Weekend Camping Trip

This weeks camping trip to Picacho was an adventure. The drive out there was fun, camping was an experience, and the drive home - not so good. First, the drive there. My friend who I go camping with managed to bring along two new people, both of who drove. So for the drive out there, he and I switched who we rode with half way there. This gave me time to get to know each of these women. It was nice to have someone new to talk to.

Once we got to our camp site, where we were the only ones crazy enough to be out in the 105 degrees heat, we got our rafts full of air, our coolers full of beer and headed out to the lake. We floated around for almost four hours. Time went by really quick. As the sun set, we needed to get to camp to set up our tents. Also at this time, sadly, one of the newbies had to pack up and go home. The evening flew by as we sat around drinking, talking and listening to music. Somewhere around midnight the moon rose and it look really small, for some reason. Well, the next thing I remember is waking up in the morning not feeling so good.

I just laid around all morning as the other two went back out onto the lake for awhile. After packing up, we headed home. That's when the trouble began. First, the car began to overheat. We stopped a few times to check on the engine. Then we hit our first delay. Seems a fire was causing long delays. Once we got past that we stopped again for the border checkpoint. Somewhere along the way there was a third delay, an accident I think. As we got closer to home, the car troubles got worse. The car accelerator was getting stuck. Pressing on the breaks caused the car to not stop. We were lucky to get home. For the last few miles we had to run stop signs because we couldn't stop. Turns out that the accelerator cable broke, which I didn't think could happen.

It took me two days to "recover" from this trip and now I'm ready to do it again this weekend. In fact, after tomorrow, I'm on vacation for two long weeks! You can expect more blog posts to come.

Picacho 2005 Trip

This weekend was my third annual camping trip to Picacho. I took many photo, most of which look like the ones I have taken previously. I will post more pictures and stories about this trip soon. See, I'm still recovering from the trip - too much fun in the hot sun.

Comic-Con 2005 is Arriving Soon

It is that time of year: Comic-Con 2005 is soon approaching. I have my four-day pass, however, I will me missing Thursday as I will driving home from Lake Tahoe that day. Thursday is a good day to go because the line to get your pass is shorter and the crowds are smaller. I just found out that there will be an exclusive action figure available from Diamond Select Toys: Vampire Schoolgirl Darla. This is the figure that was announced by DST some time ago and never was released. That is the good news. The bad news (for me) is that the figure will go on sale Wednesday, and there will only be 1500 of them. Since I won't be there until Friday, I can only hope that the figure has not sold out. In addition, Julie Benz, the actress that played Darla, will be there signing on Saturday. So even if I don't get the figure, I can at least get her autograph.

(Yes, I am over my "bloggers block").

Street Scene 2005 Follow-up

After having bashed this years Street Scene concert event here in San Diego, I ended up buying a ticket. The lineup on Friday is too good to pass up. In my opinion, the best band playing that night is Garbage. I like all their albums, plus, when I saw them play live opening up for No Doubt, they rocked! Yes, if I want to drink beer, and I plan to, I will be in a fenced-in section, but I guess that is the price to pay for ... something. Speaking of prices, why do they charge $2 for ticket delivery when you print-out your ticket on your own printer?!!!? What's the deal with that? Well, anyways, see you there.

Helpless at Breakfast

So I'm making my breakfast this morning and all I had to eat was a box of cold cereal. As a tried to open the tightly closed bag, it suddenly burst open and flakes went everywhere! What was a man like me to do? Go to Carl's Jr. and buy a breakfast burger. Boy, was it big and tasty (and greasy). I was also surprisingly happy with their new coffee. Perhaps better than Starbucks. Actually, the reason I ate breakfast there was at 7 AM the contractors arrived at my home to finish the ceiling work they started the day before. Having the day off work, I had to find something to do for six hours, and most stores don't open until 9 AM. I ended up in a bank parking lot resting in my car at 8:30 waiting for the doors to open. I must have looked suspicious setting there - I'm surprised the guard didn't ask me what I was doing. However, I eventually got all my chores done by the time the workers finished with their work at my home. That left me with plenty of time to get ready for my first camping trip of the year. I am going to the Colorado River, where the temperature is expected to rise to 106! Plenty of beer, water and beer will take care of that situation. Stay tuned for photos of this trip - if I survive.

