I Quit My Job!

I don't usually talk about my work, but this is a life changing event. After almost 15 years at the same company, I turned in my letter of resignation yesterday after accepting a position at another company. I was so nervous when I told my manager that I could barley speak. This is the first time I have quit a professional job. I'll be taking vacation for the next two weeks before I start the new job, giving me time to relax, do some home repairs and go on some more hikes.

Exhausted Hikers!

Like I said, the hike up Camelback Mountain was quite exhausting.

Baseball in Arizona 2006

Four games in four days makes for a busy, fast and fun filled weekend. We flew to Phoenix Wednesday evening and saw our first game of the trip at Tempe Diablo Stadium which is nearest our hotel. This is the ballpark for Angles. On Friday, after the hike, we watched the Giants play at Scottsdale. Because of the hike, we were late to the game and it took me (I dropped everyone off at or near the park) 30 minutes to park in a spot 10 blocks away. Since I arrived during the 3rd inning, we stayed for the whole game. Day three took us to see the Brewers at Maryvale. This park is far from the hotel, in a bad neighborhood, but the complex is very nice. Plus we had good seats since it isn't as popular as the other parks. On Sunday we drove out to Peoria to see the Padres play and they won despite playing with 'B' players from a split squad. Besides baseball, there was plenty of NCAA basketball to watch. We visited a few bars to watch these games, especially UCLA, my friend's favorite team. I cheered for them just because it was the thing to do, but I'll admit their games, as well as others, were exciting to watch. And finally, we were there for our friend's 40th birthday. He enjoyed a nice steak dinner at Frashers in Scottsdale, a unique, restaurant we discovered by accident years ago which has the best steak in town. So, spring training 2007, here we come.

Camelback Mountain Hike

Not even four days in the sun could stop us from hiking this weekend. We took time out from baseball viewing to hike Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, which was much tougher than I remember from two years ago. The elevation rises 1200 feet and the last stretch requires the use of your hands to climb steep, jagged rocks. However, I had summit fever and was determined to make it to the top. We saw plenty of hikers turn back, including one of our own, not prepared for the hot, dry air and strenuous climb. There were several places near the top where you have to walk on a very narrow ridge, with 1000 foot drop-offs on one side. I did my best to ignore this, hoping my boots wouldn't slip. We reached the summit and took time to rest and enjoy the view. However, we had a 1 PM game to get to so we scrambled back down, meeting up with the third member of our party and made it back to the van. Around midnight, after a full day of sun, food and beer, I basically collapsed on my bed and slept very soundly.

Me at Peoria Watching Padres

Harley Behind Bar at Acme Bar and Grill

Baseball at Maryville, AZ

Balcony View From Hotel Room

Steve at the top of Camelback Mountain

Spring Training Baseball at Tempe

What is the other 57%?

Off to Watch Spring Training Baseball

It is that time of year again - spring training baseball in sunny Arizona. We weren't planning on going this year but since the New Orleans trip fell through we couldn't not go. So that means another weekend of watching sports and drinking beer. If I keep this up I'm going to become fat, dumb and happy. Wait - I'm going camping the following weekend in the desert where there will be more beer and sun, but no sports. A hiking trip each of these weekends ought to be enough exercise to make up for the extra calories. What am I talking about? I'm so excited about all the fun I'm about to have that I can't think linearly!

Hiking Mt. Woodson from Lake Poway

For the second week in a row my friends and I hiked Mt. Woodson, only this time we made a round trip from the Lake Poway parking lot. Just like last Sunday, it was cold and there were threatening dark clouds looming overhead. We started our hike by walking at a good pace, stopping many times to rest. Hiking Mt. Woodson up this trail is quite strenuous as you climb up almost 2000 feet and travel about 6.4 miles total. It took us almost two hours to reach the top and about 1:20 to hike down. During our ascent, two groups of hikers passed us, making us look like a bunch of old men. However, I doubt any of those people will be hiking Mt. Whitney this summer. It only rained once during the hike and at the top it was cold and windy, but I can see how during the summer months it could get very hot and require more water than I brought today. This time I used two hiking poles and decided that two is better than one. There is no hike planned for next week unless we go on a short one while in Phoenix, but I don't really want to pack any extra gear for my four day vacation.

