Interesting Blog Quiz

I found a link to a blog quiz called Are You A Blogaholic? on someones blog. I scored a 40/100 and here is what it said about me:

You are a casual weblogger. You only blog when you have nothing better to do, which is not very often. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you'd post a little more often, you'd make your readers very happy.

Knott's Berry Farm

It's time to talk about something more uplifting, my trip yesterday to Knott's Berry Farm. I hadn't been there in over 15 years, and this was the first time I had been to Knott's around Halloween time, when it is decorated for Knott's scary Farm. It was a perfect day weather-wise, abundant sunshine and warm enough to wear shorts. Plus, free passes into the park! I remember going to Knott's when I was young, and seeing some of the old rides and attractions brought back memories. The last time I went was the first time I rode the rollercoasters, like Montezooma's Revenge.

There were many new rides for me to experience, as well as the classics. I rode: Timber Mountain Log Ride, Calico Mine Ride, Jaguar, Montezooma's Revenge, Bigfoot Rapids, Hat Dance and GhostRider. Some rides, like the mine train, were decorated for Halloween. The miners were replaced by ghosts, zombies and the Grim Reaper, which added a new twist to the ride. However, these creatures weren't animated - I get the feeling that they save the good stuff for the Knott's Scary Farm event after dark.

My favorite ride was GhostRider. This is a newer ride, and had the longest wait. It is a wooden coaster, like Colossus at Magic Mountain, but has many more sharp turns and twists. I got a little beat-up on the ride but it was worth it. I was laughing the whole time. Laughing in fear! There were a few attractions that were closed for the day. Some were only open for the nighttime event.

For lunch I ate a chicken meal at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. This is the first time I remember eating here. As a kid, I never wanted to eat there - I wanted hotdogs instead. The chicken was excellent, as well as the biscuits and apple pie. Since most of the lines for the rides were so short, after 5 hours I was ready to go home. It was a great day that wasn't quite over. I ended up at the Karl Strauss brewery in Carlsbad, drinking pints of beer and watching the World Series. I slept well last night.

Cedar Fire One Year Later

It was a year ago today that I did what I never thought I'd have to do, evacuate my house as a huge fire approached. I will never forget that morning. It started when I woke up at 5 AM and for some reason looked out my window, where I saw what I thought was a fog bank. I opened the door and it was warm outside, and I thought, "that's strange, how can there be fog when it is so warm?". So I went back to sleep. Around 6 AM I woke up again when I heard sirens nearby. During the next hour I heard about 20 fire trucks drive by, and still I just wanted to sleep. Finally I got up at 8 AM and after looking outside again I realized that the fog was really smoke, and it was getting thicker and closer. I turned on the news and every station was broadcasting pictures of the fire as it was burning up my neighborhood - about 4 miles away. Then the news channels said everyone south of the street I live near by needed to evacuate. I live about 1 block north of that street, so I decided it was time for me to leave. Not knowing what to pack, I took my computer, photo albums and a bag of clothes, threw them into my car and headed north on the freeway. It was an eerie site to see the southbound lanes filled with cars not moving, because the freeway was closed. Only a few cars were going north with me.

Not knowing where to go, I called my friend Mark and said, "hey, I just evacuated my house, can I come over?" So I spent the next two days at his house, sleeping on his couch and watching the local news, not knowing if my house was burned or not. All I could do is call my home phone, and if my answering machine answered, then I knew it hadn't melted into a pile of goo. When I was finally allowed to return home, my house was there. The air was thick with smoke and ash, and the smell of smoke was inside as well. I didn't want to spend the night there, so I drove back to my friends house for a second night on the couch. As I drove away, I saw that the fire burned on two sides of my complex, burning some trees within a few hundred yards of my home. A few months later I found out why our neighborhood didn't burn. My neighbor sprinkled some holy water that she keeps on hand. Either that, or it was the two neighbors who didn't evacuate and fought the fire with a garden hose. My guess is the winds were blowing the fire to the south. No matter, I'm glad my precious action figures didn't go up in flames.

Gwen Stefani solo album

Good news everyone. Gwen Stefani has her first solo album in the works. It is called Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and will be released November 23rd. Why you ask am I giving her free advertising? Because I am a big No Doubt fan and I think Gwen Stefani is one of the most talented singers around. You can listen to her new single and see the video at her web site, Gwen Stefani.

