropped one of the cars off at the dealer for a scheduled maintanance and to fix a small rattle. It's under warranty so no problem. And then it's off to Santa Cruz for the weekend! We're hanging with friends Larry and Robin. Tonight we went out for a tasty dinner at Olita's Cantina & Grill on the wharf overlooking the ocean. You gotta love that view. And man those seals are loud! Afterward, we all wandered down the pier for a little wine-tasting nearby. Again, overlooking the ocean. Love it love it love it love it.
Saturday September 29, 2007 -
Friends Larry and Robin were passing through town on their way from Lake Tahoe back to Santa Cruz, so we met them for dinner at El Novillero. Man that food is good and it's alway nice to see our friends. I can just taste that Huevos Rancheros and a Margarita. Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!
Wednesday September 26, 2007 -
In the evening, we took a nice bike ride around the neighborhood. We went a few miles total, maybe a bit more, and ended up at a new La Fiesta Taqueria nearby the house. We stopped and had some mexican food which was surprisingly good and affordable. We'll be back there.
Sunday September 23, 2007 -
Last Tuesday's movie was weak but free. But today we paid full price for a movie and it was good! We saw Death At A Funeral. It's a very British comedy, sometimes clever, sometimes a bit wild. Not a perfect movie but pretty funny overall and well worth seeing. I laughed a lot.
Tuesday September 18, 2007 -
Happy birthday to my friend Larry! In the evening, Petra and I went to a free advance showing of a new movie, Sydney White. I had won tickets and I am sure glad that I didn't pay for this one. It was a modern take on the Snow White story, aimed at the "tweener" market, but even if I was 13 I don't think this would have done much for me. Amanda Bynes tried to be cute and funny but the script was one cliche after another. And dumb too. Not funny, not entertaining, not worth seeing.
Sunday September 16, 2007 -
Happy birthday to my friend Dean!
Saturday September 15, 2007 -
Today was the annual Celebrate Natomas Festival. It's been happening for a few years now and keeps getting bigger and better. There were lots of booth (over 100 at least) for local businesses, community groups, etc, as well as a number of food vendors (even some vegetarian choices), a beer and wine garden, and two stages of entertainment. We checked out most of the booths, some of the food, some of the wine, and some of the music. Local group Cuesta Drive was good and the crowd liked them too. We'll be back next year.
Friday September 14, 2007 -
In the evening we went to the Jackson Rancheria Casino. On their web site, they had a printable coupon for $50 in free slot play. Zowie! You can't argue with that! So we each printed a coupon and headed up to Jackson. It's about an hour drive, not bad. We went with a total of $100 in free play. Basically just paper. We came out with $31 cash and would have had more if *someone* would have had better luck. But even so, we went with nothing but two printed coupons and left with $31. You gotta love it.
Thursday September 13, 2007 -
Happy Anniversary to friends Karl and Betty!
Wednesday September 12, 2007 -
We attended a community meeting about the proposed Phase Two of the Town Center development. Phase one had previously turned from a charming concept to a lackluster Safeway-based mall like a million other malls. Phase two promises to be even less unique and visionary. The developers' ideas do include a little bit of retail and a restaurant or two but mainly they want the Main Street to be just more condos. Lewis Development doesn't care about the concept of a town center or a Main Street. They just want more cookie-cutter malls and condos. Here's a thought: How about gathering places? Lofts above retail? Galleries? Non-chain retail? Entertainment venues? A real Main Street where people gather and want to be, day and evening too? Nope, they have no vision other than profit and want more stucco malls with chain stores and mostly more condos. Boo to Lewis. They said they would rethink their plans after hearing from the community, but I'm not holding my breath.
Monday September 10, 2007 -
Back to work after two weeks off. Ugh.
Saturday September 8, 2007 -
Janice, my ex-boss, had a party and invited us. She's up above Placerville, on some acreage. It was pretty there and she's always a good host, feeding us too! We talked work, gambling, the Nintendo Wii (which Petra will buy soon), and what not. A fun evening.
Wednesday September 5, 2007 -
And so the vacation ends. We spent a good chunk of the day getting home. Be back next year, Seattle!!
Tuesday September 4, 2007 -
Well, the festival is over for this year. Sigh. But we're still on vacation so, as they say, "yeah baby!!". We got a little bit of a late start, but went for brunch at Peso's Mexican Food in the Queen Anne area. Very good mexican-influenced yet americanized brunch. Then we went down the street to Easy Street Records a great store with lots of cool used CDs. We bought a bunch of music and helped make their day better. We had learned about a new record store less than a mile from there so we went to Silver Platters and, sure enough, we found some music to buy there too! Next, we spent a few hours at the Experience Music Project, world's coolest music museum. They recently partnered with the Science Fiction Museum. We saw both and could have spent a lot more time but they were closing so we left. We stopped for coffee. Always a good thing. We decided to try to get to the Moonlight Cafe, which had been recommended to us as having the best faux meat in Seattle. We took a bus and it took us right to there. The Seattle bus system is SO much better than the one here in Sacramento. Anyway, the food was good. No ambiance and the waiter didn't seem to understand us too well, but we had a good dinner. One bus got us back to the hotel.
Monday September 3, 2007 -
Today is the third and final day of Bumbershoot. We got there late morning and had a snack at the hospitality area. Then we saw part of the set by Smoosh, two teen girls who started performing when they were pre-teens. They actually had a younger girl with them too. They do covers and originals, alternative modern rock, no NSync/Britney crud. As we walked from there to a different venue, we stopped to catch a few songs by reggae artist Adrian Xavier. Good stuff. Then off to a literary venue where Wesley Stace (aka John Wesley Harding) and Monica Drake were both reading from and discussing their recent novels. Both were very entertaining and of course I bought both books, "By George" (Wes) and "Clown Girl" (Monica). They were both nice enough to autograph them too, how cool!
After that, Petra headed off to catch some modern hip-hop dance, called Decadance. I stayed in the literary venue to see 33 1/3, A Listening Party. It was interesting, but then my mind started wandering so I headed for some food and beverage. Then I met up with Petra and we went to a beer garden and visited with friends Cal and Laura for a little while. During that, we caught one very long song by Mocean Worker, a jazzy jam band. Then we went to watch Soulive, a soul/funk outfit and had some more food. I think I may have had the Pad Thai but I don't really remember. After a while of that, we moved on. We met up with Larry and Robin and went to see Miranda July, artist and writer. She was fairly interesting if somewhat quirky. But you get an idea of the huge range of talent at this festival. And we didn't even really hit the comedy or the poster exhibit or some of the other things. Then right near the end of the festival we caught about the last two thirds of a set by Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Those guys rocked! Cool punky pop, tight and hooky. And then that was it. Damn! Until next year that is. HA!
Also happy birthday to daughter Andrea.
On the Sunday September 2, 2007 -
Today is the second day of Bumbershoot. And I'm lovin' it! Once at the festival, Petra caught a few songs by Lazybones, while I wandered over to see The Trucks, all all-female band from Seattle, with a sense of humor. She joined me there after a bit. The Trucks were a lot of fun, with minimalist 80s beats with a B-52ish feel. Add some wacky lyrics and a charismatic band and you have a very entertaining show. From the nearby beer and wine garden, we caught part of a set by the Watson Twins, who had nice harmonies and decent songs but were a bit too mellow and subdued perhaps. Still good, but went in search of food, which we of course found. Then we caught a few songs by Rose Hill Drive, a power trio right out of the 70s, from the long hair and longer guitar solos, to the raw rock feel. They were talented even if it was kind of a cliche. Then we sampled part of the set by The Apples In Stereo, a power pop group who have very catchy songs but not exactly a stunning live show. Then down into the pit for punksters The Bouncing Souls. The pit is really the exhibition hall, a large cement basement with loud, terrible sound quality, with or without earplugs. We went "with". After four or five songs we had seen enough. With fifteen stages plus other entertainment, we try to avoid the pit when possible.
On the main lawn area, by the International Fountain, we watched the Vau De Vire Society perform for a bit. They are a circus/vaudeville act. Then it was off to a set by one of my faves, John Wesley Harding. Wes performed a few very good new songs mixed with some of his classics, both solo and duo with Chris Von Schneidern. That portion was excellent. Then they brought their full and loud band out, the Minstrel In The Galleries. They did some olde english folk songs, but were so amped up that you wouldn't have know it. They were good but nowhere near the genius that happens with Wes' own songs, played so you can make out the words. All in all, though, a fun set and a highlight of the day. Then it was off to the stadium to see Fergie. She's a big star now, not just a Black Eyed Pea anymore. I wasn't impressed. She can sing, but the songs were mediocre at best. The sound wasn't that good and the show relied more on dancers and other distractions because Fergie is really a supporting player, not a big star, no matter how many albums and singles she sells. So it was ok, even somewhat entertaining, but nothing special. But the day itself was a huge amount of fun. Huge. More tomorrow!!
Saturday September 1, 2007 -
Today is the first day of what might be the coolest event around, the annual Bumbershoot Music And Arts Festival. Oh yeah. What, fifteen stages (!), tons of vendors, lots of food, buskers, oh I am SO ready! We got there and first went to the Gold Pass hospitality area for some food and beverages. Freshly fueled, it was time for music. We watched four or five songs of Carrie Akre, a local singer-songwriter. She was pretty good but then it was time to see Crowded House, the classic band who just reformed and released a new album. The were really good back in the day and still really good today. Their set covered many of their hits as well as some new material, with the crowd singing along on some of the hits. Pearl Jam's Eddie Vetter came out and sang with them on a couple songs, but it was the charm and vocals of frontman Neil Finn (his songwriting too), along with the charisma of the band in general, that made it so great. It was an outstanding show! After that was over, we caught part of a set by indie-rockers The Shins. I expected them to be good, since I like their three albums, but they didn't translate as well live and their sound was kind of muddled as well. Certainly nothing remarkable and we left partway through.
After a snack, we caught a few songs by Lilydale, but were not impressed. So what do you do? Well, with fifteen stages that is not a problem. On a different stage was Menomena, another indie band with quirky songs and a full choir on stage with them. But wait, they were good! I wanted to hear more when they were done, that is always a good sign. Next up was a few songs by ultra-mellow Tiny Vipers in the Sky Church stage. Even the huge digital light-show couldn't create any energy. Yawn. We left that pretty quickly. And so it was on to see "gypsy-punk" rockers Gogol Bordello. Their sound was unique and maybe interesting for a song or two but lots of their material sounded the same. So onward we went once again. Of course, we stopped periodically throughout the day to sample various tasty treats, from Thai food, to the Green Cossack (Petra's fave), to pizza, to snacks at the hospitality area, and on and on. And we tried to fit in time to check out all the merchants and other vendors too. So much to do and so little time! The last act we saw was Panic At The Disco. We stayed for their whole set. On their CD, they are tight and catchy. Live, they were less polished and maybe needed a bit more experience. But it was still an entertaining show. So much for day one. I can't really do justice to the amazingness of the festival. You have to be there. It is most awesome.
Friday August 31, 2007 -
Late morning, we trekked out on a walk to the nearby Capitol Hill area. We hadn't explored that area too much before so we wanted to see more of it. About a mile (uphill) from the hotel, we wandered around a few blocks worth of shops, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. A record store too, which is always a good thing! As you know, we are still Obsessed With Music! We had lunch at Julia's, a nice place with plenty of vegetarian options. Then we took the monorail to the Seattle Center, where we picked up our Bumbershoot Gold Passes for the festival the next day. They open up the art exhibits the day before the festival, so we toured all of those. It's MUCH less crowded than trying to do it during the festival. A couple highlights were the Portable Confessional Units and Learning To Love You More. The festival also has a film festival as part of it, and we had tickets to a special pre-event preview. We saw five short films that were all interesting but varied wildly in style and appeal. After that we were hungry again. A couple blocks from the hotel is an all-vegetarian hot dog and internet place called Cyber Dog. Yeah, all vegetarian but really good. You put enough toppings on it and you can't tell what kind of a dog is in there anyway. And they have plenty of different dogs to choose from with lots of imaginative toppings and accessories. Wish I was there now, I'm kind of hungry! Another great day...
Thursday August 30, 2007 -
What would a trip to Seattle be wthout at least one breakfast at the Five Point? Well, don't answer that. But that's where we went anyway, the notorious dive bar and restaurant. Garish decor, in-your-face waitresses, lots of old-school style food, and cofffee that almost fights its way through the mug. In other words, it was good! Even better now that smoking is illegal in Seattle restaurants, it used to be r-e-a-l-l-y smoky. After that we stopped by the Experience Music Project briefly, to renew our membership. Coolest music-related museum anywhere. Seriously. Then we ventured across the street to catch a Duck. No, not like Donald or Daffy and certainly not like a cooked one. We rode one! Check this out. That was fun and we got to see a lot of Seattle and Lake Union. And then we headed out for a walk around Seattle, from the Seattle Center area where the Ducks are, through the Belltown area, and eventually we would end up back near downtown where the hotel is. As we headed down the street, we stopped at a glass blowing shop and studio. We got to watch people doing glass blowing, which is pretty amazing,.Then we sat outside at the coffee shop next door and relaxed a bit with some of Seattle most famous drink (coffee).
Newly rejuvenated, we continued on our merry way. Not exactly by coincidence, within about 4-6 blocks was Mama's Mexican Food! Well, say no more. We had dinner there, dining outside on this most pleasant day. Then we walked the rest of the way, through downtown, to the hotel. After all, we had plans for the evening. Yes, just a half-block from the hotel, at the Paramount Theater, was the pre-Broadway run for Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein, a new play based on his classic movie comedy. They were performing it in Seattle as a warmup to it going on Broadway, how cool is that? We went and we laughed. And laughed. A lot! It took plenty from the movie and added a bunch of songs. Great stuff, VERY entertaining! Then it was back to the hotel, to the Cloud Room for some conversation and relaxation after a great day.
Wednesday August 29, 2007 -
And off we go! Off to Seattle, my second-favorite city. After driving the trip last year, this year we are back to flying. We arrived at Sea-Tac, the airport, in the late morning. We rounded up friends Larry and Robin, and then Mama O and her sister. They had been on different flights but the arrival times were all within an hour or so. We all took a taxi van to the hotel. It's actually a time-share but close enough. We stashed the luggage and Larry, Robin, Petra and I went for a walk. We stopped at a nearby food court and had lunch. This was an above-average food court, with all sorts of enthic type foods in addition to the usual fare. I had some good Indian food with excellent samosas as a side dish. Then we hopped onto the monorail and headed over to the Seattle Center. We walked around there a bit and observed the preparations for the upcoming Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival.
Then we went to a nearby grocery store to buy some supplies for our trip. The hotel has a refrigerator and microwave in the room so we wanted to have some food for breakfast and snacks at least. And of course we had to stop at the state-run liquor store for some medicinal spirits. In Washington state, the liquor is all sold by the state. Yep, state employees sell alcohol all day! Anyway, we got what we needed. Soon after, back at the hotel, we asked a worker at the hotel for some vegetarian food recommendations. One place he mentioned was In The Bowl, a little less than a mile away. We walked over. It was very small with no ambiance and we had to wait, but it was worth it. The food (all vegetarian, Thai) was very good, Larry talked about the peanut sauce all week! Then it was back to the hotel, to the Cloud Room, a nice room on the top floor with glass walls on three sides and a great view of downtown and the Space Needle. Originally the Cloud Room was much more, read about it here. It's still a nice place to relax and bring in a few drinks, so that's what we did. Hey, when in Seattle...
Tuesday August 28, 2007 -
Tomorrow is our annual trip to Seattle so today we took both pets (KC and Kitty-Tah) to their respective kennels. KC likes it, Kitty-Tah not so much. Then we had a nice late lunch in Fair Oaks at the Sunflower Drive-In, a local all-vegetarian eatery. And then it was back home to pack for our early departure time tomorrow. Ya-hoo, Seattle here we come!
Monday August 27, 2007 -
Happy birthday, Cal. I mowed the lawns, I went to the eye doctor, another day. But I did visit my Dad and try to help him some with his email problems. We found a work-around solution but we'll try for a better solution after my vacation.
Sunday August 26, 2007 -
Happy birthday, Petra B!! Love love love and I hope for many many many more! To celebrate we went out to breakfast at the Original Pancake House, (no, not the IHOP). We tried the Roseville lcation. It was not nearly as cool as the one we had visited twice in Las Vegas. It was ok, though, and we certainly had plenty to eat. Then we went to a movie, Resurrecting The Champ. The tag line is "Based on a true story, that was based on a lie". It was a good movie. Samuel L. Jackson gave a very good performance, something he doesn't always worry about. I won't give it away, but I do recommend it. Check out the web site. Then Petra's parent took us out for dinner. The place they wanted to take us was closed so we went to the Cheesecake Factory, which is a big chain but the food was good and a LOT of it. Tasty cheesecakes too. So, once again, Happy Birthday, PB! You deserve a great day!!!
Friday August 24, 2007 -
We headed up into the hills, to the Jackson Rancheria Casino. Why? Well, Jewel is playing an acoustic concert there in November and you can buy tickets early if you are in their free Casino club. So, we joined up and they gave us $5.00 each in free slot play. We had a light lunch up there and then played our free money. I lost mine right away but Petra played a while and eventually won a bit. I wandered over to the Blackjack table for a few minutes and I won a few bucks too. Overall, we paid for the lunch with our small profits. Cool. And we got third row center tickets for the show. Those should be great seats! Plus, it's fun to gamble, especially if you are lucky enough to make a few bucks!
Thursday August 23, 2007 -
Books page updated. Today we had dinner with friends Karl and Betty and then we all went to the Sacramento Monarchs playoff game. It was the first game of the series and the Monarchs won! It was nice touching base with K&B too.
Wednesday August 22, 2007 -
Back the California State Fair. Tonight was a shorter visit, to see Daughtry, the rock band featuring Chris Daughtry from American Idol. We had good seats and got a good view of the man. I was expecting generic sludge-rock like Nickleback (for instance) but Chris actually rocked out and there was a lot more to his show than his so-so radio hit "It's Not Over" led me to expect. That was actually one of the weaker songs of the evening. One highligh was the band covering some of Filter's "Hey Man Nice Shot", which they did very well. Anyway, a good show and proof that Chris has talent.
Afterwards we zipped down the street to Kiko's Mexican Food. Hey, you gotta eat, right? It was tasty, same as always. The generous margaritas, chips and salsa, and good food didn't hurt a bit. We left stuffed and happy, with a mental picture of Petra smiling and saying "this is my last chip". Yeah, right!
Saturday August 18, 2007 -
We went to the California State Fair. They call it Big Fun. And it was, actually, kind of fun. We saw all the exhibits, watched a hypnotist, ate some fried food, split a bottle of wine (a nice barbera), and bought a vita-mix. Oops, there goes the money! But the day was fun. And no, we didn't even try the deep-fried twinkies, the deep-friend coke, or the deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Maybe next time we will be more brave or more crazy. Maybe if we had split TWO bottles of wine.
Friday August 17, 2007 -
A trip to the dentist. The crown came off (again). They were nice about it, as they always are. It's kind of a strange dentist's office. Everyone there is female and fairly young and nice looking. And then they start up the drill...
Thursday August 16, 2007 -
Our cat, Kitty-Tah, went to the vet for some necessary shots. She hates when that happens.
Tuesday August 14 - Friday August 17, 2007 -
I was in a four-day class, courtesy of my job. The class was called MySQL 5.0 For Beginners. Does that mean anything to you? Well, MySQL is a database product that we sometimes use. No harm learning a little bit about it.
Saturday August 11, 2007 -
This evening the four of us went to for the monthly Second Saturday art walk. This event has become very popluar, hundereds if not thousands of people come out to the various galleries, restaurants, bars, clubs, and other venues to appreciate the art and mingle. We checked out the Del Paso area for a little while then headed down to the mid-town area. That's where most of the action is and tonight was certainly no exception. Art shows everywhere, street vendors, tons of people, wine and nibbles, musicians and bands on the sidewalks. It was great! I didn't want to go home! At least not too soon. Check it out next month!
Friday August 10, 2007 -
A long day but a good day. We rode up to Lake Tahoe with Larry to see their cabin. They bought it recently (with some other people) and we hadn't seen it yet. Still a little more work to do there but it's very nice. All it really needs is a giant carved wooden bear or two by the entrance. Well, and maybe a shower. (in progress, coming soon) We had some lunch nearby, then stopped to admire the beautiful blue lake, and then hit the casino for a bit. We went to Bill's, the only non-smoking casino up there. All the casinos were low on people, maybe all the Indian casinos in California are hurting the Tahoe business? After that we found out that Robin was nearing the end of her cross-country trip and was headed toward Carson City, Nevada. Shoot, that's only about a 30-40 minute drive from Tahoe so we headed over there and picked her up. Then the four of us had a late but nice Thai food dinner nearby. And after that the four of us headed back to Sacramento. Welcome back to the left coast, Robin. Farewell to that meat and taters world in the midwest.
Thursday August 9, 2007 -
Friends Larry and Robin were due to come into town for a few days but Robin ended up driving from the east coast to the west with ter sister so she's not here. But Larry is. And so I raise a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to you and say welcome. The three or us take our dog, KC, to the vet for some shots and then drop the dog back at home. Then we headed over to El Novillero for some delicious mexican food. Oh yeah.
Wednesday August 8, 2007 -
Another visit to the reconstructive surgeon for Petra and another meetup with the big syringe. In the evening, we went to a neighborhood meeting about a small neighborhood park and proposed improvements for Phase Two development. They were looking for input from the residents as to which features were important within the budget limitations that they are working under. Interesting. The park will be get a bit of an upgrade within the next year or so.
