Beat LA, Beat LA, Beat LA, ...

Padres win one by scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie and then winning in the 10th with a single. At one point in the 9th the bases were FOP - Full of Padres!

Too much meat.

Tonight I ate dinner at the Rei do Gado Brazilian Steakhouse in downtown San Diego and enjoyed every bite of it. We were there for two hours and I have never eaten so much meat, chicken and turkey in one sitting. They come to your table and carve the meat right onto your plate until you can eat no more, plus there is a salad bar full of vegetables, salads and other sides. I'll admit that some of the carvings were better than the others, but the best ones were wrapped in bacon or smothered in cheese. Add a few Brazilian beers and the evening was complete, even without a dessert. I'd recommend this restaurant to anyone, but plan ahead like me and don't eat anything for at least eight hours before you show up.

Bones

I just read an article on CNN that sounds eerily similar to this weeks episode of one of my favorite shows, Bones. It has to do with the gruesome subject of organ harvesting. Talk about a timely subjet to write about. I found The Graft in the Girl a well written, touching episode. Keep 'em comming.

Is it just me?

So I'm taking my car to Costco this morning to get my tires rotated and decide to fill my tank up with gas at the Costco gas station, since at $3.11/gal it is relatively cheap. I see a long line of cars at every pump except the ones to the right. A tanker truck is there resupplying the station and it was blocking the last pump. The station attendant motioned me to drive towards him and then directed me between the pump and the big truck. Apparently I was the only one driving a vehicle small enough to fit through. All the other people waiting in the long lines were driving monster SUVs that probably get 10 MPG at most. Now don't think I'm being all smug, like those people on that recent episode of South Park, because my Rav/4 gets only 24 MPG average, but why do so many people need cars so big? I'm happy with my small SUV. It has advantages like today where I didn't have to wait for gas.

The second leg of my Friday adventure brought me to the Fashion Valley Mall. I wanted to look at HDTV's at the Sony store and Apple computers at the Apple store. At the Apple store I asked one of the employees if the new MacBook Pro supported an external monitor. He replied "yes". Then I asked if it supported digital or analog input. Then this other salesman budded in and asked me "what type of connection? VGA?". I thought to myself, "this guy thinks I'm an idiot and he is treating me like I'm just another dumb customer, but he is the stupid one here." I finally got the answer I wanted. The connection was digital. The type of connector didn't matter to me. I know that VGA is analog and DVI is digital. When I asked my question his response should have been "digital". He should not have asked me a question in return. Who trains these people? I made sure that these salesmen knew I wasn't happy with their help and promptly left the store, never to return. I might buy an Apple computer, but not from them.

If you think I'm ranting now, wait for my post on May 1st when I'll be ranting about the big immigrant protest and where I think all these non-Americans should go. Hint: back to their own country!

Edit: Wow! How did a link to my blog end up on an Apple related web site? The power of blogging is amazing!

A Day at the Ballpark

A baseball game wouldn't be complete without food, beer and algebra homework!?!


Now that the homework is finished we can enjoy the Padres in their defeat of the Mets on this hot and cold sunny day at Petco Park.

XM Radio Follow-up

During my drive to Las Vegas I listened to my new XM radio. Having non-stop music playing the whole drive was nice. However, I found that I was constantly changing stations whenever a song came on that I didn't like. I think the XM stations need to be more specialized. Too many of their stations play a wide variety of music, and certain bands can be heard on many stations. The digital radio from my cable at home has great stations, such as power rock, 80s new wave and alternative. Even my favorite XM station, Fred, doesn't seem to stick to one type of music. Another problem I had was changing the stations. I preset 10 stations for easy access, but when I wanted to listen to a non-preset station, it was difficult due to the placement of the radio and I had to watch the road at the same time. Maybe if I mounted the unit in a better location (it was placed on the passenger seat), it would help, but I plan to use the same radio in both my cars, so I don't want to permanently install the radio.