Washers and Mundaneness

On Sunday my not-so-old washer finally gave up. It started having problems a year after I bought it - right after the limited warranty expired. For six years it limped along until my washer decided to wash no more. Luckily, it failed during the final rinse, so I wasn't left with soapy clothes. So after watching the Chargers lose, I went shopping for a new washer and ended up buying a front-loading LG Electronics model at Best Buy. I wish I had bought a front-loading washer originally, but they are almost twice as expensive as regular, top-loading washers. However, they are more efficient in both electricity and water usage, plus they get your clothes cleaner with less wear and tear. I'm doing my first load now, as you, the whole world, can see in the photo.

Baseball vs. Football

What a great sports night! I was watching the Yankees/Red Sox game and was actually excited for Boston, mostly because I don't like the Yankees, especially Jeter, with the stupid smirk he has. Last nights game was too late for me to watch 'til the end, and I live on the West Coast. Only real fans will sit in the cold of the night until 1:30 AM to watch baseball. Tonight worked out great, because even though the coverage of the Astros/Cardinals didn't start until the 8 inning, there were no runs scored until the bottom of the 9th when Houston won. I don't care who wins this series, but I'm leaning towards the Astros. Then, as I flip channels, I realize that Monday night football is on, and it is tied in the 3rd quarter. So much for getting caught up on my recorded shows: Enterprise and Charmed. Yes, I do more than watch TV all night, usually.

Rain in San Diego?

I think not. Everytime rain is forecast for San Diego, it doesn't rain! Some high pressure moves in and pushes the low to the North of us. There is a 50% chance of rain tonight. If I wake up to the sound of rain, I will stand outside and sing "Singing in the Rain" while juggling pears. I don't know how to juggle, but I'll learn.

Glucosamine

I have been taking the dietary supplements Glucosamine HCI/Chondroitin Sulfate for several months. These supplements are known to reduce joint pain, of which I suffer in my knee, especially when I go hiking. It was after my aunt and uncle told me that they gave a cat-sized portion to their 14 year old cat and it cured her osteoarthritis, allowing her to walk around without pain, that I decided to try the supplement.

After taking three pills a day for three months (more or less), I decided it was time to test its effectiveness by going on a hike that I have done before: Iron Mountain. The last time I hiked the mountain before talking the pills, my knees were aching as I hiked down. My friends had to wait at the bottom for me because I was so slow. Then my knees hurt for several days afterwards. This is a problem that has been worsening for me over the last 10 years. So yesterday morning, I drove up to Iron mountain and set out on a hike. It is three miles to the peak. I made it to the top in one hour, stopping three times the rest and stretch my muscles. I spent 10 minutes at the top enjoying the 360 degree, slightly hazy view of San Diego county. Now the real test is the hike back down. It took me one hour make it back down, with one stop to rest at the half-way point. My knees didn't hurt, but my leg muscles sure did. Aching muscles are good, that indicate they are getting a good work-out. I'm not sure why it took me the same amount of time to hike down, because I know I was walking faster and I only stopped once.

This morning, after a good nights rest, my knees feel fine and my muscles are only a little tired. So I would say that the drugs worked! My only concern is that I havn't consulted my doctor about this supplement. He might tell me not to take it, since there have been no tests proving its safety and effectiveness in humans. I will continue to take the pills, and hopefully go on other, more strenuous hikes.

Cross-Linking with Spamusement

I have been checking the site Spamusement often because a new cartoon is added daily. Today I noticed that the site has a list of referring web sites and my blog was listed! After returning to the site several times, I realized that this list is updated dynamically as people visit the site. My blog was not listed when I entered the site from another web page. However, my blog must have been listed there a while because several people read my blog today, and according to sitemeter, spamusement was the referring page. Both visitors spent almost two minutes reading my blog, which is more time than most people linger. I did a Google search on "spamusement" and found hundreds of references to that site. No wonder the author is asking for donations - he could get rich. Isn't the internet an amazing place?

Bike Ride and Safe Blogging

Today I went on my Saturday morning bike ride. I have been taking a weekly ride regularly since I got back into biking a few months ago. My rides are not long, between 6 and 10 miles, but they sure beat spending 20 minutes on a stair-stepper in the gym. It was about this time last year that I stopped ridding my bike, partly due to the destructive fire here in Scripps Ranch. The fire burned next to all the roads that I ride on, and since there was smoke and ash in the air for months after the fire was out, I stopped riding or even spending any time outdoors. I was happy today to see that more houses are being rebuilt. Soon there will be no visible indication that a fire ravaged the area at all.