Tuesday August 7, 2007 -
We had a nice dinner with friends Cal and Laura. We met at Hamburger Patties, formerly known as Hambuger Mary's, in mid-town. The name change is due to a lawsuit or something where they got the rights to the franchise name for 10 years only. Same owners so that's cool. Anyway, same tasty food. And nice visiting with you two before we see you in a few weeks in Seattle for Bumbershoot!
Sunday August 5, 2007 -
Base-a-ball. In Sacramento that means the Rivercats and we went to the game tonight. They won! It was a bit cold near the end, weird for a Sacramento summer. Not bad, though, and still a lot of fun. And no, the mascot Dinger did NOT scratch his armpit this time.
Saturday August 4, 2007 -
Happy birthday to niece Rhys. Have a good one!
Tuesday July 31, 2007 -
I met Petra at Cafe Bernardo for dinner. Then she went to the PACER meeting.
Saturday July 28, 2007 -
It was mostly a low-key week, we stuck close to home for the most part. So tonight we went out to dinner at Todo Un Poco. Petra had the Punjabi Pizza (as she usually does) and I had the La Bandera Plate (cheese, not chicken of course). Just typing that made me SO hungry.
Monday July 23, 2007 -
Back to work today. Oh pooh.
Sunday July 22, 2007 -
The four of us took a long and decidedly non-flat bike ride. We rode quite a bit along the ocean, mostly on small cliffs with an awesome view. It was tiring, windy, and warm, but a L-O-T of fun. On the way back we stopped at a sandwich and pastry shop for, well, sandwiches and pastries. Very good. Alas, later in the day it was time to head back home. But what a nice weekend!
Saturday July 21, 2007 -
We all went to a large nearby winery up in the hills for a delightful picnic lunch. The view was very nice and so was the bottle of wine that we bought there. After that, we headed to downtown Santa Cruz for some people-watching and shopping (music and shoes). Then later over to Sitar Indian Food for a little dinner.
Friday July 20, 2007 -
We headed down to Santa Cruz for a three-day weekend with friends Larry and Robin. After talking for a while, we headed over to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We saw Eddie Money at their Friday night free concert series. Yes, that Eddie Money. The old 70s mainstream rocker who wasn't that good even back then. Well, time hasn't been good to his voice and his stage banter with his daughter left something to be desired. But overall it was still ok, even kinda fun. For free anyway. And then after that we went to Don Quixote's in nearby Felton for a very tasty mexican food meal. Oh, yeah.
Thursday July 19, 2007 -
Happy birthday to Mama O.
Wednesday July 18, 2007 -
We met up with friends Karl, Betty, Mike D, and Cossette, first for dinner at Amarin Thai (yum) and then for the Sammies. That's the annual Sacramento Music Awards event. It was a great evening! More about the Sammies in the new Sacramento Music Blog.
Tuesday July 17, 2007 -
We won free tickets to an advance screening of the new movie Hairspray. It was really entertaining. An upbeat and fun musical, a bit tongue-in-cheek but just a bunch of fun. On the other hand, seeing John Travolta acting, singing, and dancing as a really really fat woman is something that will be hard to get of of my brain! But I'd recommend the movie.
Sunday July 15, 2007 -
Today we bought a bike rack for the car, one that goes into the trailer hitch. It even reclines down so that you can open the back end of the car. We bought it at Natomas Bike Shop, where they are super-helpful and knowledgable. Maybe it will get us more exercise. Or, more importantly, more fun!
Saturday July 14, 2007 -
Friends Michael and Jamie had their annual luau. No pig, thank goodness. Peach margaritas. Thank good ness too. They're nice people and we had a good time. Other friends Larry and Robin were in town and went too. Robin and Petra spent the day making deviled eggs to take to the luau and man they were good. Hey, I'm talking about the eggs! And who doesn't like deviled eggs? Hmmm, maybe I need another peach margarita.
Friday July 13, 2007 -
We went to see the Sacramento Rivercats with friends Karl, Betty, Larry, and Robin. The Cats lost bad, but we had a good time anyway.Sunday July 8, 2007 -
Road trip. Sort of. We drove down to Palo Alto, near San Francisco, for a Glass and Clay Art Festival. Lots of booths and tents with plenty of ceramic and glass art. We skipped most of the ceramics, concentrating on the glass artists. There was some great stuff. We got in touch with friends Larry and Robin and they invited us down to Santa Cruz for dinner. Well, it was only another hour, so why not! We ate some barbequed fake burgers and corn on the cob and visited a bit, then headed back to Sacramento. A bit of driving but a fun day.
Saturday July 7, 2007 -
In the morning I took the daughter to get her car fixed. Again. But this time was free! They had put a defective part in last time and it was under warrantee for that repair. Later in the day a couple friends visited from New Jersey, Mark W and his wife Janet. Actually I had never met them before, only knew of them through mixmasters. But they turned out to be great folks and we had a nice time talking, touring the house, and then to Thai Basil for a tasty lunch. After they left (on their way to Yosemite), we headed over to Crawdad's to see Stonekold, a local cover band. A friend of ours plays keyboards and sings and we hadn't seen the band before. They were very enjoyable. The place wasn't so much. More about that here. But we had a good time and it made for a long but fun day.
Thursday July 5, 2007 -
Another movie? Today we saw Live Free Or Die Hard, the fourth installment in the Bruce Willis "Die Hard" series. It was so over-the-top that it was ridiculous. That said, it was pretty darned entertaining too. So, turn off your brain for this one and you will have a great time.
Wednesday July 4, 2007 -
A movie? Yep! Sicko. Check it out here or more about it here or lots of other places. It the new documentary about the terrible state of health care in this country. It's very funny, very sad, very moving and most of all very entertaining. Did you know that we are the only modern industrial nation that doesn't provide heath care for it's people? In most other countries, its important to keep people helathy. But here in America it's all about keeping the insurance companies wealthy. Have you ever been denied treatment by your health insurance company or had to fight for it. Only here. In Canada, England, France, even Cuba of all places, they will treat anyone for free. No getting it authorized by an insurance company. The only authorization comes from the doctor, who knows whether you need it or not. Here, the insurance companies turn down treatments routinely and sometimes people die as a result. How sad. If we are really the greatest country in the world then we should guarantee everyone health care. If we can afford to send people to die then we can afford to care about their health. We are so behind the rest of the world in this. But our insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies sure do make record profits for their stockholders. Less treatment equals more profit so that is what they do. It's wrong. We need universal health care now, take the profit out of it and give people treatment when they need it. It works in almost every other country so it's not a radical notion. All we need to do is stop thinking "me me me" and start thinking "we we we". Let's take care of everyone in our OWN country instead of making up reasons to invade others. Anyway, to learn more, check out SIcko. It's truly great.
Today we celebrate our country's independence from England, over 200 years ago. Now if we could only break free from Bush and Cheney. But regardless of our current brainless and corrupt leaders, here's to the real spirit of America. Freedom and equality for all. And to the American dream, where the "little guy" still has a chance against the greedy corporate interests. Happy birthday, America.
As for us, the kids and grandkids came over. We had some pizza and fireworks. Woo-hoo!
Tuesday July 3, 2007 -
Happy birthday to brother-in-law Richard!
Monday July 2, 2007 -
Bush commutes Scooter Libby's sentence for obstructing justice. Now Paris Hilton will serve more jail time than Libby. Sigh.
Saturday June 30, 2007 -
Josephine's birthday was a couple days ago, but the party was today. Yeah! Family, friends, swimming, cake, and presents. What more could a six-year-old want? She had a great time and that's the important thing, you know?
Thursday June 28, 2007 -
Happy sixth birthday to granddaughter Josephine!
Sunday June 24, 2007 -
We finally got a chance to get our bikes out for a ride. And, as we sometimes do, we overdid it. Well, we had a really nice ride but ended up going twenty miles or so, a lot for us out-of-shape types. but it was still fun and I'm glad we went. Most of it was off-road, as we discovered a number of bikes trails in the area. Thought for the day: the more bike trails, the better.
Quote for the day: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams
Saturday June 23, 2007 -
Poker game! John M organized a poker game and I played for a few hours. I won a whopping eight dollars! Yow!
Wednesday June 20, 2007 -
I went to the gym. Petra went to the club to swim. Are we fit yet?
Monday June 18, 2007 -
Petra went to the last of her three Indian food cooking classes. I'm looking forward to eating more Indian food. I like eating and I like Indian food so you know what that means. While she was there, her mom came by and I helped her a bit with a program on her PC. Earlier in the day, the 'water guy' came by to fix our water filters. That last item is kind of boring though, so let's just pretend that it's exciting, ok?
Sunday June 17, 2007 -
Father's Day! I took a gift out to my Dad yesterday and wished him the best. That still goes today, Dad! Anyway, Andrea, the daughter, took me out for lunch. What a nice thing to do. We went to Fresh Choice. They have a lot of vegetarian options and you can eat as much as you want. So, what's not to like about that! We had a very pleasant lunch, one that I very much appreciated. A bit later in the day, Petra and I went to a movie, Wild Hogs. Yep, the one with John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H Macy. It was pretty dumb but we laughed quite a bit too. Be warned, though, it's got some real groaner parts and some homophobia. Along with some funny moments. And watch for Marisa Tomei. Always do that. After the movie, we had a little shoppping to do at Target and then stopped on the way home for a late dinner at Garcia's. Apparently they changed owners a few months back and now have $2.99 margaritas! Happy father's day indeed.
Thursday June 15, 2007 -
Another fill for Petra at the reconstructive surgeon. Yeah, the big syringe again.
Wednesday June 14, 2007 -
Today was the retirement celebration and last work day for my boss, Janice. It's been a huge pleasure working for and with her and I wish her the best in retirement. One of these days I'll be there. In the evening we attended a Sacramento Rivercats baseball game with Petra's parents. They have some shared season tickets and were nice enought to take us. And the 'Cats won!
Tuesday June 12, 2007 -
We had dinner at 524 Mexican with former neighbors and still friends Karl and Betty. It's always nice to touch base with them now that they've moved up to the hills.
Sunday June 10, 2007 -
It was a hot day so we stayed inside mostly. We worked on our myriad of web sites. The Obsessed With Music site has had it's share of problems lately so we are having the web hosting company move it to a different, newer server. Hope that helps.
Saturday June 9, 2007 -
The garage sale. Lot of old crap, I mean valuable collectibles, for sale. The daughter broght some stuff over to sell too. After a long, hot day we had more money than we started with so we must have done it right ;-) , so we headed over to Taste Of Thai for a super-delicious meal.
Friday June 8, 2007 -
We spent most of the day preparing for tomorrow's garage sale.
Thursday June 7, 2007 -
Happy birthday to Robin!! And also happy birthday to Prince.
Wednesday June 6, 2007 -
We bought our tickets for the annual Bumbershoot Music And Arts Festival, held Labor Day weekend in Seattle. This will be our sixth or seventh year in a row of attending and it has always been great. We have a room booked and airlines tickets bought, so now we are really ready to go. Well, I guess we have to wait for late August. Also going this year, so far, are friends Larry and Robin, Cal and Laura, Mama O, and maybe others. Yeah, baby!
Monday June 4, 2007 -
Happy birthday to Jeff, husband of niece Sara.
Saturday June 2, 2007 -
Former neighbors and still friends Karl and Betty had their housewarming party tonight. They relocated up to El Dorado Hills, to a nice house with a great view. On our way to the party we stopped in Folsom at Chicago Fire for a very good pizza. A little weird, since the cheese was under the sauce, but the deep-dish pie was quite tasty. Then on to our friends' house for a nice time and some good conversation. Karl's brothers and Betty's sister are nice and their friends are too. Thanks for the invite, K&B.
Friday June 1, 2007 -
Today is Petra's Mom's birthday. Also, we went with Larry and Robin to see the Sacramento Rivercats (our AAA baseball team). It was an entertaining game and our team won. Yay!
Thursday May 31, 2007 -
Happy birthday, Dad. In the evening, Larry and Robin came to stay for a long weekend.
Wednesday May 30, 2007 -
We went to my Dad's house to take him an early birthday gift. We had a ncie visit and it was good to see them.
Sunday May 27, 2007 -
The daughter and the grandkids came over. Andrea helped a little in the garden and the kids played.
Saturday May 26, 2007 -
We headed up to Amador county, to the wine country. Well, I like to call it that anyway. It was time to pick up some wine that we had bought last year as wine futures, a case of the 2005 Syrah at Villa Toscano. They treated us to a free buffet dinner, all you can eat with a free bottle of wine. It was very good. We checked out a few other wineries while we were there and picked up some Montevina Barbera too. A great deal at the price.
Tuesday May 22, 2007 -
We became members of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. It was time to start supporting a progressive business that stocks heathier and alternative food choices. Check out their web site and maybe buy a few groceries there.
After that, we went to a free screening of an upcoming film, Mr Brooks, starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, and William Hurt. I had won two tickets. It was a thriller with some real plot twists, about a man who is successful and a pillar of his community, but with one small flaw. He is really a serial killer. A couple scenes were a little bloodier than necessary but overall the film was interesting and full of suspense. Costner and Hurt both gave great performances.
Monday May 21, 2007 -
Petra went to the second session of the three session class on Indian Cooking at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. Do you have any thoughts about the best Indian Food in Sacramento (or northern California for that matter)? If so, you know how to reach me.
Sunday May 20, 2007 -
Happy birthday to nephew Rich Jr (aka KJ). We worked in the yard today. No relation between those two things so don't even try.
Saturday May 19, 2007 -
Happy birthday to grandmother Daisy and nephew Dayn. The daughter and the granddaughter Josephine came over and visited. She had gotten Josephine a bike and fixed it up and we have a pump to put air into the tires. Larry and Robin were in town for a few hours while passing through and Larry helped her change a flat tube on one tire. Thanks.
Friday May 18, 2007 -
Petra, Petra, Petra. You are one busy woman. First off, a blood draw for a further check. Next, another needle, this time the big one, for a fill at the reconstructive surgeon. Enough trauma for one day, huh? So we had a nice lunch at the Sunflower Drive-In (all vegetarian place, we can eat anything)! Afterward I had a medical appointment, but no needles. Just the way I like it.
Thursday May 17, 2007 -
Another day, another appointment. Today was Petra's yearly appointment with her radiation oncologist. Everything is good.
Tuesday May 15, 2007 -
Graduation! Today was Petra's quarterly appointment with her oncologist. Good news! She's been doing well and now will only be seeing him every six months instead of every three.
Monday May 14, 2007 -
Petra volunteered this morning to help her Dad feed homeless and needy women and children at Maryhouse, a local aid center. A worthy cause and kudos to them for their effort.
Sunday May 13, 2007 -
Happy Mother's Day to Petra, my Mom, my daughter, and Moms everywhere. We visited my mom yesterday and she is feeling a bit better, which is a GOOD thing.
Saturday May 12, 2007 -
Notice that I skipped a bunch of days? Well, this blogging is awful time consuming. But I know that you know that I know that you know that you want to know what I did in Santa Cruz. Obviously, I took care of Larry and Robin's house and dog. That's why I was there. But I did other stuff too. Like: (pay attention)
Hang around their house. Walk to the ocean. Walk along the ocean. Walk to the Boardwalk. Walk downtown. Work on web sites. Play guitar. Write music. Grocery shopping. Watched multiple episodes of Fawlty Towers. CD shopping at Streetlight and another store. Pizza and t-shirt deal at Pizza My Heart. Got food from Charlie Hong Kong. Tried to troubleshoot web site problems. Watched four Woody Allen movies (Celebrity, Sweet And Lowdown, Manhattan, and Love And Death). Wrote lyrics at the Boardwalk on a borrowed paper bag with a borrowed pen with no top. Wrote mixmaster reviews. Ate at all-you-can-eat Indian Food Buffet (Sitar). TM'd and IM'd with Petra (not to mention phone and email). Taco Thursday at Olita's. Had a cookie from Pacific Cookie. Had a coffee at LuLu Carpenter's. Shop at Bookshop Santa Cruz and Logos. Bought taffy. Watched a Depeche Mode video. Oh, here's the books I bought: "Inside The Yellow Submarine" by Dr Robert R Heironimus and "The Memory Keepers Daughter" by Kim Edwards. Both bargain priced. Here's the CDs I bought, two new, three used: And a 7" by The Cure "End Of The World". Anyway, the CDs: The Shins "Wincing The night Away", Bright Eyes "Cassadaga", Arctic Monkeys "Favourite Worst Nightmare", Tracy Bonham "Blink The Brightest", and Neil Young "Live At Massey Hall 1971". Do you have an opinion about any of that? If so, write me here.
Thursday May 3, 2007 -
I left after work today. My destination: Santa Cruz, California. My mission: to care for Larry and Robin's beloved dog Elvis and also their beloved home too for a week or so while they are in Sweden, The Netherlands, and Spain. Yeah. How cool is that? Anyway, I got there late evening and Larry and I watched the Golden State Warriors defeated the supposed best team in basketball, the Dallas Mavericks, in the deciding game of the first round of the playoffs. Go Warriors. L&R leave here (Santa Cruz) in the morning and I take over. Three blocks from the ocean, but hey, somebody has to do it.Tuesday May 1, 2007 -
Today is the four year anniversary of 'Mission Accomplished'. Yep. That's the day that our ignorant president said that "In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." Sure. All over. We won. What an idiot he is. Now, four bloody years later, we are still in Iraq and we haven't a clue what we are doing and when we will ever get out. Meanwhile, thousands more of our young people have died and many more been seriously wounded. People ask me what I think about the recent school shootings, isn't it terrible, and of course it is. But GW Bush causes that many deaths every few weeks! He's got the blood of over 3000 on his hands. And that's not even counting the Iraqis, many of whom are civilians that were just in the wrong place and the wrong time. King George the Clueless. And dangerous! It makes me sad. And mad. Check out this page for some statistics about the Iraq Invasion. Really, just take a look. It will tell you what has happened since our mission was accomplished, as Dubya so stupidly proclaimed.
And as further proof of his stubbornness and blindness, he vetoed a troop funding bill today because it included a timetable for getting us out of this debacle. He said a timetable is just letting the enemy know our plans. But he must haved forgotten what he said a while back, when Bill Clinton was president: "I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn." Yes, that was King George back in 1999. He also said this: ""Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." Ha, me must have a short memory. Or maybe just no brain at all!
Monday April 30, 2007 -
Petra spent a lot of time preparing and cooking a feast. Grilled kabobs with marinated tofu, bell pepper, red onion, and tomatoes. Yum. And cumin rice. And grilled artichokes with yogurt oregano sauce. And raita, and indian condiment. It was all really good. Thank you thank you thank you!
Saturday April 28, 2007 -
The in-laws invited us out for dinner. We finally had a chance to check out their newly remodeled kitchen. Nice.
Friday April 27, 2007 -
OK, Petra had a dentist appointment but the real news today is that we got new cell phones! And they are very cool. I got the LG VX8600 and Petra got the LG Env VX9900. More info and different views of the phones are here and here. We've had the old phones for a long time so we are excited about these new ones. They do SO much more, but then most phones nowdays do. Make our day: text us. Or send a picture message. Or even a video message. HA! We are having fun now!
Wedneday April 25, 2007 -
After a brief visit to the gym, we went to granddaughter Josephine's open house night at her kindergarden. We got to see her school work and tell her how proud of her we are.
Tuesday April 24, 2007 -
Happy birthday to ex-sister-in-law Connie. Hope you have a great day! And Trackfighter mastermind Jared has his birthday today too!
Monday April 23, 2007 -
Happy birthday to sister Steph. Still younger than me but not by much! In other news, Petra is taking a three session class on Indian Cooking at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. It is Indian as in 'from India' not 'Native American'. Tonight was her first session, one each month for three months. Those recipes she brought home look pretty good.
Saturday April 21, 2007 -
Is it national car care day? No. But we did take Petra's 4-Runner in for the 15000 mile servicing. Also, the daughter and I took her van in for an oil change. Later in the day we got the grandkids to watch overnight. In between all this recently, I'm still reloading software onto Petra's laptop PC to try to get it back to where it was or at least close. Remember, backup backup backup.
Friday April 20, 2007 -
I wish I had a dollar (or twenty) for every time Petra had a medical appointment. Today's were more maintainance at least, a general physical and a follow-up dentist. On the Sacramento Kings front, they fired their coach today after a pretty weak showing this past season by the team. I'm not convinced it was entirely his fault. We'll see what they do in the way of player changes before next season begins in October.
Wednesday April 18, 2007 -
The car is still at the dealer, but I still have the rental which is almost the same and newer. Turns out they will need it until tomorrow! I guess you have to take a lot apart to repair the sunroof/moonroof. Well, not a problem with the free rental. After work we met our former neighbors and still friends Karl and Betty at 524 Mexican Food for dinner. It was nice touching base with them. We all had tickets to the Kings game and went there after dinner. It was the last game of the season against arch-rivals the Lakers. The Kings lost. Sheesh. See ya next seaon. Grrrr.
Tuesday April 17, 2007 -
I took my car in today for servicing. There was a slow leak in a tire (a suspected nail) and also a rattle in the sunroof. Or is it a moonroof? Look at this and learn. See, here at stevenology.com we are all about knowledge and full of useful information. Well, full of something anyway...