White Walls

It is hard to tell what your looking at here, but it is my ceiling with the acoustic (popcorn) covering removed. I had all but one closet done. Now I need to get it all painted. The home improvements never end. I plan on getting all my walls painted soon. Plus, I might want to get ceiling fans installed in some of the rooms before I get the painting done. What next, the kitchen? Well, I looked in Home Depot today.

Strange Men are Lurking Outside my House

Last night while I was watching baseball, I heard what sounded like someone walking towards my door. I looked and didn't see anyone, but then a voice said "It's me". I turned on the porch light and a poorly dressed man was standing there. He asked me if he could use my phone. Keeping my security screen door locked, I handed him my cordless phone under the opening. He looked like he dialed a number, listened and hung up. He said thanks for letting someone I don't know use my phone. I said "sure", but watched to make sure he left. I assume he was homeless and maybe looking for an easy steal to buy drugs, but he was very nice to me.

Then, tonight when I got home from work, I heard someone out on my patio. I opened the blinds and there was a man washing my windows! Well, I half expected him since he was the one who I talked to the night before (I got a free window cleaning with my new windows). However, he said he couldn't make it tonight and would call me. Today he said he had extra time, so after 2 hours he cleaned all my windows, inside and out, and did a great job.

Now on Thursday and Friday someone will be over to remove my "popcorn" ceiling. Hopefully he'll be done before I leave for my camping trip this weekend out in the hot desert, and hopefully no one will be lurking around my home while I'm gone.

I Saw the Sun Today!

And it was beautiful! I had forgotten what it looked like in the morning with the sun shining. No fog or drizzle as I drove to work, where I spend the whole day inside a cold, windowless room. I gotsta figure out how to retire soon - like tomorrow. I went to a retirement dinner last night for a man who is about to turn 67. I know that in 30 years I'm not going to still be working, that's for sure.

New Post

What a slow week. I have nothing to post about, so I'm posting just because. So here is what's happening. Well, I have new blinds in my bedroom, I haven't seen the sun in weeks and MJ is innocent. That's about it.

Young, Rich, White Women

What am I talking about? The media reporting constantly about something bad happening to young, rich, white women. Example: Natalee Holloway (disappeared in Aruba), Jennifer Willbanks (Runaway Bride), Danville van Dam (murdered by neighbor), Laci Peterson (killed at Christmas time) and Elizabeth Smart (kidnapped in Utah). Why do we care? People die everyday. Is it media hipe? Yes. Is it news? Maybe. Do I care? Yes. Why? I can't say. Let's just say that when I found out that Elizabeth Smart was found alive that I was very happy and was in good mood all day. Since I was about to travel to Salt Lake City soon, I did have somewhat of a connection, but not knowing the victim or her family, why did I care? Media hipe. Just now I see in the news that Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teenager who disappeared in Aruba, is probably dead. One of three suspects confessed to killing her - very sad. We all knew that this might happen, but were hoping for the best. Is she the first person to be killed in Aruba? Probably not. So why do we care? Because she is a young, rich, white woman. End of blog.

New Windows Installed

My new double-paned windows have been installed. It only took them 7 hours to install all the windows and two sliding-glass doors. They look great! Now lets see how cool they keep my house in the summer and how much quieter it is inside. I will have a photo soon. Also on order, vertical blinds to replace the last of my curtains. Goodbye 1970's, hello 2000's.

More Beer at Oggi's

Time to forget all that math just learned.

Beer At Oggi's

Scottish Ale - a good drink after a day of hard math.

Getting Ready for new Windows

Well, on Monday I'm getting new windows installed at my condo. I need to clear out the area in front of all windows, cover all fragile items and remove my blinds. Lots of work but the new windows will be a big improvement. They are double-panned, so more energy efficient, plus they will block outside sound. Also, they will block around 80% of UV rays. And they will look much better. I don't know where this is all leading, but on Wednesday I'll let you know how it all turns out.