Why do people insist on adding some plug-in to their blog that forces you to install an application in order to view their page? I will never install anything unless it is an application that I really trust, like QuickTime, which I already have installed. If you refuse to install the program, then a message box pops-up saying "You must install to view page" and then you cannot close your browser or go to another blog. I advise all you bloggers out there NOT to install any plug-ins. What you should do if this happens is press "cntl-alt-delete", select "Task Manager" if you are running Windows XP, select the the Internet Explorer line and click "End Task". This process might vary depending on your operating system. Doing this will help ensure that your computer does not get a virus or any spyware installed. And you all know how I feel about spyware!

Strange Bedfellows

I recently rediscovered this strange photo and thought it was time I explain to the world how it came to be. I got the Bart mask at a San Diego Comic-Con a few years ago. The teddy bear belonged to my mom. The cardboard cut-out of Ricker was grabbed from a Jack-in-the-Box during a daring daylight heist. Somehow all three ended up in my guest bedroom. During one of my Superbowl parties, a guest arranged them under the covers as you see here (and funny she thought she was). So I took this photo, closed the door, and left them alone for the night.

Women Need to Try This

Inspired by the web site Spamusement that I posted about below, I gave my best effort to draw a cartoon based on an actual subject line from a spam e-mail that I received. As I expected, it is not easy to think of something funny to draw, not to mention that I can't draw people, especially women. I drew this picture using Microsoft Paint, and didn't try really hard to make it realistic. I need to thank Sarah Michelle Gellar for providing the inspirational photo I used as an example. My crude drawing is not unlike the one that Giles drew on the episode Hush, except there he made Buffy look fat. I went with the skinny body, big hands look. Once again, this picture was not drawn by a 5 year old. With time I believe I will improve.

Rodney Dangerfield

We new it was going to happen soon. Rodney Dangerfield has died, and I am saddened. Looking back on all the roles that he played, the one I remember him most for is when he voiced the character of Burns' son Larry on The Simpsons. That was almost a comeback role for him at the time. It is amazing how effective The Simpsons are when it comes to making an actor that might not be well known by a younger audience suddenly popular and cool again. Other personalities that benefited by appearing on The Simpsons are Tito Puente and Tom Jones. Lets all have a beer for Mr. Dangerfield and give him that respect he truly deserves.

Spamusement

I found this very funny web site listed on another blog. Click on each link in the site, the cartoons are hilarious. Well, they were for a computer geek like me. Note, I could be sending this link out to all my friends in a spam-like fashion, but instead I'm making you come to me, thus eliminating one more useless e-mail.

Spamusement

Hot Or Not

Yes, I have submitted my photo to the famous web site "Hot or Not". So far the results don't look good. If they don't improve, I'll submit a different, better picture. Click here to rate me, and please, be nice. I was rating pictures of women between the ages of 33 and 40, and most of the pictures did not do the women any justice. I gave lots of 3's and 4's, and was surprised that their average vote was 6 and 7! I guess I'm just too picky. The photo I used was the same one I use for my blog. I hope the Simpsons action figures in the background didn't hurt my image.

Company Going Away Dinner

Last night I went to a going away dinner for our local center director/vice president. I like to attend as many company lunches/dinners as I can. It gives me an opportunity to meet fellow employees and talk to people who I rarely see, since I don't work at the company office. I kind of regretted signing up for this event, since I figured that there would be nothing but old, upper-level managers at this event. That part was true. However, I met our new center director, and several other managers saw me there, so that made me look good. There were enough people there that I knew that I didn't feel completely out of place, even though I was the youngest person there, even at 37 years of age. There were about 40 people at this dinner, and I expected more since it was for a vice president. This turned out to be a plus, since everyone was given the cordless mircophone to give the guest of honor, Steve, a going away message. The man next to me had the best comment. He said, "If I had known I was going to speak I'd wouldn't have shown up." Such honesty! The man before me said, "I have learned that it is best to keep your speech funny and short, and since I am not funny, I'm done." It took almost a half hour for everyone to deliver their messages to Steve. After all was said and done, I said my good-by to him and snuck out around 9:30.