They told me they would need the car for the full day and I mentioned that I didn't arrange a ride because I didn't know it would take that long. I was going to call for a ride but they offered a free rental car. Yes, a red Toyota Solara. Which is just what I normally drive! OK, so I took it. Turns out that was a good idea since later in the day they called and said they would need it tomorrow too. Apparently those sunroof/moonroof issues can be tricky.
Monday April 16, 2007 -
Tonight was the second-to-last Kings game this season. They lost. And of course they won't be in the playoffs. Go Warriors?
Sunday April 15, 2007 -
Well, the grandkids just don't like to sleep in. They got me up about 7:30. Could be worse, that's later than a work day. Normally today is tax day but there a 2-day reprive this year. Have you done yours?
Saturday April 14, 2007 -
This morning and early afternoon I helped my parents move some things around in their house. They are switching furniture and bedrooms around, from upstairs to down and visa versa. Glad to help out and glad they called for assistance. But, Dad, don't forget to get upstairs and check that computer once in a while!
Later in the day, we had the grandkids over and are keeping them overnight. They have a good time at our house and we like seeing them. Hope they don't get up to early tomorrow though...
Friday April 13, 2007 -
Friday the 13th. Are you superstitious? OK, we'll just call it cautious. Did you know that Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970? Anyway, today started with Petra having a blood draw. A smaller needle but a couple vials. The fun continued for her as she had an appointment at the dentist. Then it was time for the electrician to come back (again) to finish fixing the lights over the pool table. We are replacing the lighting there and have been trying to get it here and working since late December when we first ordered the parts. And finally, today, it is working and looks really good. With that done, we went to see the Kings lose one of their last basketball games of the season. Oh well.
Thursday April 12, 2007 -
Every evening this week I've been working with Dell to get Petra's laptop PC back to functional. Luckily the extended warranty was still in effect. They tried to repair things over the phone but it turned out to be a damaged hard drive. They send a new one (next day shipping) and then on the phone they walked me through installing Windows XP and all the necessary drivers. And then when a few things didn't work they helped to get the updated drivers. The bad news is that so far we haven't been able to recover anything off the old hard drive and most of it wasn't backed up. Our new motto is 'backup backup backup'. All the programs had to be reinstalled, which isn't done yet. Well, partly. But what a pain in the putuity.
Monday April 9, 2007 -
Another appointment for Petra with the reproductive surgeon. And yes, another fill with the big syringe. Ouch!
Sunday April 8, 2007 -
Easter. The kids and the grandkids came by for the afternoon. The in-laws stopped by for a little bit too. The Easter Bunny had hidden a whole bunch of plastic eggs and the kids had a great time finding them. Over and over again. In the evening I worked a bit on Petra's laptop PC, which had died while we were in Las Vegas. The Dell technician had me try a number of things to repair it, since the system would not boot up,. No luck, though, so far. We'll talk more tomorrow. Luckily it is still under extended warranty.
Saturday April 7, 2007 -
Back at home and life gets back to "normal". We picked up the cat and dog form their respective kennels and stopped at nearby Jack's Urban Eats for a great salad. You get to pick your ingredients and it IS good. Then we did some grocery shopping. I thought you might want to know that!
Friday April 6, 2007 -
Last day of vacation. We checked out of our hotel and drove into the heart of Hollywood. First stop, Amoeba Music, the world's largest record store. We had been to their other two stores (Berkeley and San Francisco) but had not been to the biggest one in Hollywood. It was pretty amazing. As you walk in, they have a person you can ask questions of and then you can pick up a map of the store. Big fun! We stayed in there a few hours and did some excellent damage. They gave us a free Amoeba canvas tote bag they liked us so much ;-) . Or maybe it had something to do with what we bought, listed below. But before we get to that, we also walked some of the Walk Of Fame and briefly visited the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. We grabbed lunch, slow waiter and all, at a nearby California Pizza Kitchen, walked around a bit more, then headed home. Much traffic greeted us until we got a ways out of LA and then it was pretty smooth sailing. A great vacation!!
Now, here is that list of what we bought at Amoeba. Don't laugh! Lots of things were really cheap, some at 50 cents and up.
8_Track tapes (!!!!!!) - remember, don't laugh.
Young, Neil After - The Gold Rush
Bowie, David - ChangesOneBowie
Cassettes
Prince - Emancipation 3-cassette box
7-inch vinyl
Costello, Elvis - You Little Fool
Bush, Kate - The Big Sky picture disc
XTC - Apple Vinyls 13-item box set
12-inch singles
Brooks, Meredith - Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)
Thompson, Richard - Nearly In Love
Mellencamp, John - Rumbleseat
Weezer - Hash Pipe. The Remixes.
Tarver, Quindon - When Doves Cry
Thomas, Rob - This Is How A Heart Breaks
LPs
Nieve, Steve - Keyboard Jungle
CD singles/EPs
Mann, Aimee - Humpty Dumpty
Pretenders, The - I'm Not In Love
Ghost, Amanda - Idol
Mellencamp, John - Walk Tall
Live - The Dolphin's Cry
Live - Simple Creed
Live - Overcome
CDs
Various Artists - Electro Goth Tribute To Prince
Eaton Canyon Royal Ensemble, The - Symphonic Tribute To Prince's Purple Rain
Bright Eyes - Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)
Costello, Elvis - The Juliet Letters (2-CD version)
Stefani, Gwen - The Sweet Escape
Shiny Toy Guns - We Are Pilots
Blondie - Parallel Lines (bonus tracks)
Talking Heads - 77
Young, Neil - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Partridge, Andy - Monstrance
Enya - Amarantine
Well what do you think? Tell me here!
Thursday April 5, 2007 -
We checked out of the Las Vegas condo. Goodbye. But before we left Vegas there were still a few things to do there. First: You gotta eat, right? So we went back to the Original House Of Pancakes (still not the IHOP) for another mondo-breakfast. Good good good. Afterward, we dropped Larry and Robin off at the airport so they could catch their plane home. Then Petra and I drove over to the Hard Rock Hotel Casino. They have music memorabilia all over the place and we wanted to check it out before we left town. After doing that for a while, we gassed up the beast and headed west. Of course, once we neared Los Angeles, our destination for the night, the traffic got thicker and thicker. So did the air, but that's another story. We arrived at our hotel late, about 9:00 PM, hungry and weary. Petra got out the phone book and found a very cool restaurant fairly closeby and open until 4:00 AM. It was Toi Rockin' Thai Food on Sunset. They had rock posters and stuff everywhere and on one wall a big screen (6 feet or so) showing Jimi Hendrix Live At Woodstock. And the food was great too! Along with a vegetarian section on the menu, they told us that almost anything on there could be made vegetarian. Oh, sweet bliss. We got very lucky for being in a strange city (!) and late at night.
Wednesday April 4, 2007 -
When you go to Vegas, you really have to go to an all-you-can-eat bufffet at least once! We found a brunch buffet that stayed open into the afternoon (we are slow) at The Flamingo. Lots and lots of choices, of course all four of us are vegetarians so that eliminated some things. What a "meat" town. Seems like a steaks are worshipped here. Oh, well, we found plenty to eat. More than plenty, actually! Then we went over to Ceasars to check out the Forum Shops. Lots of high-end stores that we wouldn't buy from but also statues that come to life and a huge salt-water aqarium with a woman in it cleaning. An interesting stop but nothing that special. Things picked up at the next stop, Casino Royale. Main attractions there? One dollar margaritas (yes!) and switch blackjack where you play two hands and can switch some of your cards. Next stop, the Venetian. This place is wild, it actually has canals with gondolas running through it! And of course we had to pose with the wax statues of Whoopi Goldberg and Michael Jordan.
Then we caught a shuttle over to The Rio, where we walked to The Palms. We wanted to go there because it is owned by the same family that owns our Sacramento Kings. Well, the casino was nothing special, like most of the others. The top floor lounge (the Ghost Bar) was not open so we couldn't go up there and when we attempted to go into the other tower. A young blonde "hostess" haughtily informed us that it was the Playboy Club (the world's only, apparently) and there was a $20 per person cover charge and that business casual attire was required. Yep. To see scantily-clad women with bunny ears. I don't think so. We took a wild taxi ride back to the strip and caught the free outdoor show at Treasure Island. HA! Some more scantily-clad babes in a cheesy stage act that involves a battle between two huge ships, the sinking of one, and a bunch of mild inuendo by the sirens. We had some Mexican food for dinner then caught the volcano eruption at the Mirage. Then back to Ceasars where we finally found the ultra-slow moving sidewalk that Petra and I remembered from our previous (1986) trip. Ah, brings back memories. Then we caught the late shuttle back to the condo and that was that.
Tuesday April 3, 2007 -
The first order of the day was some breakfast at the condo. Then, once everyone was ready (four people, one bathroom/shower so it took some time), we headed out on the day's excursion to Hoover Dam. It wasn't far but as we got close the traffic crawled so it did take a while. Finally, a bored-looking security guard waved us through. Once there we took the tour, which led us down into the depths of the dam to see generators and tunnels, etc. We watched a short film about the building of the dam (pretty amazing for the time period it was built). And there were other exhibits and, of course, a gift shop. It was pretty awesome and really huge. Learn more here and here with pictures here. I'm glad we went here, it was not too long and very interesting. Of course, we were famished by then so we headed out to a place Larry and Robin had visited on a previous visit, Origin India. They serve great Indian food in a classy ambiance. Mmmm. I would go back. Of course, it's a 10-11 hour drive from where I am now in Cali, but someday!
Then we trekked to the "World's Largest Gift Shop" where we bought some souvenirs. Man did they have a lot of cheap junk! Not what we bought, of course. Then down the street to The Stratosphere hotel/casino. We thought about going up to the top of the tower to see the view and the rides up there (take a look at that link!), but at $10 a person to go up, we decided not to. Larry took some photos of the area (from ground level) and then we headed on. Then we headed down to the Freemont Street area, the 'old' strip. We wandered around there a bit, sightseeing, and then headed back to the condo. Another late night, another good day. Back at the condo, we talked about possible future vacations. Oh, yeah!
Monday April 2, 2007 -
We had a late night so we had kind of a late morning. We ended up at the Original House Of Pancakes (not the IHOP) for a mega-whopper of a breakfast. I had a four-egg, 'baked' omelet with cheeses, salsa, jalapenos, onions, tomatos, maybe something else, I forget. It packed a punch, heat-wise, but was really good. And huge! And it came with three pancakes of course. Yow! This place was a nice find and we'll look later to see if they have a location closer to home. Then we spent a little time moaning about how full we were and how good it was. And then we ended up back at the South Point where we spent a couple hours gambling. I like to play Blackjack and had some luck today, winning back the money I had lost the other night and then some extra! HA!
Then we drove over to a 'hot glass shop and studio'. It was a local glass artist group showing their wares but mainly they were doing a live glass-blowing demonstration, explaining and taking questions. Very cool. There will be pictures here someday. No, really! Then back to the condo to drop the car off and we caught the shuttle back to the strip. We went to see a show, Cirque Du Soleil's LOVE. The are about five different Cirque shows in Vegas but we wanted to see this one because it uses all Beatles music. If you have ever seen a Cirque show, you know they are pretty incredible but this one even topped my expectations. Words can't do it justice so just go see it. You will NOT be disappointed! And The Beatles music just makes it that much better.
Sunday April 1, 2007 -
The US invasion of Iraq ended. Naaa, April Fools!!! People are still dying left and right, don't worry. Meanwhile, back in Las Vegas, we had a snack at the condo and then headed back over to the South Point for the last day of the Art And Glass Expo. We looked briefly at the booths but mainly we wanted to attend the charity auction that they were holding. Vendors and others had donated lots of items to be auctioned off and it was a fun event to just listen to and watch. Robin even bought a few items. Of course, all that excitement (or whatever) made us hungry and thirsty. It doesn't take much. The expo admissions included a drink ticket, so we each used ours. And we had some tasty onion rings in the cafe and then we were good to go. Rum-and-diet-coke with onion rings. What's not to love about that!
Then we drove over to The Rio, a hotel casino known for, among other things, their Masquerade Show in the Sky. Parade floats with a Mardi Gras theme hang from and ride via tracks in the high ceiling circling high above the large casino floor. Pretty cool to see. There was a floor show at floor level too. All that was free. This is the hotel/casino that Prince plays at, but we deceided to pass on that late-night and stand-up-only show (at $150 each to stand it was expensive too). But! Along that line, we zipped back to the condo and dropped the car off and then caught the shuttle back to the strip. After a quick snack at New York New York, we headed over to Mandalay Bay to go to a show at the House Of Blues inside. We went to see Purple Reign, a Prince 'tribute band'. Check out their web site. The show was great, a lot of fun, and it did a pretty good job of capturing a real Prince show. The guy who impersonated Prince had the Prince moves, the Prince vocals, the Prince coolness down pretty well. Plus, using the coupons we found in a magazine, it was FREE! Well, except for the expensive drinks. But still... hella big fun.
Saturday March 31, 2007 -
We had our breakfast at the condo. Then we caught the free shuttle down to the strip. We visited a bunch of casinos on the southern end and middle of the strip. Some of the places we visited included: the Monte Carlo (where the shuttle let us off), New York New York (where I wanted to ride the rooftop roller coaster but decided to wait, hoping to do it later in the trip. And this casino has basically a small city within it.), The Excalibur (a cool-looking castle building), The Luxor (a pyramid-shaped black building with diagonal 'inclinators' instead of elevators), and Mandalay Bay (with a huge fish tank and a House Of Blues inside). We had some lunch at a Mexican restaurant inside there. It was a bit pricey but decent food and a tasty margarita. Then we made our way to The Tropicana, where Robin won a $400 keno jackpot. Yowie! Way to go Robin! Then we walked to the MGM Grand and watched the lions getting fed and roaming around in their pen for a while. Next was The Aladdin, where we gambled a bit with less than stellar results. Ugh. Then to the Paris casino, with a mega-huge replica of the Eiffel Tower. Next, to The Bellagio where we watched a great fountain water show set to music. It's free and well worth watching. This casino also had a nice glass exhibit all over the lobby roof by Dale Chihuly, best-known glass artist in the world. They had a nice garden area too and then we had a meal at their asian noodle restaurant. Then back to the Monte Carlo to catch the late-night shuttle back to the condo, but not before Larry won a little bit at the blackjack table. The down side of most of these places is that there are a lot of smokers and smoke, which makes it unpleasant for the rest of us. But even with that it was a great and fun day!
Friday March 30, 2007 -
We had a breakfast snack at the condo and then headed out to the Art And Glass Expo. That event is why we decided to go to Vegas in the first place. It was an interesting show housed at the South Point hotel-casino. The main floor had lots and lots of booths of vendors, demos, crafts, and other glass-related stuff. There were also classes but Petra didn't take those. We mainly went to see what was there and both came away with a good day's enjoyment and entertainment. Midday, we took a break for lunch at the hotel's cafe, which was pretty decent for a hotel-casino cafe. Later in the day Larry and I played some blackjack. One of us broke even. Petra and Robin were visiting with Petra's online friends from her glass group. After a while Larry and I joined them. When we left there, we ended up in downtown Vegas, the 'old' area that used to be the gambling center of the town. We rambled around there for a while and took it in, then ducked into the Golden Nugget casino, where we had a really good breakfast burrito. Larry and I both thought it was great. So what more do you need? Well, maybe a drink or two.
Thursday March 29, 2007 -
And we are off. Viva Las Vegas, baby! It's a long long way but we hit the road just before 7:00 AM. Vroom, vroom. A little before noon we stopped in the tiny town of Wasco along the way and had a really good mexican food lunch at a place called La Cabanita. It tasted pretty authentic and was run by a hispanic man and woman, certainly not a chain restaurant, just a mom and pop place that eeks out a living serving better food that some of the big boys (take that, El Torito). Anyway, really good and almost everyone in the place was hispanic. The menu was mostly spanish but enough english to let us know what we wanted. A spanish soap opera was on the TV and, well you get the idea. I'd eat there again anytime. Any time that I was 250 miles from home on HWY-46 that is.And I gotta say that drive across the Mojave Desert is pretty dull. We had good music and that helps anything! Remind me not to move to Barstow. Nevermind, I'll remember. But anyway, we got to Vegas (baby!) and found the condo. Larry and Robin were nice enough to let us stay there with them. We visited for a bit and got our bearings,
then we went out to get some dinner. Robin had located a Thai restaurant (Komol) on the Internet that purported to have a lot of vegetariaan options. We were SO there. The waiter warned us about ordered the food hot (spicy) so we all went for either medium or mild. He said that the cook was a little crazy that day so be warned. Anyway, it was kind of spicy but very good. On the way back we droved down the strip, stopping at the grocery store to pick up a few supplies. Then back to the room and we kicked back for a while. Then, zzzzzz....Wednesday March 28, 2007 -
We took the pets to the kennels in anticipation of tomorrow's departure for Las Vegas. We are driving so we want to get an early start in the morning for this long drive. Meanwhile, the electrician came back to install the pool table lighting and build a 220 extension cord for Petra's big kiln. Well, the good news is that the cord works and the kiln can be used now. The bad news is that the transformer doesn't work so he couldn't getting the lighting working. He did put the rail up near the ceiling and I think it will look good. Someday! This project is dragging on for too long! When we get back from our trip we'll have to take the transformer in and see what's up with it. Argh!
Monday March 26, 2007 -
Happy birthday to brother John. And now for something completely different. We borrowed a pipe bender (have you ever use one?) to bend the rail for our pool table lighting. Would want it straight now, would we? You gotta get bent! Well, the pipe does anyway. Then it was after 8:00 and we were getting pretty hungry so we got a pizza from Pannu's Pizza Palace. Yep, the Pesto special. Oh, yeah.
Sunday March 25, 2007 -
The Kings had an afternoon game that we went to. They played Phoenix, a very good team, and the Kings actually won! Way to go! After that we worked in the back yard for a while and then went to 524 for some cheap and delicious Mexican Food. Their salsa is hot but good. Recipe for a good time: the number 15 combination (chili rellenos), no soup, and a couple Negra Modelos.
Saturday March 24, 2007 -
Andrea the daughter, Charlie, and the grandkids came over and helped with the garden and some other chores in the yard. Thanks! We appreciate all the work. Then in the evening we went out to dinner with new neighbors Flo and Rick. We ate at the new and nearby Tuk Tuk Restaurant and had some very good thai food. We spent some time talking too and had a nice time.
Friday March 23, 2007 -
Here is a list of the CDs we got the other day at Dimple. Got an opinion? Tell me here.
The Beatles - Love (2-disc CD/DVD version)
The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (2-CD version)
The Cure - The Top (2-CD version)
Terence Trent D'Arby - The Very Best Of
John Mellencamp - Freedom's Road
Paolo Nutini - These Streets
Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Soundtrack
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Greatest Hits
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium (2CD)
Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors
A day off so we of course have errands to run. But it is OK because we have lunch at the Sunflower Drive-In, an all-vegetarian eaterie with some unique and really delicious food. We both had the nutty taco and until you have tried one you shouldn't knock it. My only regret? I wish the place was closer! We finished up our errand and then worked for a few hours in the backyard and garden. No food to harvest yet ;-)
Thursday March 22, 2007 -
We were out in the North area so we stopped by Dimple Records on Arden Way. What? Of course we bought some music. I'll post a list later but if you can't wait you know where to complain. After all that shopping we were starved, well hungry anyway, so we stopped at the nearby Olive Garden and had a feast.Wednesday March 21, 2007 -
We went to the Kings game but they lost. The were fine for about the first 40 minutes and then took a dive. I hate when that happens.
Tuesday March 20, 2007 -
We found out today that Petra's friend Wanda in Seattle died on Saturday from breast cancer that had spread into her bones. She was Petra's friend online and we had breakfast with her in 2005 when we visited Seattle. Petra and I also visited her last August and she drove us all around, including to the place where we got the evil clown nesting dolls. She showed and told us a lot about Seattle and was a very nice lady who leaves two kids and a husband. Her teen daughter went with us on the tour and to Indian lunch in Renton and she seemed to be pretty close to her mom. Very sad event. Very sad. And scary, for obvious reasons. Petra's breast cancer is in remission but obviously you never know what the future will bring.
Sunday March 18, 2007 -
Andrea, Charlie, and the grandkids came over and finished the jobs they started yesterday. Petra's dad came by and helped us get the garage sink hooked up (finally). Thanks to all! After a long day Petra and I went to 524 Mexican Food for good food and beverages. Yum.
Saturday March 17, 2007 -
Andrea the daughter, Charlie, and the grandkids came over for most of the day. Andrea worked in the garden and Charlie helped to paint the garden picket fence. Thanks to both. And of course the kids played and played.
Friday March 16, 2007 -
Another day, another doctor. Petra had a one-ounce fill at the reconstructive surgeon.
Thursday March 15, 2007 -
And then back to reality. First thing this morning Petra went for a bone scan due to some bone pain she's been having. First, they make you wait and then they shoot you up with some radioactive goo. Then you get a couple hours to let it travel through you. We went and had breakfast at Cornerstone in midtown. Pretty good. Then back to the clinic for the actual 'put her in the tube' scan. We should have the results in a week or so. Later in the day was a follow-up appointment with her surgeon from the original procedure. Things are going well there so that is good.
Wednesday March 14, 2007 -
More touching base with friends. After work today we met ex-neighbors and still friends Karl and Betty for dinner at El Novillero. Man was that some delicious mexican food and margaritas. Good to see our fiends too. We wish them well and know they will have a lot of fun moving into their new house at the end of the month. It'll be nice when the moving is over!