My only option for playing the radio was to use the built-in FM tuner. You tune the XM radio to a station that is not being used and then tune your car radio to that same station. I was lucky enough to find a station that worked for 90% of the drive. In my other car, I can use the cassette adapter for input into the radio, and the audio quality is much better. However, that add another cord hanging down from my dash and those adapters tend to ruin cassette players - not that I ever used mine. The best way to connect the XM radio is through a direct RCA connection, and for some reason most new vehicles still don't have this option.

I know it sounds like I don't like XM, but I do. I'm only pointing out the negatives. Over time I'm sure I'll be very happy with my purchase.

More Hollywood Photos

I'm next to Dean Martin - the original Crooner, and also Peter Sellers at Groman's Chinese Theatre.


A view of the theatre from across the street.

Easter Sunday 2006

This Easter was even more non-traditional that last year, with an afternoon in Hollywood and a lunch at the Jazz Cafe in Downtown Disneyland. We drove to Hollywood and first looked at the old hand and foot prints in the cement at Groman's Chinese theatre. I was shocked at how many people were walking around on Easter Sunday. I'm sure that on a normal weekend there would be many more, but I can't say because this was my first time here. Then, we walked up the street looking at the stars along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I had to get my photo taken with the Simpon's star.

After about an hour we drove down Sunset Blvd., Rodeo Drive and then Wilshire, looking at all the famous places, rich homes and interesting people. From there we headed to Downtown Disney to eat a late lunch at the Jazz Cafe. There wasn't much of a crowd there, and it looked liked the band just finished playing. The Jambalaya hit the spot, as well as the beer and dessert.

Now I'm getting ready for my new job tomorrow. I have to turn my brain back on after two weeks of slumming around. I didn't get any household chores done, but I did have fun with hikes, car shows, Las Vegas and Easter.

Two Hikes in one Week

My leg muscles and knees hadn't even recovered from Tuesdays hike and once again I torchered them by hiking up good-old Iron Mountain.

Vegas Trip

Here is a photo of me before starting the big hike at Red Rock Canyon. The sun was out so the rocks look very red.

This is the peak that we decided to hike to. It is 2000 feet above our current location.

The path up follows this canyon, then at the top you circle around to the right to reach the peak. There is no well defined trails. Instead there are many different paths to take, but most lead to the top. On the way down we took one wrong turn and ended up at a dead end.

Here is photo of Mark at the top with a view of Las Vegas in the background.

And here I am at the top. I wish I had brought my hiking poles. The path was very steep and we had trouble keeping our footing on the way down.

Beside this hike, I also had two nice dinners with my friends, did a little gambling and drank some beer. I never made it to The Strip, nor did I need to. I left for home this morning and the drive home was much nicer with no road closures.

Me not Drinking Beer

Mark and Jayne Drinking Margaritas

Red Rock Canyon

This is the view from the top of Turtlehead Peak in Red Rock Canyon, NV. We for some reason decided to hike the most difficult trail in the park, not realizing that the 2000 ft. climb was straight up the mountain. The round trip was 5 miles and took us 3:45. The peak is at 6300 ft. and as we climbed up we never thought we would reach it, but I had summit fever once again. The view from the top was unbelievable, with views of Las Vegas and beyond to Lake Meade. It was very cold and windy there and because of the clouds, the photos I took don't really show the redness of the area. We celebrated the trek with a beer at the bottom, and then drove home for a late lunch. My legs are killing me, which will make the drive home tomorrow interesting now that I have a clutch to worry about. I'll post more photos of this hike after I get home.

Chicago Brewery in Las Vegas

After a long drive to Las Vegas this Stout sure tasted good. I thought it would be a simple drive to Vegas, but little did I know that the I-15 would be closed at Baker. Seems that there was a chemical spill and all traffic was being routed on east I-40. After a few phone calls I knew what route to take, because there were no signs telling you where to go. It took me an extra two hours to reach Vegas, plus I arrived during rush hour traffic. However, I had fun driving in my new Mustang, and didn't even get a ticket. Tomorrow I go hiking at Red Rock.