(Photo taken last weed - I forgot my camera today.)

NCAA Basketball Round 2

The second day at the NCAA basketball tournament at Cox Arena was far less eventful than the first but no less fun. With only two games the day we quicker than Thursday, starting with lunch at the 4.0 Deli near the college. This was one of the few places that had beer (Bud and Bud light only, but that's good enough for us) plus as I found out very good food. I ate a sandwich with three different meats, melted cheese, pesto, Italian dressing, pepperoncinis and much more.

After lunch we walked to the arena and watched the two games. Both were very close and since it was the second round, the energy and excitement in the stands and on the floor were much higher. Washington won the first game against Illinois and UCLA beat Alabama in the second barnburner of a game.

Since the games were over relatively early, we drove downtown and drank some beers and ate dinner at the Yard House. This place is famous for having 100+ beers on tap. There are so many in fact that I just ended up drinking the usual ones, like Samuel Adams and Stella Artois. I had never been here before and didn't realize that it was also a restaurant and down below there was a dance club/lounge. Once done with our meal it was a long ride back home, where We got caught in the traffic leaving Petco for the World Baseball Classic. I've had my fill of college basketball for now. Next week - spring training baseball in Phoenix.

NCAA March Madness at Cox Arena

Over one year ago we bought our tickets for this event. I had never been to a NCAA basketball game before and thought it would be fun, which it was. We started the day off by meeting at my friends house. Since we had to wait for someone stuck in traffic, we decided to drink a beer - at 9:30 AM! Little did I know that this would be my last beer for six hours. It seems that there is no alcohol sales at NCAA events, and once inside Cox arena, we couldn't leave until after the first session of games.

From my friends house we headed to the Original Pancake House where I drank way too much coffee and ate chocolate chip pancakes - very tasty. Then we drove to SDSU just to find out that there was a bomb scare and they weren't letting any one in. So we stood around for one hour waiting. It seems some bomb sniffing dog thought it smelled something in a vendors cart - but it turned out to be nothing. Sounds like it is time for that puppy to retire. I was surprised how quickly they got everyone inside. They were checking bags but not coats. It would have been easy to bring in a gun, bomb or even a flask of whiskey, which apparently many people did - the whiskey that is, not the other two items.

Once inside we found our seats, which were off in a corner and were bench seats. That meant four games of sitting with me knees jammed into the person in front of me and no back support. We took lots of breaks during the day. As far as the games go, I really didn't care who won because I didn't fill out a bracket or bet on the games, but most of the four games were exciting. The first game was really close with Alabama winning and in the second game UCLA was ahead by 30 with 10 minutes remaining, so we exited the arena early (we had to anyways after the first session even though we had tickets for the second session).

Our goal was to find food and beer. Apparently the local eating places didn't realize that there was a tournament going on with 12,000 people looking to buy beer. We managed to get one beer each at the first stop but then when we went to a deli that sold beer they ran out after we had been in line for 15 minutes. So off to 7/11 we went. Now this was an interesting experience. There was long line and only one poor clerk. So what people were doing was drinking their beer while standing in line. Now I resisted this saying it was shoplifting, which it was, but I eventually gave in to peer pressure. It was one big party with people drinking and eating while the line slowly moved. So after about 15 minutes we paid for our beer and then stood outside in the parking lot drinking beer in front of a sign that read "No loirting or drinking alcoholic beverages". Breaking the law once more in plain sight.