Tuesday March 13, 2007 -
Work day. Eh. But after that we went out to dinner with John M. We hadn't seen him in a while so it was nice to touch base. The tasty food at Thai Basil was another good thing about it.
Sunday March 11, 2007 -
Larry and I went to the Kings game. They lost. They lost badly. In the evening the four of us went with Mike D and Cosette out to eat at Rick's Hacienda Mexican Food. I hadn't been there in about 30 years! It was still pretty good.
Saturday March 10, 2007 -
We spent a lot of the day at Rainbow Glass, where they were having demonstrations about glass cutting, sawing, blowing, and lots of other glass-related stuff. then we came home and Petra practiced a little bit of what she learned, using her cutting tools and kiln. In the late evening, Robin and Larry came arrive for a short stay.
Friday March 9, 2007 -
What a day. First off were the 'additional views' mammograms for Petra, along with an untrasound. Last time they wanted more views it meant cancer. It took three hours (!) but the good news is that there's no new cancer as far as they can tell. Yes! After that ordeal, we dropped my car off in nearby Davis for some servicing and then we went to Kaveri for the all-you-can-eat Indian food buffet lunch. It was g-o-o-d. Then we swung by the glass shop so Petra could pick up her large kiln and her saw. We dropped those off at home and were on our way to pick up my car when the phone rang. Her oncologist was calling about some warm sensations she's been feeling in her leg. He was concerned about a blood clot (a possible side effect of her medications) and told us to go to the emergency room for an ultrasound, this one on the leg. We got there around 4:25 in the afternoon. We finished there at 11:30 PM. Yes, you read that right. Seven hours in the damn emergency room!! Almost all of it waiting. We finally got home around midnight, too tired to care that we missed dinner. As I said, what a day. The good news: no blood clot.Thursday March 8, 2007 -
How about this crappy cell-phone picture from a couple weekends ago of Petra (with friend Robin) in her glass studio? Comments about the artists here.We went to the Kings game. They lost in the last few minutes. They did play hard and well (mostly) againast a great team. Still a loss, though...
Tuesday March 6, 2007 -
Oh, what excitement! A couple hours at the dentist, for a cleaning and a seating of a crown. I really know how to have fun. But it did get better in the evening, in the form of a large Pesto pizza from Pannu's Pizza Palace. Oh, yeah!
Monday March 5, 2007 -
After work, we went with the daughter and her family to grandaughter Josephine's school. They were having an event in honor of Dr. Suess's birthday. They had a children's author speak and sign his books. Also, there was a Dr. Suess cake-baking competition. Lots of cake looking like Green Eggs And Ham, One Fish Two Fish, Cat In The Hat, etc. And then we got to eat the cakes!
Sunday March 4, 2007 -
Running errands, shopping. Blah blah blah.
Saturday March 3, 2007 -
We took the grandkids, the girls anyway, to Fairytale Town. They were having a celebration of Dr. Suess, calling it a 'Suess-A-Bration'. The kids got to make a Cat In The Hat hat, a One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish mobile, well, you get the idea. They love the place anyway but this was even better.
Friday March 2, 2007 -
The electrician came back to install the new lighting over the pool table. But alas, it was not meant to be. The lighting company gave us a wrong part. We'll have to exchange that. But he did install the fan that we needed so it was a useful trip after all.
Thursday March 1, 2007 -
A work day. Eh. But that mexican food at 524 was sure good!
Wednesday February 28, 2007 -
Oh, forgot to mention on the 26th that Petra went for a Mammongram and they want her to come back for 'additional views'. That is how it all started last time. Uh-oh. But it is hopefully nothing to be concerned about. We'll find out on the 9th. As for tonight, the Kings played, the Kings won.
Tuesday February 27, 2007 -
Went to the doctor. Had a physical. Good news! I'm not dead, not even close! Actually I am in good health "for a fifty-year-old". Hmmm. Just watch the cholesterol and get more exercise. Uh, duh! Stop me if you've heard THAT one!
Monday February 26, 2007 -
Larry and Robin went home this morning and from what I heard their car window actually stayed up! Good thing 'cause more rain is on the way. I went to work today and I ,..was tired when I got home so we ordered a pizza for take-out. We got the Pesto special (pesto, garlic, cheese, chopped peanuts, and something else I think) from a new place, Pannu's Pizza Palace. It's a guy and his family trying to do a family business so that's a good cause. Nowadays, in this Walmart World, the big stores have almost crushed all the mom-and-pop stores so we try to support small businesses when we find them. Anyway, the pizza was really good so I know we will try it again. And he was so nice. The wife in the back helping with the cooking. The kids in a booth waiting for closing time. It's a hard road but I wish him luck.
Sunday February 25, 2007 -
Petra worked on her glass projects during the day. In the evening, her and I, along with Larry and Robin, brought in some thai food from Taste Of Thai. Man it was good! Then we all watched the Academy Awards (The Oscars). It was a long show but we thought that Ellen did a good job hosting. Any thoughts on the awards? Let me know here.
Saturday February 24, 2007 -
Our granddaughter Josephine won the 'Student Of The Week' award at her school! She got a big poster to color and prepare so she (along with sister and mom) came over today to print some pictures for it and to put the thing together. Looks great! And congratulations to you, kiddo!!
Later in the day Larry and Robin, along with the two of us, and their friends Eric and Betty went out to eat at Todo Un Poco and then to visit a while at their house. We left there about midnight or so. It was a dark and stormy night, rain, wind, and hella cold. I was in the back seat and left my coat in the trunk because "I won't need it, it's warm in the car". Well, it was, too. Until the passenger window went down, broken, and couldn't be put back up. The cold and wind and a bit of rain too came in and swooshed into the back seat. Brrrr! Yikes!! Arrrgh!! Double-brrrr!!!! Wrong place at the wrong time! But we made it home and I got warm and we can all laugh about it now. Right? If you are not laughing you can let me know here.
Friday February 23, 2007 -
For a good chunk of the day, Petra worked in her glass studio. Later, the four of us went out to dinner at Three Sisters. Larry had a hankering for it and it was good. So were the margaritas!Thursday February 22, 2007 -
Friends Larry and Robin arrived late today from Santa Cruz.
Wednesday February 21, 2007 -
Petra had an appointment with the reconstructive surgeon today. Now that the surgery is past, he will start the fills again. A third of an ounce, a small fill this time. But a big needle still. On a different note, be sure to vote for your favorite Oingo Boingo album over at Obsessed With Music!
Also congrats to friends Michael and Shirl who had a baby today (their second)!
Tuesday February 20, 2007 -
The web site for the 2007 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival went online today. There's not a lot of information there yet but it's a start. Only 192 days until the festival starts!
Monday February 19, 2007 -
Presidents Day. This holiday must have been thought up before we had the current doofus in office. Anyway, yesterday and today we stayed home mostly and worked on a few projects around the house. We are making the piano room a bit nicer with more storage and there are always more projects to do. In the morning I went to the lab to have some blood taken for an upcoming medical appointment. The woman that drew my blood was Dr. Acula. Get it? Dracula? No, I'm just kidding again! I stole that joke from Scrubs, one of the best comedies currently on television. At the end of the day, as a reward, we went for a tasty dinner at 524 Mexican Food. Oh, yea, that's what I'm talking about!
Saturday February 17, 2007 -
Happy fourth birthday to granddaughter Jasmine!! We celebrated with her and her family at Chuck E Cheese. What a crazy place, a million kids runing everywhere, lots of noise from kids and video games, and Chuck E, a giant rat (or maybe a mouse) walking around in costume. And more madcap mayhem but you get the idea. But Jasmine had a good time (along with Josephine and Raziel and the rest of us).
Friday February 16, 2007 -
The gardener was here. He mowed, he weed-eated. He round-uped. Are those even words? And granddaughter Jasmine came to visit Petra for a while too while I was at work.
Thursday February 15, 2007 -
The daughter and BF Charlie came over with the grandkids. The kids played on the playset while Andrea and Charlie worked in the garden. She wants to grow some vegetables so Petra is going to share a part of the garden with her in return for her helping out with it. Should be good for everyone once those fresh veggies start popping up later in the year. Mmmm!
Wednesday February 14, 2007 -
Valentine's Day! And a hap-hap-happy V-day to the love of my life Petra B. We don't do gifts but we got each other some nice, mushy cards. Awwwww. As for the rest of the day, the new gardener came by and gave us his estimate and we explained what we needed done and where. He will start working Friday. I got in a quick (and rare) workout at the gym and later we headed out to Todo Un Poco for a delicious dinner. Petra had the Punjabi Pizza (of course!) and I had the La Bandera enchilada plate (cheese). Both are great. Oh, and the Kings lost again. Sigh.Tuesday February 13, 2007 -
Back to the dentist. The crown came off again so it's time for a fitting for a new one. Oh, joy. But on the positive side, Petra continues to feel good after her surgery and so we went down the road to Taste Of Thai for a great dinner. Order #40, "Evil Jungle Prince" with tofu instead of meat and you will not be disappointed. And speaking of being disappointed, the Kings lost tonight. Sheesh!
Monday February 12, 2007 -
Happy birthday to grandson Raziel. One year old! And to Abe Lincoln too. We got a day off for that. Anyway, today was Petra's follow-up appointment with the reconstructive surgeon after last week's surgery. He took the bandages off and everything is going well so far. As a reward, we went out for lunch since she was feeling up to it. We went to Hamburger Mary's in midtown and we both had the Meatless Mary, both adding a Boca pattie, but hers was no mushrooms and mine was no tomato. Too much information? Well, I had the regular fries and she had the spicy fries. Now you know 'almost' everything! After we got home, the daughter and the granddaughters came by for a little while to talk gardening and to visit. The kids got to play on the playset for a bit until the rain started back in. I thought about getting two of each animal and loading them into a big boat, but it really hasn't rained THAT much.
Sunday February 11, 2007 -
Petra continues to recover. Today was her first outing. The daughter (Andrea) had us over to her place. Tomorrow is our grandson Raziel's first birthday and she had us over for dinner and cake. Her and Charlie made the dinner, pretty much from scratch, and it was delicious. Cheese enchiladas, tostones, papas rellenos, rice and beans, you get the idea. Mmmmm!! Thanks you guys! And Razi really liked his gifts, as far as you can tell with a 1-year-old. He seemed happy and you gotta like a happy kid... And after a five game winning streak, the Kings lost tonight.
Saturday February 10, 2007 -
Petra is doing really well, not much pain and getting restless. I'm making her take it easy and will keep doing so. She did some TV and reading and I put together the rest of the shelving. I had to make a quick run to Home Depot for a small jig saw and then back to work. Hopefully I will finish it up tomorrow. In the evening, the Kings won again, on the road this time. Yow! Five in a row!! Meanwhile, Petra is doing well, though still having trouble sleeping.
Friday February 9, 2007 -
She's still not having much pain and is eating regular food today. No chips and salsa yet but can it be long? I spent some time putting together a couple shelves, a stool, and a mini-mini-greenhouse, in between trying to make sure she had whatever she needed. We watched some TV and are trying to get caught up on all the stuff on the DVR. Like that will ever happen! Anyway, she's doing great and that is a very very very good thing.
Thursday February 8, 2007 -
Surgery day for Petra. it is always stressful when they wheel the person you love away on a gurney. We were at thospital very early, as directed, at 7:00 AM. There is always pre-op time and they took her into surgery at just after 9:00. A couple hours after that she was out and believe it or not we were home before 1:00 PM. Petra took a rest and I took a short one too. She was feeling ok so we watched a movie later in the day, Rumor Has It. Despite lots of bad reviews, I thought it was ok and Petra liked it. As Jennifer Anniston movies go, we both liked it better than The Break-Up, but that may not be saying too much. Oh, and the Kings won too! Four in a row. Anyway, Petra's not having much pain and is taking the antibiotics so all is well so far.
Wednesday February 7, 2007 -
The in-laws took us out for my belated birthday dinner. They were out of town around my birthday and so they wanted to take us out. We had a very nice dinner of Japanese Food (Vegetable Tempura) at Hana Tsubaki. Then we came home for a relaxing evening before Petra's surgery tomorrow.
Tuesday February 6, 2007 -
Today was Petra's follow-up appointment with the Oncologist. And good news, she is still NED (No Evidence of Disease). That's the most important thing and she's doing really well on that front. Yay!
Monday February 5, 2007 -
The Kings won again! Three in a row!!
Sunday February 4, 2007 -
A late Christmas? Hmm, ok. Well, the In-laws were out of town for the actual day so they came by today to celebrate with us and the daugher and her family. Good to see everyone. Then apparently there was a football game on TV. Petra and I DVR'd it to watch later (maybe). Than we headed off to Ikea to look for some stuff for the piano room. And of course we found some! Usually on Sundays Ikea is hella crowded, but it wasn't bad at all today thanks to that big game on TV. After all that we had a powerful hankering for some mexican food so we headed to 524 for a late dinner. Mmmmm. As for that football game, we probably won't watch it. But we did fast-forward to the halftime, featuring Petra's hero and all around musical legend, Prince. He was great, as usual. Performing in the rain no less!
Quote of the day: "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho MarxBonus quote: "He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot." - Grouch again. Sounds like he was talking about Bush, doesn't it?
Saturday February 3, 2007 -
The return of George. Yes, the carpet guy came back to finish off the carpet around the new cabinet pieces and also did some cleaning and maintenance. In the evening, we went to the Sacramento Kings game. and they won! That's two in a row, let's hope they build on that. Actually they played well and as a team. Go Kings!
Quote of the day: "I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy." - W.C. Fields
Friday February 2, 2007 -
Well, George the carpet guy showed up on time (early actually) this morning and pulled back the carpet for the cabinet install. Then it was off to the reconstructive surgeon for Petra's latest appointment, the last one before her impending surgery on Thursday. She is so tired of all this and frankly I am too. Then back home for the cabinet install. We are having some additional pieces built onto a built-in cabinet. They matched it up well and it looks like all one piece.
Thursday February 1, 2007 -
We were supposed to have the carpet guy come out between 5 and 6 pm to pull back the carpet for the cabinet install tomorrow. Well, about 5:45 they called and said he couldn't make it until later. We had tickets for a play so luckily we were able to reschedule the carpet for tomorrow morning. Then we zipped downtown to meet Karl and Betty at Crepeville (I recommend the smoked tofu scramble). We had a quick dinner before the play since the four of us were going together. Then on to the B Street Theater to see What The Butler Saw by Joseph Orton. The local paper gave it four stars and it was very funny and fast paced. Clever wit and a bawdy, irreverent humor make it a recommend excursion. See it and laugh.
Wednesday January 31, 2007 -
Happy birthday to my niece Sara! Have a great one!!
Tuesday January 30, 2007 -
Can it get any more exciting? A dentist appointment!
Monday January 29, 2007 -
Now that we are back in town, things are back to normal. Well, if we are normal that is. But we picked up the pets at their kennels and it was the day for Petra's blood test. Two vials, so you know she was a happy camper. But one is for the 'every three month' checkup and one is for the surgery pre-op.
Sunday January 28, 2007 -
OK, back on the road once again. On our way home, going home. We managed to get out by check-out time, 10:00 AM. We stopped briefly for gas and then oh-so-quickly at Spin Records to pick up the two Tom Waits bootleg DVDs that I had passed up the night before. Nice will power, Steve! And onward to Sacramento.Saturday January 27, 2007 -
This is the last full day of the trip. Sigh. It's always w-a-y too short. But on with the day. Our destination was San Diego once again. First stop, Old Town, where we had read they were having a street faire with crafts, booths, and what not. You can never have too much what not. After a while of looking around there, we went into a place called The Living Room and had a small pizza to tide us over. Our waiter was pretty spacey (Whoa, dude!) and the service was slow but the food was good. Then we drove over to the Ocean Beach area where Larry had spent some time when he was younger. We walked up and down a street with a lot of antique shops, and a record store, along with all sorts of other shops, bars, cafes, etc. Day turned into evening and we took off back to the Normal Heights area to an unusual restaurant called Jyoti-Bihanga. It's an all-vegetarian place run by followers of Sri Chinmoy. They say he's the pathway to God but you should hear about his weight lifting! Anyway, the place was very busy and we could order anything on the menu, which is pretty rare for four vegetarians. The food was good although my Thai Stir-Fry could have used more peanut sauce and need more kick to it too. It was an experience, though. The wait staff wore religious garments (saris?) and seemed distracted (blissed-out?) but nice. A really big picture of Sri Chinmoy was on the wall and the place had a round ceiling that lent a mystical and religious feel to it, though the customers seemed fairly normal and were talking and eating and enjoying. Then back to Carlsbad and a brief stop at a record store there, Spin Records. Good store, lots of cool stuff packed into a small area. We picked up a few 12-inch singles by Prince, Tori Amos, and Shiny Toy Guns. And that was the day. Gotta get up and out by 10:00 in the morning so we called it a day (which it was).
Friday January 26, 2007 -
Did I mention how nice the resort is? And all the bird of paradise plants around it? But enough of that. Today we headed back once again into San Diego. We went to Balboa Park first, to finish what we had started the other day. And no, it's not named after Rocky Balboa! So we finished looking around the artist areas of the Spanish Village, then visited the World Beat Center, then walked through the Botanical Building. Then feeling a little peckish, the four of us headed out to find a place where we had heard they had some really killer vegetarian burritos, and lots of different options. We knew it was on E Street so we found E Street on the map and headed there. Well, the E Street we found was in Chula Vista, unfortunately, and the E Street we had wanted was a few miles from where we had been at Balboa Park. Ooops! Anyway, a bit later we finally found Pokez and the food was indeed really good. Lots of meatless choices and cheap to boot. I had a veggie chorizo and bean burrito that was huge and delicous. We need a place like that in Sacramento! We drove around a bit to see some of the town and ended up at Lestat's Coffee. Named (I assume) after the vampire in Anne Rice's novels, it had a vaguely goth theme and was an interesting place. We hung out there for a while and then, freshly caffeined, we took a walk around the area. Not much to see, though we did spot the restaurant that we had planned for the next night. We skipped past that and wandered a bit. Then we drove over to the Gaslamp district, where we had heard they had a good nighttime scene. Sure enough, restaurants, bars, and people everywhere. We grabbed a table outside on the street, under a heater and cozy, and had a couple drinks while we did some people-watching and chips-and-salsa eating. The streets were hoppin'. After a while we headed back to the resort.
Thursday January 25, 2007 -
Early to rise. The bus leaves at 7:30. It's the day of the Mexico bus trip and somehow the four of us made it to the hotel lobby by 7:15. Yes, in the morning! Ha! Petra and I had never been to Mexico so it was time to rectify that situation. The bus went south, as you might have guessed, through San Diego and then on to the border. We crossed it and the bus went through a little bit of Tijuana on our way to Ensenada. We didn't stop, but what we saw of Tijuana looked very poor and run-down. Lots of litter and trash too. But according to the tour guide, there are good parts and bad parts. Also, according to the tour guide, in Mexico they don't put their toilet paper into the toilet. They put it in a small basket near the toilet. Yes, I mean used. I didn't like that custom too much and Petra didn't either. Anyway, we continued down the Baja peninsula coast road. Very nice scenery. We stopped in the town of Rosarito and had a brunch buffet at a place called Ortega's there. The first table had ants but the second table was fine. We had mexican food (duh) and they had a number of vegetarian items. We always like hearing that 'all you can eat' mantra. Then back on the bus to Ensenada. And, by the way, there will be many more pictures of this trip on the web site. But you know how slow I am at that ;-)
We only had about five hours in Ensenada and we wanted to see what we could. The guide had mentioned a lot of possible attractions to see but we also wanted to catch some of the local feel if that is possible in a tourist area. There was a cruise ship the size of Rhode Island in the harbor so the locals were ready for tourists. And we were ready too. We wandered, we sightsaw (?), and we shopped down a street with lots of vendors, some more agressive than others. Crafts, jewelry, trinkets, stained glass, blankets, and more. Of course, there may have been a purchase or two. We stopped in at Hussong's, which the guide said was where the Margarita had been invented! Well, heck, we love history so we went to check that out. We each had one and to blend in we dumped some peanut shells on the floor. Great margaritas. Small but serious margaritas. Robin paid a guy a couple bucks for a song and he was very good on guitar, nice voice too. Then on down the street to the Tortilla factory. It was small and old and the large back part had people making tortillas. There was a long line of people waiting to buy and everyone in the line looked like a local, so we figured the tortillas must be good. We bought a pack for $1.50 that included probably 30 or more corn tortillas. A good deal and fresh.We headed toward Juarez Street and somehow had stumbled into a less savory part of town. All locals and then there was us. It looked a bit rougher and one of us actually got whistled at. We still aren't sure which one! Then down Juarez, more shops and businesses to look at. Eventually we circled back to the area near where we had been dropped off. We had dinner at Casamar Restaurant (would you believe, Mexican food?) and it was pretty good. More Margaritas. Hey, you gotta follow the local customs, right? And was the bus driver drinking a large Margarita? Best not to dwell on that. Anyway, we made a last stop to pick up some very inexpensive Mexican blankets and then headed back to the bus. And then the bus headed back to the resort, a long drive through Mexico and SoCal. On the drive back, the scenery was less impressive since it was dark and so they showed the movie The Mask Of Zorro for our entertainment. At the border we had to wait for what seemed like nearly an hour to get up to the customs station. Then we got off and walked through with no problems at all. And after a while we were back at 'home'. We needed some supplies so we headed to Ralph's. When we got back we had our supplies. And some cranberry juice that had not even been in our cart. Where did that come from? Was it National Free Cranberry Juice Week? We still aren't sure. But we all had a good time today in Mexico!