Ford Car Show at Knott's

Now that I own a Ford I'm allowed to attend Ford car shows. The car show was at Knott's Berry Farm and there were all models and years of Fords from the Model T to T-Birds, and of course Mustangs galore. Pictured to the left is a 1942 Ford. How can you tell the year? Apparently displaying the year on a Carl's Jr. table marker was the thing to do. While we were heading towards the T-Birds, we got distracted by the Pintos. If you thought that all Pintos were in the junk yard you were wrong. They are alive and well here in Southern California. After a while viewing all these cars was like viewing paintings in a museum, they all start looking the same. I was interested in seeing how someone mounted their XM Radio receive to the dashboard, but only one car had one and it didn't help me decide. I also wanted to see how people modified their Mustang, but I may just keep mine stock for now. After walking in the sun for hours, with a break to eat a filling fried chicken lunch, it was time to go home. As we drove south on the freeway, we saw many of the Fords heading home as well.

You Can Never Go Home Again

Pictured above is how the house that I grew up in looked just days before the buyer took ownership. There were a few tall weeds in the front yard, but the flowers and fruit trees that my Dad planted and took care of were thriving in the spring air. The new owner had plans to remodel the house, but he said he would try to keep most of the trees and as much of the house as he could. After all, the house was old but the roof was new. Well, the house sat for almost six months with nothing happening. It looked abandoned. Then I drove by and to my horror, all the fruit trees that my Dad planted and were taken care of by my Mom and the rest of the family, trees that had been there since 1969, like the fig tree, were gone! The whole yard was wiped clear of all vegatation and covered with wood chips.

So I drive by the house again this week because I heard that the yard had been graded and I saw the worst thing possible - the house was all but destroyed. Only the foundation and some of the frame were left. Now I was shocked but not surprised. It would have been hard to remodel the home as it was. My Dad always hoped that one of his children would move into the house after he was gone, but we all had our own homes and it would have been lots of work to fix the house up. I'm interested in seeing how the new house looks. Like all the other houses in the neighbor hood that were remodeled after being sold by the original owners, it probably will be an unrecognizable mansion. So, like they say, you can never go home again.

Blue Mustang in Progress

My brother has made progress on his project. The Mustang has been painted but more painting still to be done.

Firkin Friday

Apparently it was a Firkin Friday at Karl Strauss and I didn't even realize it. This time the Firkin was a Porter, and kind of harsh it was, but I still liked it.

XM Radio

Well, I just bought an XM Satellite radio receiver from Costco and subscribed for one year of service. So far I've only listened to XM in my house, but plan to use it mostly in my cars. I like the music selections they offer, but the audio quality isn't as good as I thought, or I'm doing something wrong. As a bonus, you can listen to the XM channels online.

Shredding the Day Away

So this is how I would spend my days if I didn't have to work. I cleaned out my filing cabinet and shredded tons of old papers. Yes, it needed to be done, and yes it was a raining day, but fun and excitement it lacked. I made a list of things to do tomorrow do I don't sit around the house again. However, the weekend and next week look better with a trip to a Ford auto show at Knott's Berry Farm and and a drive to Las Vegas in my new Mustang on Monday. Maybe next week I'll have time to do some touch-up painting and replace my bathroom sink and porch light. I should have taken three weeks off between jobs just so I could accomplish all I had planned to do.

Desert Sunset

Camping at Agua Caliente Hot Springs

I just spent this last weekend camping at the Agua Caliente Regional Park in the San Diego County desert. I drove out there Friday afternoon with a friend and we joined a large group of people for a two night adventure. There were several groups of people there, most of which I had never met before. Some people brought their dune-buggies for off-roading, others brought horseshoes for pastime games and everyone brought plenty of food and drinks. On Saturday we went on a group hike that followed the Moonlight Canyon Trail on a 2.5 mile easy loop though hills and canyons where there was wildflowers and cactus to view. Luckily it never got too hot, however at night not only was it cold but the wind kicked up and blew loudly on everyone's tents (except for those camping in RVs) , keeping us awake at night. Luckily I had my tent securely staked to the ground so it didn't blow away, but it did get a rip in a pole loop. Saturday night was the big potluck, and like I said there was way too much food. Even when I thought I was full, someone came around with homemade chilli and later there was fire-heated stuffed apples. Then came Sunday, the nicest day, and everyone packed up and left except for a few of us who stuck around into the early afternoon. I look forward to more camping this year.