We eventually walked back to the arena in time to see the second quarter of the third game. About halfway through the fourth game, which was really boring, we left to go to Trophy's to watch the Aztec's game which was being played in Salt Lake City. They were ahead by 10 points but then due to turnovers and sloppy play the Aztecs LOST to Indiana! Their season is over. All that was left to do was finish our food and go home. What a fun day it was to ditch work, and we get to do it all over again on Saturday. There are only two games on Saturday and we will plan our day differently knowing that there is no beer sales at the arena.

Mustang Pictures with Me

I finally took my new car for a joy ride on Sunday after my big hike. It was a nice day to cruise around town. I drove to my Brothers house where I showed-off my new car and even let him take a test drive.How was that ride? Let me just say that now I know what my car can do on a twisty road with sharp curves. I just hung on and smiled nervously. My brother has 25 years of Mustang driving experience, so except for stalling the car once he shifted much better than I have been. I plan on driving to work this week at least once, so I'll get used to that clutch soon enough.

Mt. Woodson Hike

A group of us Mt. Whitney hikers climbed Mt. Woodson near Ramona today. We started at the Highway 67 side at 1700 ft. and hiked up the paved road to the top. It was so cold that there were patches of "snow" along the way. It must have hailed during the night pretty hard. The road was very steep, and I wouldn't have been so tired had I not drank beer the night before. At the 2800 ft. peak the views of the snow covered local mountains were spectacular. It doesn't snow this much very often in San Diego county.

After a rest at the top we decided to hike down the west side to Lake Poway. Luckily one of the guy's wife agreed to pick us up. I enjoyed this route ever more. The trail was slightly muddy but much softer than the pavement. This route is longer and the change in elevation is greater. By the time we arrived at the parking lot my legs were tired and muscles sore, but my knees felt just fine. After getting back to our car we headed to CPK for lunch and boy did that pizza taste good. Next week we will find another place to hike.

Mustang After one Day

So I get into my new car for the fist time to drive it off the dealer lot, turn the key and nothing happens! What am I doing wrong? After two more tries, the dealer opens the door and says "It won't start unless you press in the clutch." Boy do I feel like an idiot. I forgot I bought a stick, apparently, plus after driving an automatic for five years it is going to take a while getting used to a manual.

The car already had 12 miles on it, which seems like a lot considering nobody test drove it except the mechanic and the dealer took it to fill the gas tank. Yesterday I drove the car home and then later went for a short joy ride, so there are still very few miles on the car. Today it sat in the garage and since it should be raining for the next few days, I don't know when I'll be driving it next. I will eventually take a drive in the rain and will probably end up driving it to work more than once a week.

My 2006 Mustang GT

Wallowing in Garbage

Considering how empty and clean I thought my garage was, I sure spent a lot of my three day weekend cleaning it. I cleaned up oil stains, added more shelves, destroyed the old, very well made wooden ones and hauled everying and then some to the dump. This was my first trip to a dump. I drove the truck in this large building and threw the scrap wood and other stuff in a pile of garbage while standing in some slimy muck. At least it is done, except for properly disposing of some old oil and coolant fluid. Hopefully my Mustang will arive this week and I can park it in my nice clean garage.

On another subject, my friend received eight two-day hiking permits for Mt. Whitney in June - so the trip is on. Let the training begin.

Charmed Has been Canceled!

I'm not surprised but I'm still saddened. I started watching this show after Shannen Doherty left this show. She was the reason I didn't watch Charmed in the beginning - I just don't like her as a person or actress. I have enjoyed the show over the past few seasons, (so much so that I have started collecting Charmed action figures) but I could tell that the writers were running out of ideas. They seemed to be repeating story lines from previous episodes, and dare I say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Last season ended with the sisters all being killed - sort of. Sound familiar? This season we have a new character or two, both cute young women, one of which is the "key" to the ultimate power. Sound familiar? I expect the season finale to be worth watching and I'm excited to see what happens to each main character. I might even have a Charmed party that night, if anybody is interested.