Wednesday January 24, 2007 -
The Captain had declared that it would NOT be an early morning. But Larry and Robin had a 9:00 AM presentation to attend at the resort. In return, they got some gift certificates for food so it was worth it. Petra wanted to swim a bit so we hung out at the pool, for a little while. Then she did some rollerblading while I walked/jogged with her. Gotta get a LITTLE exercise at least to work off some of that good food we've been eating. Meanwhile, Larry and Robin took a bike ride around Carlsbad. On the way back to the room, Petra and I played a game of ping pong and then headed back to meet up with our friends. Next thing on the agenda was a visit to the nearby Museum Of Making Music. This was a great place, with exhibits of various musical instruments through the last century or so, including an exhibit of harp guitars along with lots of samples of music through the years to listen to and many, many historical and recent instruments on display. At the end is a room filled with all kinds of instruments that you can sit down and play, such as a full drum set, guitars, an air synth, electronic drum pads, a synthesizer, and more. Petra played an acrylic see-through piano. Very cool place and way cheap considering the coolness factor. Check out their web site!
Our pals were nice enough to share those food gift certificates with us at the nearby Karl Straus brewery, where we had dinner. We didn't do this, but the place actually has large to-go "jugs" of it's beers. then you can bring the jug back and get cheaper refills. Yow!! But we just headed back to the room and kicked back for while, then called it a day. A good day.Tuesday January 23, 2007 -
One of the nice things about staying in a resort like this is that you have a full kitchen. We took advantage of that and had breakfast there in our room before heading out for the day's adventures. Then, fueled and ready, we embarked on another new journey. South, on the 5. It is about a half-hour drive or so into San Diego and today we went there, first to Balboa Park. This park is huge, with museums and all sorts of other attractions. We used the free parking and the free tram to move around the park, stopping at the Spanish Village. It's a collection of 35-40 different small places, each of which have artists showing and making their wares. The glass studio that Petra wanted to visit was closed but we'll come back later in the week. There was plenty else to see there with all sorts of artists doing glass, enamels, paintings, wood work, and a lot more.
From there, we caught the 'Old Town Trolley', which takes you all around to various tourist stops. You can get on and off whenever you want and it runs fairly often. Of course, they have the humorous narration so you can learn about the town as you travel. After passing on a few stops, we got off in the Gaslamp district and had some lunch at a brewpub there called Rock Bottom. We all had the Bourbonzola burger (veggie style). Messy and delicious. Mmmmmmm. We walked a bit then caught the trolley over to Coronado Island. There's a famous and old hotel there that we took a walk through and also a really nice beach that we walked along. We walked around a little bit of the town too, just to get a feel for it. There were no must-sees on the island but it was still worth checking out. Then we hopped back on the trolley back to Balboa Park. And onto the tram back to our car. As we were nearing our stop the driver played a song and asked a trivia question about it. The answer was "Bon Jovi" and the only one on the tram who knew it was Petra. Yay, way to go PB!!We drove around some neighborhoods in the area to get a feel and see what was around. San Diego is really a spread-out city. But we knew what the destination would be. We parked across the street from the India Princess, where were going to have dinner. But first, we walked a piece of the neighborhood and looked in a few stores. Then back to the India Princess for dinner. They have an all-you-can-eat all-vegetarian buffet. Oh, yeah, that's what I'M talking about! But watch out for that onion chutney, it will make you feel like you are kissing the sun! Ouch!! Then we drove back to the condo and relaxed for a while. The ladies did a bit of wine tasting and Larry and I had a little quality time with the Captain.
Monday January 22, 2007 -
The first order of business was to attend a brief presentation about the activities at the resort and nearby. They provided a free breakfast so it seemed like a good idea. Then, freshly fueled, we headed out on our quest for Petra's roots. No, she's not dying her hair! No, no, her heritage. She was born in El Centro and adopted there but her family moved away with her when she was only five months old. She has one picture of the old house from 1960 and we all wanted to go check out what the house looked like, the hospital where she was born, and, who knows, maybe some authentic mexican food! El Centro is pretty close to the Mexico border. It was not exactly a pretty drive through the semi-desert but during parts of it there were all these rock mountains that looked like thousands of rocks piled on one another. Kind of interesting. It was about a two hour drive but seemed like it went faster than that. Anyway, then we got to El Centro and quickly found the El Centro Chamber of Commerce building where we stopped to get a map and some directions. We found the house and there were a bunch of maintenance people working around the fire hydrant in front of it. One of the people out there turned out to be the current owner of the house. None of them spoke much english but they all thought the picture of the house from 1960 was pretty cool. Turns out the house is actually for sale too! It's pretty run down and seemed overpriced but it was great to visit the house and even better for her.
And of course we did find some fairly authentic mexican food for lunch at La Fonda. The were nice to us and the food was good too! Next we went to the hospital that Petra had been born at. They now have an 'old part' and a 'new part'. One of the workers there walked us through it and showed us the Womens Center where Petra would have been born. That was exciting for her, to see the place after all these years. A lot of people take their roots for granted, but adopted people like Petra don't have as many roots so they become more important. It was really nice of them to walk us through the hospital and show us where things were.Before the return trip, we drove up to the border and then along side it for a bit, then headed back to the resort. We stopped nearby in Carlsbad at Ralph's supermarket and picked up a few necessities. Then back to the resort where we prepared a delicious pasta dinner. The day ended with a DVD, Snakes On A Plane (of all things). It was a really cheesy b-movie, one of those that is so bad it's funny, at least in parts. I was entertained but I know it was pretty lame overall.
Sunday January 21, 2007 -
On the road again! Yep, I'm quoting Willie Nelson of all people. Oh, well, what the hay, we are on vacation! We actually got an early start. Half a bagel, a couple cups of coffee and we're movin! Out of the house about 7AM. It's a l-o-n-g trip down I-5, lots of brown land and pretty boring of a drive but you can zip right along. And of course, we brought some great music so that makes the drive a lot better. Petra, Prince, and me...
We stopped for lunch in Burbank. We found a small 'mall mexican' place but the good news is that you can substitute marinated tofu for meat in pretty much anything. It was called Sharkey's and it was pretty good. Then, after a little while looking for the freeway onramp, we were back on the 5 and headed south. We got to the resort only a few minutes after Larry and Robin did, what nice timing! So we unpacked and hung out and talked a bit then headed into Carlsbad to grab some dinner. We ended up at Las Olas mexican. It was good but they mixed up the order a bit and the service was not the best. Then back to the resort to plan out the next few days.Saturday January 20, 2007 -
It's been a while since we added things to the music database. Here are the recent additions:
Live - Likini's Juice 7" vinyl
Lauper, Cyndi - Who Let In The Rain 7" vinyl
Lauper, Cyndi - What's Going On 7" vinyl
The rest are CDs unless noted
V/A - A Rock 'N' Roll Christmas
V/A - A Rock 'N' Roll Christmas II
V/A - Christmas Rocks!
Charles, Ray - A Ray Charles Christmas
McLachlan, Sarah - Wintersong
Mann, Aimee - One More Drifter In The Snow
V/A - The Wish List
V/A - Selection From The Gothic Box - A Life Less Lived
Prince - Fury single
Prince - Te Amo Corazon single
Live - Lakini's Juice single 1
Live - Lakini's Juice single 2
Live - Maximum Live
Zevon, Warren - My Ride's Here
Zevon, Warren - Reconsider Me - The Love Songs
Blondie - Eat To The Beat (bonus tracks)
Mann, Aimee - The Forgotten Arm
Blue October - Foiled
Beck - The Information CD+DVD
Hunt, Van - On The Jungle Floor
Waits, Tom - Orphans 3CD
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward CD+DVD
Blondie - Picture This Live
Electronic - Get The Message - The Best Of
Harding, John Wesley Harding - The Love Hall Tryst - Songs Of Misfortune
Amos, Tori - Selections From A Piano - The Collection promo
Bush, Kate - King Of The Mountain single
Johnson, Jack - Better Together single
U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
Pretenders - Pretenders 2CD version
Soundtrack - The US vs. John Lennon
Daughtry - Daughtry
Evanescence - The Open Door
Harrison, George - Living In The Material World CD+DVD
Peacock, Alice - Who I Am
Sweet, Matthew & Susanna Hoffs - Under The Covers Vol. 1
Cure, The - The Head On The Door 2CD version
Glove, The - Blue Sunshine 2CD version
Soundtrack - Rocky Balboa - The Best Of Rocky
Spektor, Regina - Begin To Hope
Decemberists, The - The Crane Wife
Manic Street Preachers - There By The Grace Of God CD1 single
Beck - E-Pro single
Chapin, Jen - Ready
Carlile, Brandi - Brandi Carlile
Miller, Rhett - The Believer
Less Then Jake - In With The Out Crowd
Futureheads, The - News And Tributes
Barbeau, Anton - In The Village Of The Apple Sun
Barbeau, Anton and the Loud Family - What If It Works?
Barbeau, Anton - Drug Free
Casey, Marty and The Lovehammers - Marty Casey and the Lovehammers
Cars, The - Unlocked - The Live Performances CD+DVD
Partridge, Andy - Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Sampler
Partridge, Andy - Fuzzy Warbles Vol. 7
Partridge, Andy - Fuzzy Warbles Vol. 8
Partridge, Andy - Hinges
Crowded House - Farewell To The World - 10th Anniversary 2CD
Tell me what you think about this music here!
Lots of last-minute things to do before we leave on the SoCal trip tomorrow. We tok the dog to the kennel (Summercamp) and the cat to the other kennel (the Crazy Cat Lady). A few other errands and a lunch at Mel's Diner and then we were ready to start packing. We didn't waste time watching the Kings lose (Grr!). We shooting to leave early in the morning, we'll see how that works out.
Thursday January 18, 2007 -
We ordered our tickets to Cirque Du Soleil - Love (featuring the music of the Beatles). We'll go there in the spring. Then I picked up some food from the new Johnny Rockets near us and brought it home. Don't panic! We got it with the vegetarian Boca patties, not the standard dead ground cow. The onion rings were tasty. Now we're looking forward (a good direction to look) to leaving Sunday for the Southern California trip. Yow!
Seventy percent of Americans oppose sending more troops to Iraq! But our clueless president doesn't care what the American people want, he will go ahead anyway because he is too bullheaded to admit that he made a mistake by going there. The same survey says that just 35 percent of Americans think it was right for the United States to go to war. The country has woken up to this huge debacle. Too bad our 'leader' has not.
Monday January 15, 2007 -
The folks from Entertainment Centers Plus came by to take the final measurements for adding some cabinet space in the game room. Then we pretty much did regular domestic household stuff. Happy Martin Luther King Day!
Sunday January 14, 2007 -
The daughter's boyfriend Charlie celebrated his birthday today. Happy birthday!
Saturday January 13, 2007 -
Better than yesterday's 'holy crap' day. I finished putting together the metal workbench for Petra's studio. The box said 'assembles in minutes!' and sure enough, about 300 minutes later it was assembled. But it looks great and will be really helpful to have. We met friends Karl and Betty for dinner before the Kings game that we were all attending. We decided to eat at Center Court, the new restaurant owned by Chris Webber, the former King. We got there just before 5PM and already there was a wait. The receptionist told us 20 minutes and sure enough, about 45 minutes later we were seated. Those minutes can be funny, can't they? Anyway, the food was pretty good but a little pricey and the service could have used some improvement. Would I go again? Maybe. Then we all went to the Kings game and saw them lose. Sigh. They need some help, that is for sure. For afters, we stopped near the house at Bella Bru for a drink. Everything was pleasant since they were not crowded at all. The waitress had suggested a Merlot to Petra and she had a glass and said it was good. Imagine our surprise when we got the bill and the glass of wine was $12. Ouch! Petra mentioned something about how she could get six bottles of Two Buck Chuck for that but we held onto the good mood and in the process learned a valuable lesson. Ask the price!
Friday January 12, 2007 -
Holy crap. No, I mean really. What next? We went to Petra's regular appointment with the reconstructive surgeon. She has been having an issue with the implant and after an exam it turns out the doctor needs to remove it and replace it with a different one. That's right, another surgery (!) similar to the last one. Will this never end? And of course that means general anesthesia and those issues too. Not to mention the recovery period will start again, along with sessions of adding to the replacement implant. But the need for surgery was a shocker after all she has been through. It's been almost two years since the first surgery. Jeez Looeez! Words can't describe how we felt when we left the doctor's office.
Even a Zelda's Pizza and a bloody mary couldn't help that.
Thursday January 11, 2007 -
We were up in the footmountains visiting a friend and got back late for dinner. What to do, what to do... (sound of serious thinking). Ah, ha! Mexican food at 524. Didn't see you there...
Tuesday January 9, 2007 -
We went to the Kings game tonight. I'm not linking to them, you'll notice. They had a great first half and were up by 15 points at the half! They expanded that to 17 near the beginning of the third quarter. Then they imploded. It was awful to watch. Their third quarter was truly horrible and to make it worse Lebron James from the other team was making tough shot after tough shot. Before we could even grasp how truly bad it was, the Kings were down by about 15 points. They make a partial comeback in the late fourth quarter but too little too late and it couldn't erase the putrid play we had seen. We heard booing a number of times and it was just bone-ugly. Sad sad sad...
Sunday January 7, 2007 -
Larry and Robin hung out here until the mid-afternoon when they headed back to Santa Cruz. Between the four of us (and three laptop computers) we came up with some good ideas of what to do on the SoCal trip (Carlsbad, near San Diego). More about that when it gets closer. In the evening, we stayed low-key, had a good dinner, and caught up on General Hospital. Ha!
Saturday January 6, 2007 -
We spent far too long (and much!) at Costco but we got mostly useful items. Then later in the day our friends Larry and Robin came into town for a short trip. They were here to touch base with us and to start planning the Southern California trip the four of us are taking soon. Of course, first we had to eat, so we journeyed out to Todo Un Poco. Oh, it is good good good. Then we came back and started kicking around ideas for the trip. We may have have kicked around some wine-drinking techniques too. After a bit of that we watched the Kings game on television. Sigh. They lost, another close game where a couple missed free throws probably made the difference. Aaaargh!!
Friday January 5, 2007 -
It was a steady trail of people at the house today. First, the electrician came by about 7:30. Yes, AM. That's when he was scheduled to get to get the work done since there were multiple tasks. SOme of this stuff we had been wanting to do for 6 1/2 years since we moved in. We had a number of things we needed done and he seems to have done a good job on everything. One job is left but we are waiting for some lighting that is on order. In the meantime, he moved a light, move some switches, added a switch and plug for a new outdoor outlet, added a motion light in back, added an outlet in the laundry room, and added a number of outlets and also a 220 in the garage for Petra's studio. In the meantime, the pest control guy came out for the scheduled servicing. No sign of the ants for a while now but it's good to do a little preventative work too. Then the plumber came out to finish the sink. Unfortunately there's a problem with the sink and we need to get a different one. Ok. Lots of action in the house. Who else was there? Oh yeah, us!
In the evening we watched a DVD movie. It was Prime starring Meryl Steep and Uma Thurman. Meryl is always a pleasure and I usually like Uma too so why wasn't this comedy funnier? It was decent and intelligent in parts, probably worth a watch but I wouldn't pay much and I dount that I would watch it twice. The scenes between Streep and Thurman were pretty good.
Thursday January 4, 2007 -
We went to see the Sacramento Kings play their rivals the Lakers. The Kings were down by 20, then they caught up! Then they were ahead by 4 with only 6 seconds left. But the Lakers caught up and forced it into overtime. Yikes! The in overtime the Kings played ok but missed some clutch free throws and other shots and ended up losing a heartbreaker.
Tuesday January 2, 2007 -
Back to work. Argh!
Monday January 1, 2007 -
Happy New Year! Here's wishing you all the best for the new year. First off, to clarify. A few of you have asked if it is actually 'happy nude year". Well, no. You can do what you want but most of us will still be wearing clothes. Especially with this freakin' cold weather!! Anyway, hope you like the pig. Who doesn't like pigs? (Pigaphobics let me know here).Today we took the Christmas tree down. That is a big job because we had a big tree with lots of decorations on it. It's pretty messy too, but it's done now and the house is back to our version of normal. Afterwards we did a few minor projects in the guest bathroom to give it a little more of that wonderful "Yellow Submarine" look. Then we ordered some chinese food and settled in to finish watching The Break-Up. It had some moments but was not nearly as good as either of us expected. I'd say save your money. Now for some sleep. It's back to work tomorrow after more than a week off. The federal workers get tomorrow off in remembrance of ex-pres Ford, but us state employees don't get it. Oh, well.
Sunday December 31, 2006 -
New Year's Eve. We took it easy most of the day but went out for a great holiday dinner at Todo Un Poco. If you go, tell Marie, the owner, that the 'Punjabi People' sent you. Then we settled down to watch a couple movies while the rest of the world got drunk and celebrated. First, we watched The Family Stone, which had a talented cast and was an interesting 'weird family meets outsider' dramedy. Unfortunately one character dies from breast cancer and that hit a bit too close to home for Petra. So we moved on to The Break-Up. This movie got a LOT of press, mostly due to the romance between it's costars. It started out interesting with their relationship starting to deteriorate but in a funny way (Vince Vaughn played similar to Wedding Crashers but not quite as crazy). Then Petra fell asleep! So we'll watch the rest tomorrow.
Saturday December 30, 2006 -
We kept the granddaughters most of the day, until late afternoon, and let them watch the DVD of Cars. I thought it was brash and noisy and I lost interest in the story. They liked it though, and it WAS, after all, a kids movie.
Friday December 29, 2006 -
We watched the granddaughters tonight. They are really getting along a lot better and have become quite a pleasure. I read (for the last time this season?) to them before bed, How The Grinch Stole Christmas. They never seem to get tired of that story. After they went to bed, Petra and I watched a movie on DVD, Step Up. This find-romance-and-escape-the-hood-by-dancing movie was pretty slow and weak. It had a few moments but I wouldn't recommend it. It's all been done before and better. Did you see it and want to comment? Do it here.
Thursday December 28, 2006 -
Today is Denzel Washington's birthday. And mine too! I was old, now I'm older! We headed out in the early afternoon to see a movie, Rocky Balboa. Yep, they squeezed a sixth film out of the series, but surprise, it was pretty entertaining and probably the second best of the six. Sure, it was kind of predictable and for the heart and not the head but I still enjoyed watching it. Did you see it and want to comment? Do it here. We also ran an errand to get Petra some welder's glasses. Very styllish and she looks muy foxy in them. Yowza! And then for dinner, we headed over to El Novillero, some of the best Mexican Food in town (and Margaritas too)! I gotta get there more often!! And to wind down the famous day celebration, I watched General Hospital with Petra. Sigh...
Wednesday December 27, 2006 -
We took the grandkids home after spending much of the day with them. I went to the gym (every once in a while I do that) and then we headed out to see the Sacramento Kings. They played pretty well and won the game by a healthy margin. Yes!
Tuesday December 26, 2006 -
We kept the grandkids overnight last night and tonight too. They got to play with some new toys and you know how kids like that! In sad news, James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, passed away. Rest in peace, JB. Watch him here, check it out, from way back in the day. And also former president Gerald Ford died. I wasn't a fan, and never forgave him for pardoning Richard Nixon, but my best to his surviving family. Now to eat some leftovers!
Monday December 25, 2006 -
So this is Christmas. Finally. It cost a small fortune and we worked our butts off but it is all worth it, right? Well, yes and no. First off, I am glad it is over. Very glad. And thank you to everyone for all the wonderful gifts!
The good: Petra is alive and well and feeling better than anytime since her diagnosis and treatment. Andrea is back in town and we are closer than we have been for years. The grandkids are great and they love us a lot. My 95-year old grandmother Daisy was here and was very happy to see us and be a part of the holiday. We invited some friends (including their 7-year old son) who had no family in town and had sadly been evicted on Christmas Eve. They had a good time.
The unfortunate: My mom and dad weren't able to be here, since my mom's back pain was too strong to travel across town. Also, Petra's mom and dad were out of town so we did not see them either. And my niece and her husband were out of town too so we missed them as well.
The not so good: Much of the family left minutes after dinner ended, not even waiting for desert. Some seemed uncomfortable (or maybe just distracted) much of the time that they were here. The whole thing had an unfortunate air of obligation hanging over it. One member of the family did have to take my grandmother home but I asked him to come back to visit a while, which didn't happen. Instead, my sister and brother went over to my mom and dad's and they all ended up having a sort of second Christmas event that we were not able to attend since the regular family Christmas was still going on at our house. Anyway, we did a lot of work and went to a lot of expense but you can't force people to have a good time, I guess. Andrea also went to a lot of work cooking and it didn't really seem appreciated by everyone. It didn't make any of us feel very happy that people didn't want to stay and visit on Christmas.
But anyway, thank you to everyone for all the wonderful gifts. And things will be different next year, I guarantee it.
And it could always be worse. If you want to see a REALLY disfunctional family, check out Home For The Holidays. Rent it with an open mind and enjoy!
Sunday December 24, 2006 -
Last chance to get everything done, including the beginnings of the big meal. Andrea is doing most of the cooking but we started getting some snacks together along with cleaning and finishing up everything else. Whew! Also, happy birthday to Brian T.
Saturday December 23, 2006 -
We had the granddaughters overnight yesterday through this afternoon. In between and around we wrapped gifts, cleaned, shopped, and otherwise prepared for the big day.
Thursday December 21, 2006 -
It gets closer, we get busier. That is Marx's third law of physics. Luckily we are off work from today through the end of the year. Yes! We spent some time wrapping some gifts and then we surprised our granddaughter Josephine by picking her up from school. We dropped her at her house but she was sure glad to see us. I made a side trip over to Tower Records, their last day in the the last Sacramento location. So sad. I picked up seven new CDs for a little over nine dollars, so it was a good trip overall, but a landmark Sacramento business will be gone. If I had a dollar for every hour I spent in a Tower Records, I would be a rich man indeed. We headed out to one of our favorite restaurants, Todo Un Poco, to arrange for a couple Punjabi Pizzas (try it, you'll love it) to be ready for pickup for part of our upcoming Christmas dinner. Of course, we had to stay and eat too.
Wednesday December 20, 2006 -
After work, still more $%^!*# holiday shopping!!! This could get expensive! And tonight late we ended up at BJ's Brewhouse where we had a coupon for a free appetizer. Of course, we bought some other food and drinks so it wasn't exactly free. But we did save some cash on a tasty spinach and artichoke dip / chip combo. If you like dark beer try their Tatonka Stout. Mmmm.
Tuesday December 19, 2006 -
After work, more $%^!*# holiday shopping! Arrrgh! But at the end of a long evening we did grab some 524 Mexican Food and a couple beverages and it was all ok again.
Monday December 18, 2006 -
The exterminator will come Wednesday when I am home teleworking. Good.
Sunday December 17, 2006 -
Needless to say (but say it anyway) it was a late night last night. But that didn't slow us down. The next morning, actually closer to noon, about fourteen or us stragglers from the party made our way to Zachary's restaurant for breakfast. The Mike's Mess (substitute artichoke hearts for the bacon, a pig will thank you) is a great breakfast. Later in the day we headed home after having a great weekend. Thanks L&R for the hospitality. Maybe we should have stayed because when we got into ouy kitchen we saw ants all over the counter. There are very few things I hate more than having ants. We killed some and put some traps out and made a mental note to call the exterminator in the morning.
Saturday December 16, 2006 -
For a good part of the day, we stayed out of the way and also helped a bit with some last-minute party preparations. Larry and I took a trip to the store to get some special bread for the party and down the street from there we picked up lunch to go for the four of us at Charlie Hong Kong. Check this place out if you are in Santa Cruz or at look look at their web site. Fast, organic, mostly vegan, and delicious.
In the evening it was time for the annual Larry and Robin Holiday Party. Yes, people actually drive down all the way to Santa Cruz for it, because it is always such a great event. I'm guessing there were about 30-40 people there but I didn't count. You can view the 2006 pictures here. Pay particular attention to the pink, stacking, plastic pigs. We brought those. Just like that old saying, "you can't miss if you got some plastic pigs". And history bufffs out there may be interested in some photos of an earlier, Sacramento-based party that they had in 1998. No pigs back then but still big fun!
Friday December 15, 2006 -
On the road again... Yep, we headed down to Santa Cruz for Robin and Larry's annual holiday party tomorrow night. We are going down a day early to wreak untold havoc on their holiday plans. Ha! We dropped the dog at the doggie hilton (kennel) and stopped for a quick snack at Jimboys. Then we were off. Some people think we have been off for years, but that's a different story (pause for laughter). Anyway, as you can see from the beautifully crappy cell phone photo here, we are, as I said before, on the road again...!For dinner, the four of us took a trip to a Sri Lanken restaurant, very close to Indian food and we all had vegetarian. And good stuff! Thanks, guys. You know, just thinking about it makes me kind of thirsty for a good red wine. Hmmm, let's see...
And in case you wanted to see some pre-party preparation, look no further:
Thursday December 14, 2006 -
We both took today off because we have too too too much to do. This holiday season is so hectic. First we had a friend of a friend come out and do a small drywall job to patch up where we had the plumbing done for the garage sink. He actually showed up!! And did the job! Yahooey!! Then we headed to nearby Davis to take Petra's car in for 10000 mile servicing. We dropped it off and headed out to see what else we could accomplish. We stopped for lunch at a new Mel's Diner that is opening near us. The sign said 'opening soon', but there were people coming out so we asked them if the place was open. They said "Yes, and it's free!" Well, that was all we needed to hear. We went in and apparently they were having a soft opening where they didn't let people know they were open but spent a couple hours serving people free lunches to train the staff. So, we were glad to help, by ordering a couple veggie meunster and blue cheese burgers with onion rings and a couple shakes. Yep, a $32 lunch. Free! There IS such a thing as a free lunch!! Then we headed back out for shopping. We picked up some supplies for Petra's glass studio and then it was out to meet the ghost of Christmas present head on. The crowds, the cost, the craziness. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Cost Plus wasn't too crowded and that was fine but then Target was less fun. But we got a lot done. Good thing since we are going out of town for the weekend.
Wednesday December 13, 2006 -
Another day, another contractor. Will they call? Will they show up? Well, yes, the electrician actually showed up and took notes about what we wanted done. But will he actually call back with an estimate? We'll see. In the evening we had dinner with friends and former neighbors Karl and Betty. We had some good Thai food at Taste Of Thai. Sadly, Karl ate a defenseless lamb, but the rest of us had more sense. HA! Anyway, it was nice to visit with them.
Tuesday December 12, 2006 -
In the evening we went to the PACER holiday gathering, an annual get together for adoptees, adoptive parents, and birthparents. Everyone was very nice and we had a good time. To learn more about PACER in Sacramento click here. BTW, Petra and I do their web site, check it out!!
On a political note, a Washington Post-ABC News poll shows seven in 10 Americans disapprove of the way the president is handling the situation in Iraq -- the highest percentage since the March 2003 invasion. Six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting. Meanwhile president Bush's approval hovers somewhere around 31%. and Iraq is in chaos. And most of the world either hates us or else thinks our president is an idiot. Or both. And that is after four years plus of people dying and being maimed for nothing. Listen to the American people, King George. Your country wants you out of Iraq! And so do most of the Iraqis, as if we would even listen to them, after all it is just their country! Sigh.
Monday December 11, 2006 -
George the plumber did most of the work to install our sink in the garage. But now we need a contrator to do a little bit of drywall. Do you know how hard it is to get someone to show up at all?
Sunday December 10, 2006 -
Happy Birthday to Betty!! We had the granddaughters most of the day and then after we dropped them off we headed over to 524 Mexican Food to end the day on a tasty note. Man, that salsa is hot!
Saturday December 9, 2006 -
We finished decorating the tree with the girls. They had another great time. They watched the DVD of 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' a few more times too.
Friday December 8, 2006 -
Larry and Robin drove into town for Robin's work holiday party tomorrow night. But they came in early to spend tonight with us and the girls (granddaughters). We all decorated the tree and the girls really had fun!
Thursday December 7, 2006 -
We saw the Kings play the Miami Heat tonight. The Kings looked pretty lost and weak for a lot of the game but still stayed close. And then in the last few minutes they went on a royal run to tie the game and send it into overtime! But they got outplayed and there were some questionable call in regulation and also near the end of the overtime. But the bottom line is that the Kings offense was confused and random and Miami has Dwayne Wade and played better. The Kings lost in a heartbreaker.
Tuesday December 5, 2006 -
Work continues on volume five of the annual xmas CD. We hope to finish it before christmas. And a happy birthday to Petra's Dad. Tonight the Kings had a back to back road game in Phoenix. A recipe for disaster. You bet. It was awful, though the Suns looked pretty good.
Monday December 4, 2006 -
We got our tree and it is a nice one. We'll decorate it this weekend when the kids are around. And we went to the Kings game tonight only to see them lose. Sigh.
Sunday December 3, 2006 -
We went with the daughter, Andrea, and her family while they picked out a christmas tree. We looked for one too but didn't find one that rose to Petra's tree standards. But we will look again another day, most likely tomorrow, in our annual search for the perfect tree. On another note, Petra's Mom and Dad came home after a 37 day cruise all over South America and the vicinity, including Penguin territory. Yep, 37 days. That is one l-o-n-g cruise. I can't even imagine how big I would be after all that cruise food. But they had a good time, so, welcome back!
Saturday December 2, 2006 -
We had granddaughter Josephine for the day and overnight. We ran errands a good portion of the day and then took her to, you guessed it, 524 Mexican Food in the evening. She devoured a quesadilla. And before bed it was a rousing reading of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I don't think she had heard that before and she really seemed to enjoy it. Yes, you're a mean one, Mister Grinch...
Friday December 1, 2006 -
Happy birthday to Woody Allen, a great filmmaker and a funny guy too. His most recent, Scoop, was a funny if light comedy and his film before that, Match Point, was one of the best dramatic films in recent years. Completely unrelated, the Kings had a road game in Dallas tongight and lost badly. But Petra and I had a great dinner at Taste Of Thai so everything turned out a-ok.
Thursday November 30, 2006 -
Out late running errands. No time to get home and make dinner. After 8:30 already. You guessed it... 524 Mexican food. We love it. Let us know when and we'll meet you there!
Tuesday November 28, 2006 -
The Kings beat LA! The Clippers that is...
Monday November 27, 2006 -
Bugs can drive you, well, buggy. That's why the exterminator was here today. Every two months and as needed (if) in between.
Sunday November 26, 2006 -
The kids went home and so we decided to do a bit of holiday shopping. This of course worked up quite an appetite so we had to have dinner at 524 Mexican Food. Hey, you gotta eat, right??
Saturday November 25, 2006 -
Larry and Robin went home but the grandkids are here for the night. The two girls anyway. We sold our tickets to the Kings game and will be doing that grandparent thing. Including the reading of a Dr Suess classic tale before bed.
Friday November 24, 2006 -
The day after Thanksgiving is an official holiday for us state employees, so why not celebrate again? Larry and Robin are still staying with us, and we also invited Karl and Betty over and we all ate some very tasty leftovers. And lots of them. And did I mention the three deserts?! After dinner we all went up to the nearby Borders Books for their open mic night. Only a few people performed and no one was really that great but it was still fun and I think everyone enjoyed it. Then Larry, Karl, and I came back to watch the Kings game on the big screen TV while the ladies went over to Kohls for some shopping. Once they came back we had a glass of wine, or was it two, and visited for a while. A very enjoyable evening!
Thursday November 23, 2006 -
Thanksgiving Day. Our best to all family and friends. We spent it with our daughter Andrea and her family (see family), as well as friends Larry and Robin and their son Brian. We had the traditional meal (just like the pilgrims), of Tofurky and Tofu Nut Loaf. Ok, ok, maybe it wasn't exactly what they ate. But it was damn good! Oh, yeah, and stuffing, mashed potatoes (real), two kinds of gravy, salad, yams (or were they sweet potatoes?), cream corn, rolls, and three deserts. Yeah, baby, that's what I'm talking about!
And on a bit more serious note, we are very very happy and very very thankful to have our daughter and her family back in California, living less than two miles away.
Wednesday November 22, 2006 -
Larry and Robin drove into town for the weekend. Larry is missing watching the Kings games since he moved to Santa Cruz, but we got them tickets for tonights game. And the Kings won! Before the game we all had a delicious dinner at Taste Of Thai. My entree was known as the Evil Jungle Prince, and I highly recommend this red curry with various vegetables and tofu, over rice, spiced medium. Mmmmm.
Tuesday November 21, 2006 -
Petra had an appointment at the eye doctor today. It was a work day. Well not all these updates can be exiting!
Sunday November 19, 2006 -
We picked up granddaughters Josephine and Jasmine in the late morning for a visit with us. Then, later in the day, their parents (our daughter and her boyfriend) and their brother Raziel came over (see family). We all had some pizza and salad for dinner and then Charlie and I went to the Kings game. Andrea stayed and hung out with Petra and the kids. Charlie hadn't been to a Kings game and he seemed to enjoy it. Too bad the Kings got beat! But we did see the Spurs and Tim Duncan, who looked great. Meanwhile, the kids watched a dvd, Madagascar, and it went over very well.
Saturday November 18, 2006 -
Today is RegDay. As we do every year, Petra and I staffed an information table at our nearby Borders Books. Check out the RegDay web site for more info about this important event. Did I mention that Petra is the National Coordinator? And there must have been a Sacramento Kings vibe happening too, because on our lunch break we saw #93 Ron Artest at the restaurant and then back at our RegDay table who should walk by but #10 Mike Bibby!
Friday November 17, 2006 -
Now that we have the garage cabinets and work areas installed, we need an electrician to put in some extra outlets. So we spent most of today working in the garage moving stuff around and trying to fill our new cabinets. We wanted everything in place before the electrician showed up 'between three and four'. That even left us time for a quick trip to the WEAVE thrift store to donate some unneeded items. Our anticipation turned to anger when not only didn't the electrician show up but he didn't even call. What is up with that? I'll try to find his name so that you call boycott him too! They make you re-arrange your whole schedule and stay home, and then they don't even have the courtesy to call? Argh! He should be locked in a pit with a talkative insurance salesman! And with only anchovies to eat! And no water!!Thursday November 16, 2006 -
Today was the quarterly meeting with the oncologist. And: Good News! Petra's blood work and exam are fine and there is no sign of any problem. In the evening we went to the movies. I won tickets to an advance showing of Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie. It was pretty entertaining, except for one slow warm and fuzzy sequence in the middle, and the actions scenes were very well done. The characters, well, were cartoonish, but maybe less so that a typical Bond film. And there were a few plot twists but you know what you are getting in a Bond film and this one delivers. The new actor playing Bond was good and the rest of the cast were certainly adequate at least. The requisite Bond Girl wasn't anything special but she did ok. I haven't seen many Bond films for a long time so maybe I am not a great judge, and this is not a great all-time classic film, but I did like this for what it was. Not much thinking required, cliched characters, and great action. I'd recommend it for nice escapist fun.
Wednesday November 15, 2006 -
The garage cabinets were installed today. The cabinet installers were fast and professional and the new cabinets look great and hold a lot of stuff. This will help us get organized! Also, one side of the garage has a couple workbenches along with cabinets and drawers for Petra to use for her studio for her glass work. It's a nice setup, come by and check it out.
Monday November 13, 2006 -
Twenty years. Yes, that's right. Twenty years. Today is our anniversary and we are getting ready to start the next twenty! Happy anniversary to us!!! We kept the celebrating low-key (as far as you know) but we did go out for a nice, leisurely dinner to Todo Un Poco, a restaurant in nearby Laguna that we both love. Excuse us while we gaze lovingly into each other's eyes...
Sunday November 12, 2006 -
I spent most of the day moving things around in the garage so that the cabinet installers would have room to do their thing. It will be nice to have more storage and be a bit more organized. Petra and Jasmine played and hung out and Jasmine rode her bike out front for a while. After that, we took Jasmine home. The daughter, Andrea, invited us to her place for an anniversary dinner, a day early. How cool, how nice, how thoughtful of her. And it was all vegetarian even! Yes! Thanks so much, Andrea. Afterwards, we stopped at the grocery store and then headed home to watch the Sacramento Kings game, with we had recording on the DVR. They won again!
Saturday November 11, 2006 -
We ran some errands and then we picked up the granddaughter Jasmine. She's spending the night. I wonder what Dr. Suess book I should read to her? If you have any ideas, for next time, let me know here.
Friday November 10, 2006 -
Another day, another ounce of saline. Yep, the big syringe and an implant fill for Petra. She's almost done with all this, finally. Thankfully she is feeling really good, the best in about two years. Yay!!
Thursday November 9, 2006 -
We had dinner with Karl and Betty at BJ's here in Natomas. We hadn't seen our former neighbors for a while so it was nice to visit with them. They finally found a new house, in El Dorado Hills, now they just have to wait until it's finished with the construction. Let's hope they are getting a place that will make them happy. I am looking forward to seeing it. Oh, and the dinner was good too!
Wednesday November 8, 2006 -
Now Bush is talking all "bi-partisan". HA! Real funny, Dubya! Where was that stuff the last six years when you were ruling the land with not a care about the Democrats except wanting to destroy them. It's a different story now that you will need them, huh? Come on and crawl, I hope they slam the door in your face. And the first shoe dropped today. A week or two ago Bush said that Rumsfeld will be Secretary of Defense for the rest of the Bush administration, two more years, and was doing a great job. But after the powerful message from the polls yesterday about this awful war (among other things), all of a sudden Rummy has resigned! HAHA! And now all of a sudden Bush is open to new ideas about Iraq. What a transparent fool.
And then in the evening we moved the stuff in our garage around. Still wanting those garage cabinets.
Tuesday November 7, 2006 -
Election Day. This is usually a disappointing day for me, since the nation turned ultra-right wing some years ago. We have had six years of a bumbling, lying, incompetent President and a corrupt, sleazy, rubber-stamp Republican congress. But maybe that nightmare is starting to end. Today, the Democrats captured control of the both House Of Representatives AND the US Senate! Finally there will be some checks and balances instead of powermad Republicans running (and ruining) everything. Ultra right wingnuts like Santorum, Pombo, and many others were voted out and replaced with Democrats. It was a huge victory, and even the balance of state governorships moved strongly Democrat. No sitting Democrat lost but a lot of sitting Republicans did. How sweet and yes, I am gloating. You bet I am. The people sent a powerful message to Bush and his henchmen that the war is a disaster and that we have had enough of Republican corruption. We sent them a message that the environment IS important and that it is time for a big change in priorities. No more reactionary judicial appointments and no more governing for just the rich and powerful. This is the best election I can remember in a long time. Bush is now a lame duck, instead of just lame like he has been for the rest of his career in politics. I am one happy camper.
On the other hand, it is never a total victory. The cancer (er, I mean tobacco) industry and also the oil industry bought the vote on two measures that would have stuck it to them, and right wing loony John Doolittle won, though barely. All in all, I was satisfied with WAY more than not, and I think the message was loud and clear all accross the land. It is time for a change. In fact, it is way passed time.
Monday November 6, 2006 -
The Sacramento Kings had their home opener tonight and they won it. They looked surprisingly good on defense too, which is something that you couldn't say in previous years. I'm liking this new coach so far.
Saturday November 4, 2006 -
We took granddaughters Josephine and Jasmine to a children's play, The Three Meowsketeers. Jossephine was spellbound and Jamine was nearly that, they both really liked it. We'll have to do this again. We are keeping the kids overnight tonight. Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, the Kings lost a stinker of a game.
Friday November 3, 2006 -
We took a wine/limo trip with Cal and Laura today. We stopped at Villa Toscano, Bella Piazza, Story, Deaver, and Montevina wineries (more info on wineries in that area). We picked up some wine futures that we had bought long ago and of course bought more. The trip included a nice lunch and at the end of the day we ended up back at Cal and Laura's for some pizza dinner. It was a nice day and we all enjoyed it. Meanwhile, in Chicago, the Sacramento Kings got a road win.
Wednesday November 1, 2006 -
The Sacramento Kings opened the 2006-07 season on the road with a stinker of a loss. The game was competitive until the fourth quarter when the Kings imploded and made turnover after turnover. Then Mike Bibby lost his cool and got ejected. Sigh. Hopefully there is a lot they can learn from this game. The next game, also on the road, is Friday.
Monday October 30, 2006 -
We had a guy come out to give us an estimate on garage cabinets. The excitement never stops here at stevenology.com!
Sunday October 29, 2006 -
We drove to San Francisco, about 90-100 miles, to see a concert at The Warfield, a small-to-medium theater on Market Street. The area around the theater is a bit seedy and it was dark, so we drove around and parked on the least-seedy side of Market. We walked passed the adult stores, the people hanging out in front, and some homeless with no incidents at all. The line stretched about two blocks when we arrived, looping into the less-desirable Tenderloin area. There were 30-40 or more homeless folks and others hanging out there on the street, looking very down on their luck, more than I was used to seeing in one area. But they didn't bother us and the line moved fairly quickly. We had reserved seats, not the general admission on the floor, so we were not worried about getting in. The show was sold out for quite a while because the headline act, Evanescence, is very popular right now. Check out what the All Music Guide has to say about them. We bought a drink and some surprisingly decent food and then headed to our seats. The opening act, Revelation Theory, was playing. They were loud and rocked hard, though there was some melody too. They were not bad but sounded like a lot of other bands. Then a short break and then Evanescence came on. Singer Amy Lee looked lovely and seemed more at ease on stage than when we saw them a few years ago at Bumbershoot. Her voice was gorgeous. They did songs from both their new album and their older one, including Bring Me To Life, Call Me When You're Sober, Going Under, Sweet Sacrifice, My Immortal, etc. The musicians were very good and Amy was in fine voice. The new bass player is a Sacramento lad and he did a great job. My only complaint was that they only played about an hour and 15-20 minutes and that included the encore. But they were tight and strong and their computerized lighting was state-of-the-art. Their new album provides some songs that start to stray from the 'all the songs sound the same' weakness that dogged their earlier album. I enjoyed the show and would gladly see them again.
Your thoughts about the band or the show?
And of course the music message board is here
Saturday October 28, 2006 -
Josephine went home in the early evening and then Petra and I went out to Luna's Cafe. We had some food and then the music started. First was an un-announced act, a guitarist/singer that did four or five songs. Then the supposed opening act, Anton Barbeau, came out. He played a fun set of an hour or so, mixing his weird and quirky pop with local guitarist Steve Randall's hot licks and harmonies. Then David Houston and The Crystinas came out and played the rest of the evening until midnight. They were a bit low-key but good. The whole evening was fun, some of the crowd was dressed in Halloween costumes, and there was a general good vibe there to go with the good music.
Friday October 27, 2006 -
We sold tonight's Kings tickets (still pre-season) so that we could go to granddaughter Josephine's school carnival. The kids had a good time playing the various games and winning prizes and candy. They were pretty excited. And who wouldn't be with a cake walk, 'fishing' for prizes, a stuffed frog toss, cotton candy, a magician, and more. Then she came back with us and we kept her overnight.
Tuesday October 24, 2006 -
I had a nice lunch with John M today at Amarin Thai. As usual, the food was very good. Glad you enjoyed the Tom Petty show, John. Keep reminding me to get you that new CD of his. In the evening, Petra and I went to see the Sacramento Kings. It is still the preseason. Good thing, too, since they lost. Two of their starters are hurt and they just didn't have enough 'ooomph'.
Monday October 23, 2006 -
Larry and Robin headed back to Santa Cruz and I headed back to work. But first was a stop at the Toyota dealer. The 'tire pressure' light has been coming on for one of our vehicles. I have filled one of the tires a couple times and I suspected a slow leak. No, not the kind the government does ;-) Anyway, after about and hour and $16 later, turns out that two tires had nails in them. The left front had one that had not penetrated the tire, so they just removed that one. But the left rear (my prime suspect) did, indeed, have a problem. They patched it quickly and I was on my way. Later in the day we got an estimate about building some additional CD storage. It is either that or stop buying music. I wonder which one we will choose? The suspense is almost unbearable!
Sunday October 22, 2006 -
Petra and I had lunch at a new Thai restaurant that opened up nearby us, Taste Of Thai. We had different items and we both agreed that it was VERY good and that we will go back. We spent a big chunk of the afternoon shopping at Costco, crowded as usual on a Sunday afternoon. Then after a little time back at the ranch (ok, house), we headed out with Larry and Robin to have dinner with Petra's parents. They had invited the four of us. We were good guests and took a couple bottles of very nice wine, a Bouregard Pinot Noir and a Villa Toscano 2004 Syrah, to the restaurant Hana Tsubaki. The vegetable tempura was great and it was a nice dinner that everyone enjoyed.
Saturday October 21, 2006 -
We had a garage sale (or was it a yard sale?) and got rid of a bunch of useless crap, er, I mean priceless antiques and collectibles. The daughter (see family) brought some stuff over that she no longer needed and she sold some of that too. And that meant the grandkids were over too, adorable little tykes. After a long day of garage sale-ing, we had some pizza and relaxed a bit. Later in the evening, friends Larry and Robin came into town for the weekend.
Friday October 20, 2006 -
Another visit to the reconstructive surgeon. He took care of a suture issue for Petra. No fill from the big syringe today. Next time. Then, in the evening, we went to the first Sacramento Kings home game for the season. Ok, ok, it is the pre-season, I know. But it was still fun and they won!
Monday October 16, 2006 -
Petra's mom stopped by for a while on her way to pick Petra's dad up at the airport.
Sunday October 15, 2006 -
Finally! A list of the music we bought on our recent trip to Seattle, Portland, and the great northwest. I still don't have the pictures ready. But here's the music. Most of it was used, some as low as 99 cents. But some were new too so prices really varied. Tell me what you think about these items here.
Metric - Live It Out CD
Rigby, Amy - The Sugar Tree CD
Lauper, Cyndi - The Body Acoustic CD/DVD dualdisc
Rae, Corinne Bailey - Corinne Bailey Rae CD
Maktub - Khronos CD
Dashboard Confessional - Dusk And Summer CD
O'Connor, Sinead - Throw Down Your Arms CD
O'Connor, Sinead - Collaborations CD
Jewel - Goodbye Alice In Wonderland CD
Panic At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out CD
Mon Frere - Blood Sweat & Swords CD (autographed)
Parker, Graham - Your Country CD
Gray, Tamyra - The Dreamer CD
Milk And Honey Band, The - The Secret Life Of CD
INXS - Switch CD
D'Arby, Terence Trent - Wild Card CD
Novelle Vague - Novelle Vague CD
Novelle Vague - Bande A Part CD (limited edition)
Derby - This Is The New You CD
Bowie, David - Earthling In The City CD EP
Frankenrieter, Donovan, Jack Johnson, G Love - Some Live Songs CD EP
Franti, Michael - Rock The Nation CD single
Blunt, James - Goodbye My Lover CD single
Johnson, Jack - Taylor CD single
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy 7" vinyl picture disc
Walt Disney - Story Of Mary Poppins 7" vinyl with booklet
Mellencamp, John Cougar - Small Paradise 12" vinyl promo
Black Eyed Peas, The - Let's Get It Started 12" vinyl
Well?
A new CNN poll shows that 64% of the country disapproves of the way Dubya is handling the Iraq situation. Nearly two-thirds of the country! Of course he will never admit his mistakes, no matter how many people die because of them. Sigh.
Saturday October 14, 2006 -
We met the daughter and her family, including grandkids, at the pumpkin patch. Josephine and Jasmine had a great time collecting pumpkins! Of course, they wanted them all, but easily settled for a big one and a little one each. There was a hay ride, a corn maze, a hay maze, a hay bale pyramid about 20 feet high to climb on, and other attractions. Big fun. The hay maze was about three and a half feet high, so it was good for kids but kind of easy for adults. The corn maze was over six feet high so it was good for everyone. It was a fun afternoon and everyone had a good time, adults and kids too.
After the rest of the gang took off for their home, Petra and I headed over to Tower Records. They are going out of business, which is very sad, so we went to pick at the carcass. I expected the sales to be better (15%?, 20%? doesn't seem like enough) but we did manage to find a few items anyway. We'll go back in a week or two when the sales get bigger. By then it was about 8:00 PM and we were starved so we zipped over to 524 Mexican Food for a low-key, quick, relatively cheap, and very tasty meal. Chili rellenos, I salute you. Then I eat you. ;-)
Friday October 13, 2006 -
Hmmm. Friday the 13th came on a Friday this month. Don't think too hard about that. I worked but Petra watched granddaughter Jasmine today (see family). We are keeping her overnight.
Thursday October 12, 2006 -
We had a nice dinner at Thai Basil with friend John M. - Nice to see you, John, we had a nice time and we need to do this again. And yes, I think the Kings will make the playoffs ;-)
Wednesday October 11, 2006 -
Petra got her hair cut today. Just some thinning and a trim, not like that chemo haircut (see 1 and 2).
Tuesday October 10, 2006 -
Dentist appointment. Not much fun. Our dentist's office is pretty much all nice, friendly women and that helps, but still, it is a dentist's office.
Monday October 9, 2006 -
We delivered Mom's birthday gift and had a nice visit with her and Dad (see family). Even ex-sister-in-law Connie showed up and it was good to see her too, it has been quite a while. Anyway, nice visiting with you Mom and Dad if you read this! In the evening we had dinner with ex-neighbors and still-friends Karl and Betty (see friends). They are still looking for their new dream house, but in the meantime we had a nice leisurely dinner at BJ's. The deep-dish Spinach Artichoke pizza was great too.
Sunday October 8, 2006 -
Happy birthday, Mom! (see family).
In the afternoon we worked in the yard with Josephine for a while and then I went over to her place and helped Charlie put together Josephine's new dresser. It's pink, the one she wanted. Then in the evening we went to the Sacramento Kings Fandemonium, an annual event for season ticket holders. The new coach talked to us, we watched the team do some sprints and drills, then the Kings played a four-short-quarters game against other members of their team. They look good so far. Now the pre-season can start ;-)
Saturday October 7, 2006 -
We are watching the granddaughter Josephine (see family) today and tonight. She is adorable. Talks quite a bit, but still hard to resist.
Friday October 6, 2006 -
Today was the regularly scheduled appointment with the reconstructive surgeon. Petra is healing well and since the doctor was not able to do a complete saline fill at the time of the last surgery, he now needed to add a little extra. That's what the valve is for, at least for a few months. He added an ounce, using our old friend the big syringe, and we go back in two weeks to see where things stand and decide what's next.
Thursday October 5, 2006 -
Another day, another dollar. Petra had support group tonight and me met before that and had a meal at Cafe Bernardo midtown.
Monday October 2, 2006 -
Petra met with the reconstructive surgeon. This was a hastily-arranged appointment made last week due to pain from the valve for the adjustable implant. Of course, by the time the appointment arrived, the pain was considerably less. He offered medication and we see him again on Friday for the regular follow-up appointment.
Sunday October 1, 2006 -
Our friends left for home early Sunday, and Petra and I ventured downtown to the Farmers Market. This location is huge, with many many farmers selling fruits, vegetarbles, cheese, bread, flowers, and more. We bought a bunch of food and headed home. Then we went to the daughter's house and picked up the granddaughters to come over and spend the day at our house. We had a nice visit with them, they played on the swing set, worked puzzles, and did those kid things. After dinner we took them back home.
Saturday September 30, 2006 -
The four of us ventured up into the foothills for the El Dorado County Studio Tour 06, a driving tour of many artists works, at their homes and some grouped together. We saw lots of art, from paintings to sculpture to glass work. There is a lot of artistic talent in the area. One show of four or so artists was at a huge house with the coolest backyard we had ever seen. Huge, and landscaped on a hill with many defined areas and features. Most locations had snacks but that didn't stop us from a quick side trip to nearby Apple Hill for some pie at a place called "Grandpas Cellar". We never did see Grandpa unless he was the teenage girl that served us the pie.
Then it was back to the art tour. During the day, we visited Nita, an artist friend of Petra's from the glass classes she took. We also ran into Susan, an artist friend of Larry and Robin's. She suggested dinner so we went to a delicious mexican food restaurant nearby. On the way home, we briefly visited Brian, L&R's son, and viewed a video of his 'idiot ex-roommate' throwing a computer monitor off a second floor roof. We all agreed it was a stupid thing to do, but it did point out just how many parts there are in a monitor, since they were all over the place in the lot next door. Brian (without his stupid ex-roommate) is part of The Evening Episode. Anyway, the art tour was very enjoyable. We didn't get to see every artist but maybe next year...
Friday September 29, 2006 -
After work, Petra, myself, and Larry and Robin went out to dinner at Todo Un Poco. The Punjabi pizza is one of Petra's favorites and for good reason.
Thursday September 28, 2006 -
Larry and Robin came into town to visit and also to take care of some business items for Robin's business company. They showed up at the house in the evening, to stay a few days. We talked and then headed over to 524 Mexican Food for a tasty meal.
Now it turns out that the majority of the Iraqi people actually approve of attacks against US troops! Why in the H#$% are we still there? Read a great article about it here.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, Petra is still having some pain from the valve for the implant. It comes and goes depending on how she moves. She'll be seeing the doctor on Monday about it. Hopefully he can help with that.
Tuesday September 26, 2006 -
I won free movie tickets for an advance preview tonight. The movie was 'The Guardian', starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kushner. It was kind of an old-fashioned action/drama, using lots of movie cliches that you've seen before. But it was still pretty entertaining and I enjoyed it. Kostner was fine and Kushner even showed some acting ability in parts. Nothing ground-breaking but old fashioned entertainment. Wanna know more? The official web site is here and Rotten Tomatoes (a great site) has a page of reviews here.
Sunday September 24, 2006 -
Petra's parents invited us to go with them to see a play and have dinner. Nice of them. The play was in Davis, a performance of West Side Story. It was entertaining, though we had some trouble hearing some of the dialog. Still enjoyable. Then we all had dinner, with some of their friends too, at the Freeport Inn. A lot of pasta for us! Thanks to the in-laws for the day.
Saturday September 23, 2006 -
We took the kids home around 1PM and then grabbed a quick bite at Jimboys Tacos. Then we headed to Amador county to pick up our quarterly wine shipment. They will also mail it, but this way saves the shipping fee and it's really pretty country up there. The drive, about an hour or so, makes for a nice but not too long getaway. We headed to Montevina Winery and picked up our wine. We also tasted a few of their other reds. They make some nice Zinfandels. Then we had a little time before closing so we headed to nearby Villa Toscano Winery. We tried the Barbera futures (next years release, of which we have a case on order) to see how the wine was coming along. Very nicely, in case you were wondering. They were having a half-price special on their Shenandoah Valley Zinfandel and that is a huge bargain so we picked up a case of that. It is SO good.
Then it was time to head back to Sacramento. But surprise, the police had set up a sobriety checkpoint on the way back from the wineries! And they were stopping every car! I hadn't had that much wine so I just told the truth and they let us on our merry way. Like my great great great granddaddy always said, 'the truth will set you free'. Or was it 'never eat anything bigger than your head'? I forget. Anyway, on the way back, we swung by Karl and Betty's new temporary house in the new Anatolia development. They were not home but we called them on their cell and met them, along with Betty's sister Carol, at Garcia's for a nice Mexican dinner and a chance to catch up since we hadn't seen them in a while.
Friday September 22, 2006 -
This is my RDO (regular day off). I work longer days so that I get every other Friday off. In the late morning we picked up granddaughter Jasmine (see family) and had a few hours for her to play and visit at our house. While she was napping, I picked up granddaughter Josephine and both girls spent the night. They especially enjoyed my impassioned reading of the Dr. Seuss classic 'Bartholomew And The Oobleck'.
Wednesday September 20, 2006 -
Today is a telework day. I did manage to find time for lunch at Kaveri, a good Indian food lunch buffet (read: all you can eat). Mmmm.
Tuesday September 19, 2006 -
Our friend Robin came into town today on business and we're letting her use our 'hotel' facilities. Four stars, or one, I don't remember exactly. Anyway, we all went to a nice dinner at BJ's brewpub nearby. No spinach items on the menu for a while but it was still good.
Monday September 18, 2006 -
Happy birthday Larry!! (see friends). I went back to work today after three weeks off. I don't really mind the job, though to be honest I would rather be done with it. But it's the gawdawful getting up early that I hate! People told me years and years ago that I would get used to it. Never have, never will. It's a struggle each and every morning. But, as a wise guy once said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Argh!
On a humorous note, here is a funny site. Warning: if you are among the few that still admire or respect George W, then don't click here. If you are sick of him, you should click it for sure. More importantly, in November, vote Democrat! Let's take the country back from these chickenhawks who used every trick to get out of serving but think nothing of sending our young people to fight based on their lies and greed. What, you want the definition? Chickenhawk n. A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person’s youth.
Sunday September 17, 2006 -
Petra is feeling a little better each day. No more pain pills and a little less discomfort. We are trying to take a short walk each day when time allows. Today we went to Kohl's and bought a few button-up shirts for her, out of their clearance and sale racks. The button-up shirts are much easier when you are recovering from surgery like this.
Friday September 15, 2006 -
Today was Petra's follow-up appointment with the surgeon. Good news - the scar tissue that was removed has no evidence of cancer. Also, the area of the surgery is doing well, though it will obviously take some time to really heal. The super-tight bandage is off and so it is more comfortable. Today was the last day of antibiotics. Pain killers continue but a moderate dosage. We actually took a short walk around the neighborhood today, at Petra's request.
Thursday September 14, 2006 -
Petra continues to improve. She's taking it easy and taking her meds but feeling a bit better each day.
Wednesday September 13, 2006 -
Petra's is home, taking it easy and doing ok. Thanks to daughter Andrea for bringing the beautiful boquet of flowers, Petra's parents for bringing dinner, and everyone else who called or emailed.
Also, happy anniversary to Karl and Betty.
Tuesday September 12, 2006 -
Petra's surgery was today, to replace the tissue expander (that has been inside her for a year and a half) with a regular saline implant. This was a bit involved since it is beneath the muscle too. But everything went well and we were home by 4:00 PM. Of course, they drugged her up and she has pain and limited mobility, but is feeling better than either of us expected and that is a very good sign. Not much in the way of adverse affects from the anesthesia either, which are fairly common. We'll see what tomorrow brings but we are pleased so far. She has been drinking 7-up and vegetable broth and eating crackers. A couple hours until the next meds...
Monday September 11, 2006 -
We spent yesterday and today running errands and doing things around the house in anticipation of Petra's surgery on Tuesday.
Five years after the attacks of 9/11, I will take a moment to honor the people killed in that terrible attack. I wish our government was spending more money on making us safer here at home instead of the billions spent on that horrible deadly mistake of us invading Iraq. But that aside, here is a moment of silent typing for those who lost their lives in the events five years ago.
Saturday September 9, 2006 -
Petra picked up the dog and cat at their respective hotels (kennels) and then we picked up granddaughters Josephine and Jasmine (see family) and headed up to the Placeville area (near Apple Hill). My boss, Janice, was throwing a 'quesadilla barbque' and we were invited. The kids had a great time up in the hills, playing and collecting pinecones, leaves, and acorns. We kept the kids overnight too.
Friday September 8, 2006 -
Last day of the trip. Argh! We got up and had some of the 'expanded' continental breakfast, then headed south once again. We took I-101 until it met up with California Highway 1 and then took that down the coast to Fort Bragg. There we had a great meal at Eggheads, a must-eat-at breakfast and omelet place with a Wizard Of Oz theme. Then we headed to nearby Glass Beach. If you have not seen this you need to. The beach has more worn (not sharp) glass than it does sand. Very unique. Then it was eastward toward our home in Sacramento. We stopped briefly at a Taco Bell (how boring) for a snack on the way home and finally arrived home. Home sweet home? Of course, though the trip was too short, as usual!
Thursday September 7, 2006 -
After sampling (at least) the continental breakfast provided by the hotel, we left Eugene heading due west this time. Our first destination was the coast, to drive down it and see the awesome views of the Pacific Ocean. Parts of the drive down I-101 veered inland a bit but plenty of it provided great views of the ocean. I love seeing the ocean. It is so immense and powerful, yet at the same time so peaceful. We stopped at one of the small coastal towns and had a sub sandwich and then continued driving south. On a whim, once into California, we pulled into the parking lot for the Trees Of Mystery. Well, too late, the walk through the giant coast redwoods was closed for the day. We've been there before and it wasn't in the plans this time anyway, so we were ok with it. If you have never seen the redwoods then you are past due. We pulled into Arcata, our hotel destination for the night, kind of late in the day. Not too late, though, to check out two small record stores in downtown Arcata and also a quick meal at Luzmilla's, a local mexican food chain. I'll tell you, nowhere up north did we find great mexican food. Good but not great. We will solve that issue when we get back to Sacramento. Anyway, it was time to crash and that is just what we did.
Wednesday September 6, 2006 -
Sigh. Today is the day we must leave Seattle. It is a wonderful, beautiful city and always a pleasure to spend time in. But we checked out of the hotel anyway. Before we left the city, we renewed our membership at one of the world's coolest museums, the Experience Music Project. We had a quick lunch at Kidd Valley, a regional burger chain that makes a pretty good garden burger and very good onion rings. Then we hit the road, I-5, heading south. We stopped in Tacoma for a visit to the Museum of Glass and a viewing of the Chihuly Bridge Of Glass. You need to see this bridge if you are in the area, it is very cool indeed. Check out the web site at least!
Then we were on the road again, as Willie says, and passing through Portland, then Salem, then into Eugene, our stop for the night. By that time is was mid-evening and by the time we checked in and got our bearings it was 8:30 or so. Luckily, two doors down was a pizza place, Track Town Pizza, that had about six or seven different vegetarian pizzas on their menu (not counting build your own). How cool. We had a pizza and a drink and then back to the room to get some rest for the next day.
Tuesday September 5, 2006 -
Today is the day that Larry and Robin and also Mama O go back to California. Luckily, Petra and I still have a few days left on our trip! They checked out of their rooms but had some time to kill in Seattle so we stowed their luggage in our room and had a few last adventures with them for the trip. We drove to the Belltown area of Seattle and had a good Mexican food lunch at Mama's Mexican Kitchen. Sadly, the Elvis Room was taken so we couldn't eat in that room. Then it was off to Bedrock Industries. No, this is not where the Flintsontes live. It is a large place selling and working with recycled glass and glass art and other products. Check out their web site. We bought a small glass wind chime for the daughter and a couple other things, including a lollipop for the back yard.
We went back to the hotel but still had a little time before they had to leave so we strolled around the Seattle Center grounds and dropped into the Space Needle gift shop. Then it was time to bid farewell to our friends for now. After they left, we decided to take a drive up to the U-District (U for University) and checked out Half Price Books and a record store, Cellophane Square, where we always seem to find current alternative music used for a good price. After that, we were getting tired and hungry, so we headed back to the hotel area and went to dinner at a nice 'gourmet' Italian food restaurant we have been to a number of times before, Perche No, just two blocks from the hotel. It was relaxing and delicious. And on the way back, what were we near? You guessed it. Easy Street Records. So we shopped for a few minutes there, then headed back to the hotel. Another great vacation day.
Monday September 4, 2006 -
Day 3 of Bumbershoot. Yow! I love it! And it will be over much too soon. Today we had a snack at the hospitality area and then checked out the Film Festival going on within the main festival. We saw three short films with the general subject of Tales From The Cubicle. Afterwards, Petra headed to the main stage to watch the Steve Miller Band. I headed out for some less nostalgic and newer music. I watched Particle for a while, but lost interest, then checked out alt-country singer Sera Calhoun for a couple songs. A bit too country but not bad. Then we hooked back up for a comedy show, with Nick thune, Mary Lou Rajskub, and Doug Benson. They were all clever and funny, especially Doug.
Back when we were in the hospitality area earlier in the day, the hostess told us that today only they were letting the platinum pass folks into some 'secret shows'. These half hour shows would also be broadcast live on KEXP radio. So, we took advantage of one and saw Novelle Vogue in a small room that held about 75-100 people. We were in the center, about 8-10 feet from the stage! Anyway, this band's gimmick is that they take classic songs of the 70s and 80s by new wave and cult bands and do them with female singers and a sort-of bossa nova feel. It's hard to describe. The songs were by The Smiths, Billy Idol, Bauhaus, etc and on CD they cover XTC, The Cure, and lots of others too. It was a blast and before the trip was over we bought two of their CDs. Then it was time for the Reggie Watts comedy show. He was very funny, off the wall, and fairly rude. Not for the squeemish but funny. After that we went to another stage to watch Metric, who we had not heard of but who were really good. Modern energetic electronic rock with a forceful woman vocalist. And of course we ended up buying their latest CD too. Then we headed back to meet up with Larry and Robin and caught the end of a set by The English Beat. And that was Bumbershoot 2006. If any of those acts is at all interesting to you, I encourage you to google them and find out more, or write me here.
Sunday September 3, 2006 -
Happy birthday to our daughter Andrea!
Day 2 of Bumbershoot. We had some food and then I headed over to watch a band called Mon Frere. They were very good and I bought their CD. While I saw them, Petra was making a mosaic tile at a nearby booth. We met up and watch four or five songs by Spoon. They were ok, but we wandered on and watched Sonya Kitchell for a bit. She has a great voice but mostly average songs. Still good though. Then it was time for some comedy. We saw Meghan Hounshell, Hari Kondabolu, and Cathy Sorbo. The first two were really funny!
Then we took a short dinner break from the festival and walked a couple blocks to the Bamboo Garden restaurant. They have hundreds of items available and are COMPLETELY vegetarian. Too cool! Then, full and refreshed, we headed back to Bumbershoot to see Synthclub, an electronic trio that had Reggie Watts (see 9/1 blog entry) sitting in to do some electronically sampled vocals. One song, over an hour long, and a driving techno beat but still kind of cool and interesting. Then the other three headed out to see rapper Kanye West. They all found him very disappointing, which, frankly, I had predicted. I watch some of the set by Zero 7 and then headed out to see what else was happening. Ivan Neville was playing and I watch some of his set, where I met back up with first Larry and Robin and then Petra too. Another day with tons of great music! Then we headed back to hotel and visited until it was very late.
Saturday September 2, 2006 -
Finally! The Bumbershoot Festival is here! I am serious, I wait all year for this. It may be the best three days of the year. We got ready and headed over to the entrance. We had bought the platinum passes this year and our friends Larry and Robin and Mama O had bought the gold, so we were all entitled to some extra perks. We headed first to the special platinum/gold hospitality area and sampled the free food and beverages while we plotted out what acts to see, on what stages, etc. First up, we saw a Northwest band called Derby. The were prety good and we ended up buying their CD. As an aside, as I recap these Bumbershoot activities, keep in mind that we sampled lots of different food at the festival. Think 'fair food' but a lot better. Anyway, we hooked back up with Larry and Robin at a different stage where the Dub Championz were playing. After a song or two, we headed to the main stage to catch the second half of Blondie's set. We had seen them earlier in the year and they rocked then so we saw them again today. And they rocked again. For a band from the 70s/80s, they still sound good. They have a few newer songs mixed with classic hits.
Ooh, almost forgot to mention, earlier in the day we watched an hour of a one-woman show by female comedian Vijai Nathan. She combined comedy and drama (mostly comedy) in her tale of her Hindu family and their life in America. Anyway, next we split up for a bit. I headed into a small theater to see a 45 mnute excerpt from a new play about the last interview that John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave before he was murdered. It was well done and moving. Petra, on the other hand, watched a comedy presesntation called Swivel. I headed next to see a four or five songs by Rogue Wave and a few by Alejandro Escovedo. Both acts were ok but not much more than that so I wandered on again. I watched almost all of the set by Of Montreal, and they were very good. Smart and catchy pop-rock. I stayed until they were done. Then at the same sage I started watching Badly Drawn Boy but it was pretty routine so I moved on. Meanwhile, Petra had checked out some of the Rollergirl indoor Roller Derby action, which she said was a lot of fun. Then she watched, with Larry and Robin, the Rubberband Dance group. We both ended the day watching most of the set by A.F.I., a loud and heavy rock band that was actually good and entertaining. It was a long day but a great day.
Friday September 1, 2006 -
After we all got up and got moving, we wandered down the street to Cafe Mecca (reviews) and had a big old breakfast. Cheddar cheese, artichoke, and onion omelet with salsa on top, side of hashbrowns and toast, in case you were or weren't wondering. Lots of food and pretty good too. It was a funky place (in a good way), checkerboard black and white floor and gruff but friendly waitresses. Then we took the short walk to the Seattle Center grounds. Semi-local musician Reggie Watts, a favorite of Petra's, was being given an arts award by the mayor of Seattle. After that a local rockabily band, the Dusty 45s, played a free set. We watched some of that and then wandered into the Bumbershoot art exhibits. We got to see them a day early when they were MUCH less crowded. Some of it is very avant-garde stuff and other areas are more traditional art. Imagine our surprise when Larry and Robin called us into the photography exhibit to see a really nice, large photo on the wall, of Petra, Mama O, and Theresa from last year's Bumberhshoot visit! Wow!
We spent a while there and then walked around the rest of the grounds to see them setting up for the festival, which starts tomorrow. One of the T-shirt and souvenir booths had opened up a day early, so we were able to get our stuff early and ahead of the throngs of people that would be there the next three days. We got a coffee and watched Petra devour a caramel apple with great delight. We took a bus up Queen Anne hill and walked around up there for a while. There was a great view, Kirby Park, and also some nice shops etc. Then we walked back down the hill and had some tasty dinner at Racha Thai. We took a brief trip up to the roof to see Seattle at night and then went back to the room to all look over the schedule for tomorrow, the first day of Bumbershoot. There are always so many different things happening at once there, it is best to plan some things in advance.
Thursday August 31, 2006 -
On to the north. We got back on I-5 and headed up, at least that's what the map people call it. Into Washington and on to Renton, home to Wanda, Petra's friend and fellow breast cancer survivor (one of her survivin' sistas). She lives on a six-acre spread in the country near Renton, a nice area with lots of trees (which describes much of Washington state). After chatting and greeting for a few minutes, Wanda gave us a tour of her place and her garden, which consisted of various plants and trees all over outside the house. Then Petra, Wanda, Kensie (Wanda's daughter), and I headed into Renton for some lunch at an all-you-can-eat Indian food buffet at Pabla Indian Cuisine. It was delicious, and thanks Wanda. Then she took us on a scenic drive along Lake Washington (I think it was) and on to Archie McPhees, a famous Seattle store selling all kinds of kitschy items, from evil clown nesting dolls, to Mr. T in a hand, to devil ducks, to snow globes, to all kinds of weird and wacky stuff. Really, DO check out their web site if you can't get to the store.
Then it was back to Wanda's place. We visited with her husband and her for a bit and then we said goodbye and Petra and I headed into Seattle. We found our hotel (the Mediterranean Inn, in the Queen Anne district), and checked in. Our friends Larry and Robin had gotten there earlier in the day and they greeted us from their adjoining room. The Queen Anne area is our favorite in Seattle, a block or two from the Seattle Center which is home to the annual Bumbershoot Festival, which we would be attending very very soon. The area is great in other ways too, lots of restaurants, record and book stores, other shopping, cafes, etc. Anyway, our hotel was very nice and there was an observation deck on the roof which provided a beatiful view of much of Seattle, including the nearby downtown area dnd the waterfront. We visited with Larry and Robin for a bit and then got some sleep before the next day's adventures.
Wednesday August 30, 2006 -
The road trip continues. Today we check out Portland, Oregon, home of the Trailblazers and lots of bridges. Our first stop is at the Bullseye Glass Resource Center. As you may recall from a while back, Petra has taken some classes in glass fusion. Well, this is the headquarters of the glass company. Lots of stuff for sale and some completed glass works on display. It is also a working glass studio with artists renting studio and kiln time. Interesting place and they leet us explore the whole place. Next we headed to the nearby Belmont area for a date with some local record stores. We checked one out and chatted with the owner for a while about the pleasures and pains of running a record store. It brought back some memories of our store (1993-2000, RIP).
Lunch time, one of my favorite times. We popped into the nearby Bangkok Kitchen, a small and rickety (but clean) place down the street. We both had the Pad Thai (Petra's mild, mine medium) and it was great! Really tasty and authentic. And thus refreshed we perused a few more record stores in the nearby blocks. One was a large store with different areas for different owners. Another specialized more in newer music, lots of new vinyl, mostly indie and alterative. Then we headed downtown. First stop in that area was the gallery for the aforementioned Bullseye Glass. Two floors of glass art, blown, fused, slumped, and otherwise made into art pieces. Expensive art pieces, up to about $18k. The second floor was really amazing, with huge pieces, some hanging, with small glass 'cubes' (but only the edges, not filled) all fused together to create large pieces.
Then we headed over about five or six block for a couple more record stores, the best of which was Everyday Records, a small northwest chain. This place was huge, tons of CDs and vinyl, both new and used. Needless to say we spent a while and found some cool stuff that we hadn't been able to find in Sacramento, mostly used and at reasonable prices. Next stop was Powell's Books, billed as possibly the country's largest book store. It is a complete city block, and three stories. It is so massive it is divided into 'rooms' such as the blue room, the purple room, the pearl room, etc for the different genres. Of course we found some books we needed (!), mostly used here too. And good prices once again. Then we went to visit the Ira Keller (sp?) fountain a mile or so away. It was more a large series of modern waterfall flows as opposed to a 'shoot into the sky' fountain. Very cool piece of public art and very relaxiing to sit by for a little while. Then we headed back to a Mexican restaurant near the hotel, Who Song and Larry's. It had been recommend by the woman at the hotel as 'totally awesome food'. Well, Petra's quesadilla was good and so were the margaritas, and they were very nice to us. My dinner was ok but I remarked to the Petra that it reminded me of El Torito, which is certainly not the best mexican food. OK, but not great. Anyway, when the bill came it was in an 'El Torito' holder! I asked and the waiter told me that the place was, indeed, owned by the same company that owns them and Chevy's too. I guess to get really great Mexican food (or authentic) I may need to go back to California. ;-) Then back to the hotel to get some rest before the next day's journey to Renton and Seattle.
Tuesday August 29, 2006 -
Road trip! We meant to get out early but it ended up being around 9:30 before we got everything done and got out of town. Oh, well. The Internet says it's about 8 - 8 1/2 hours to Portland, our destination today. I think that is optimistic but here we go! Anyway, we drove and drove and then stopped in Yreka, at the northern edge of California, for some lunch. We found a little independent cafe in a suburban strip mall, of all place. It was the Soup Cafe, though they had plenty of foods besides soup. We knew it was a good sign because first of all it was not a chain and second of all they had a big white board for the separate 'vegetarian menu' with plenty of meat-free options. I had a very good been and rice enchilada lunch and salad. Tasty. Too bad we're not in Yreka more often. And then we were off again. We refueled around Medford and it was time to head north north north. Through a lot of Oregon we were hoping to find a freeway friendly Starbucks, but there were none! What is up with that? They seem to be everywhere in California.
Well, we finally made it to Portland and to the hotel, without the help of our good friend Mr. Caffeine. We checked in and as usual we were hungry. there was a BJs brewpub and restaurant nearby so we had some comfort food. Fried onion strings, a deep-dish spinach artichoke pizza, and a couple pints of stout (or Merlot in Petra's case). And then some much-needed rest after a long day on the road.
Monday August 28, 2006 -
We took the pets to the kennels today and began packing in preparation for the vacation tomorrow. I picked up Josephine at her school since the parents were at a dentist appointment. And we had one last consultation with the reconstructive surgeon to go over some last-minute details. I'm looking forward to our vacation, wish it was already tomorrow!
Sunday August 27, 2006 -
Today is Cal's birthday. Hope you have a good one.
Saturday August 26, 2006 -
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Petra
Happy birthday to you!!!
Love love love love love!!!
Well, we spent most of Petra's birthday finishing up the move of the daughter and family. And Petra was fine with that. She watched the girls (grandkids, see family) while we moved and she loves seeing them. We finally got about 90% of the stuff moved. Afterwards we ate some chinese food and swapped tales about how tired and sore we were. Andrea and Charlie brought a cake and totally surprised Petra! Chocolate mousse cake, richer than Bill Gates, but good. Nice card too, Andrea. And also, major thanks also to Michael for his massive help.
Friday August 25, 2006 -
Petra had her last appointment before surgery with the reconstructive surgeon. Things are going well and she is still on schedule for September 12. After our vacation, for which we leave on the 29th. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening halping the daughter and her family (see family) move to their new apartment. Today was phase one (one truck), tomorrow is phase two (two trucks, what did you think?). She going into a bigger apartment where the kids can have their own room. She bought us pizza for dinner and, freshly fed, we moved another load or two.
Wednesday August 23, 2006 -
Kindergarden continues for Josephine. Today I picked her up at school. She was SO happy to see me, yelling 'Grampa!', with a huge smile and then came running at me and lept into a mega-hug. CUte kid, and she knows a good grampa when she sees one ;-)
Monday August 21, 2006 -
The master music list has been updated here. The new items are:
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Sobule, Jill - Underdog Victorious
Petty, Tom - Highway Companion
Counting Crows - New Amsterdam - Live At Heineken Music Hall
Pedro The Lion - Control
Greene, Jackie - American Myth
Furtado, Nelly - Loose
Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses CD+DVD
Depeche Mode - Violator CD+DVD
John, Elton - Chronicles CD box, 3 early albums + bonus tracks
DiFranco, Ani - Reprieve
Prince - Fury - Vinyl picture disc
Franti, Michael & Spearhead - Yell Fire
Comments? Tell me here
Today was granddaughter Josephine's first day of kindergarden. She liked it, even if it was hectic and crowded on the first day. She eats breakfast and lunch there too, and has over six hours of school. I remember kindergarden being shorter than that, but it was a LONG time ago and my memory is not exactly improving with age. Huh? What? Anyway, it went ok and she'll get the routine down soon enough. Petra was there in the morning before school with her and Andrea. After school, Petra picked her up since this is also Andrea's first day of the fall semester at college. Go Josephine! Go Andrea! After that, we all had some pizza and called it a day, which it was.
Sunday August 20, 2006 -
Petra's mom, dad, and grandmother came by, as well as daughter Andrea and her family. We visited for a while and the Andrea and her gang stayed for dinner.
Saturday August 19, 2006 -
Tonight we kept granddaughter Jasmine overnight so the daughter and her posse could pack a little easier for their upcoming move. They are moving into a larger apartment about a mile and a half, maybe two, from where we live. The girls will get their own rooms, which they need.
Friday August 18, 2006 -
We took the girls with us to the annual work picnic. They had a great time in the bounce house, also stringing beads, playing and eating. I enjoyed the eating too! They had a lot of fun. In the evening we went to a Sacramento Rivercats baseball game. It was a gorgeous summer evening and a nice laid-back time. The Cats tried to ruin it by losing because of a 9th-inning, grand-slam home run by the other team. They lost but we still had a really nice evening.
Thursday August 17, 2006 -
Every three months Petra sees the oncologist. He checks her blood work for any evidence that the cancer may be rearing it's ugly head. Today was his review and, ta da!, Petra is still NED (no evidence of disease)!! This is always a stressful visit but what a relief to hear that things look good. On a different note, we have the grandkids (Josephine and Jasmine) overnight tonight, since we are taking them with us tomorrow.
Wednesday August 16, 2006 -
After work we met the kids and family at the elementary school where Josephine will be starting Kindergarden on next Monday. We had a pic-a-nic there (Andrea brought food for us all) and we met Ms. Ross, her teacher, who seemed very nice. We saw the room she will be in too. It looks like a nice school, fairly new (only a couple years old or less).
Monday August 14, 2006 -
Back to work for me. Sigh. All in all, I'd rather be back at the ocean. Today was also the do-over day for Petra's blood test. They had to take it from the hand. Ouch!
Sunday August 13, 2006 -
Today we all went to one of the many beaches near Santa Cruz. Jasmine and Raziel had never been to the ocean, and Josephine had only been once, when we took her earlier this summer (see photos from that trip in June). As for today, the kids all loved it and spent a lot of time playing in the sand, and also creeping up to the waterline only to run back when the waves advanced. Big fun! Charlie dug a big trench trying to get the water to come up the beach and Andrea and the other adults hung with the kids and enjoyed a little relaxation. Of course, all good things must end, and later in the day we had to leave Santa Cruz and head back home. We got home late since no one really wanted to leave Santa Cruz very early. Everyone had a good time and a fun vacation.
Saturday August 12, 2006 -
We all spent the day at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We went on rides, ate fried food, got souveniers, and just generally had a good time. The grandkids went on mostly the kiddie rides but they had a great time. In the late afternoon/early evening, we came back "home" for dinner. Then we let Andrea and Charlie head back to the Boardwalk so they could have some fun by themselves, a rare occurrance. They could ride what they wanted and just chill out on the beach for a while too. Meanwhile, back at "home", Larry, Robin, Petra, and I roasted marchmallows and made smores with the grandkids. They loved it and Josephine even made me one! A long a very fun day.
Just in case you didn't already know, a smore is a traditional campfire treat consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a slab of chocolate, sandwiched between two pieces of Graham cracker.
Friday August 11, 2006 -
It's off to Santa Cruz for a three day weekend. Yep, me and the missus, along with the daughter, the boyfriend, and all three grandkids (see family). We took both of our cars, to accommodate the kid's car seats, with Petra and I each driving one. We got there around two-ish and, after a brief visit with our host Larry and Robin (see friends), we took off for a walk to the Pacific Ocean, about three blocks away. Grandkids Jasmine and Raziel had never been to the ocean. We walked along the path on the ocean cliff (strongly fenced, don't worry!) and then Andrea, Charlie, Josephine, and Jasmine walked down to the beach for a few minutes while Petra and I watched Razi. And then we walked back to our host's house.
After a bit, we went out to dinner. Yes, all nine of us! We went to Kianti's (review) in downtown Santa Cruz on Pacific Street. They found us a nice table and we ate a delicious meal. Even the kids were happy when the waitress gave them some pizza dough to play with while they waited for their meals. And right near the end of the meal, the entire restaurant staff came dancing out to loud music, clapping, singing, tossing pizza dough! It was a sight to see and the kids loved it, and the adults too.
After dinner we took a walk down Pacific Street, where there is always a mix of tourists, locals, street musicians, and other offbeat folks. We encountered the Umbrella Man, who wears lots of wild makeup, dresses in loud pinks and other vivid colors, and carries an umbrella. His most famous characteristic, though, is that he takes incredibly tiny steps and does it very slowly. Each step might be less than an inch and it might take him 20-30 minutes or more to even go a foot. Talk about a strange slow-walker! We also saw the Accordion Man, who plays the accordian and chats while wearing some outrageous costume or another. Today he had on a black and white full body suit with lots of cone-like things sticking out, from head to toe. I'll try to get some pictures up soon, you have to see this. The kids, Jasmine in particular, loved it. Then, further down the street, a few folks were playing musical instruments and both Josephine and Jasmine broke into a dance right there on the spot, moving and grooving to that street beat.
Well, by then it was getting late so we went back "home" to get some sleep before the next day, destination Boardwalk.
Thursday August 10, 2006 -
We are getting ready for tomorrow's trip to Santa Cruz, all seven of us, but today is still today, as it so often is. Petra had an appointment for a routine 3-month blood draw. They couldn't manage the vein in the arm so they used her hand and she was NOT happy about that. They also did the pre-op blood test, as well as the routine one, but there was some question about whether fasting was necessary so that one may need a do-over next week. After that bit of trauma, we headed over to Cafe Bernardo for some dinner. Then Petra was off to a breast cancer support group meeting and I was off to home to pack and get ready.
Sunday August 6, 2006 -
We had granddaughter Josephine (see family) overnight tonight. She is a sweetheart.
Saturday August 5, 2006 -
Today was the cat's turn, so we took the cat, Kitty-Tah, to the vet today for her shots. Then the four of us, plus Larry and Robin's son Brian went out to Todo Un Poco for dinner. It was great as always!
During the afternoon, We went to the movies. Larry and I saw Scoop (web site), the latest Woody Allen film. It was a light comedy and really funny. Lots of great one-liners and very entertaining. The womenfolk saw The Devil Wears Prada (web site) instead, and they said it was very good too.
Friday August 4, 2006 -
The four of us had dinner at P.F. Chang in midtown and then took in the Sacramento Rivercats baseball game. The Cats won by a good margin. Also at the game was Petra's brother and his kids. I mention that because it was the birthday for his daughter (Petra's niece). Happy eighth birthday, Rhys! And on a lesser note, we took the dog, KC, to the vet today for her shots.
Thursday August 3, 2006 -
Friends Larry and Robin breezed into town for a few days. Larry had lunch with his former work buddies and then the four of us went out to dinner at 524 Mexican Food. Mmmmm.
Thousands of people dead in Iraq? No need to worry! Just look at King George and Queen Condi, they are still just as "wild and crazy" as ever!!Wednesday August 2, 2006 -
After work we went to the Farmer's Market for some fresh fruit and veggies and then to Costco for food and other some stuff in big sizes!
For older stuff, check out the archive page!