Bike Ride Gone Bad

No, a bike chain is not supposed to look like this. Yesterday I was planning on going for a hike. This morning I decided on a bike ride. Unfortunately, I ended up doing both after my bike chain derailed. I put the chain back on and tried to ride but something was stuck. I looked back and saw this twisted mess. Even if I had bike repair tools with me, I could not have fixed a bent derailleur. So I was forced to walk my bike back home, which took one hour. Not a fun start to the day. After a short rest at home, I took my bike back to the Trek store. Since they just replaced a gear, and the bike derailed while changing into that gear, I'm going to argue that it should be fixed at no cost to me.


Edit: And to make the day even worse, I fall asleap after the Padres loose, just to wake up finding the Chargers loosing in the 4th quarter! What happened?!? I'm not even going to talk about the fiasco of yesterday's garage shelving project. At least my afternoon nap was nice. I think I need a Polish beer now.

Sports, Hiking and Relaxing

Well, the Chargers lost. All they had to do was convert on a third down. But nooo. Then they couldn't stop old-man-Farve from throwing a touchdown pass. So off hiking I went. To alleviate my frustration with the loss, I hiked fast and steady up Iron Mt., almost knocking one woman over who was surprised to see me instead of her husband, who stopped to let me pass.

It was a perfect day for a hike. Warm when the sun was out and then cool with a slight breeze when the sun was hidden behind fluffy, white clouds. The visibility at the top was unlimited. I could see the ocean clearly from Oceanside down to Mexico. I filmed this shaky movie while standing on a uneven rock, but you can still get the idea of how clear it was.

On the drive home I found out that the Padres were loosing. A bad sports day in San Diego. So after a trip to the store and writing this blog, I'm going to try meditating. Yes, you heard me. It is more of a relaxation technique than actual meditation. They say to stick to it and after time it will start taking effect. It is hard to sit and just concentrate on relaxing, while filtering out all the thoughts in your head.

First Time At the Rose Bowl

Yesterday for the first time I was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. I (we) have season tickets for UCLA this year. For the past ten years my friend's and I have been going to SDSU games in San Diego, but since they haven't been winning and the games are boring, we decided to get tickets for a good college football team. The Rose Bowl is quite a bit further drive, but the fun and excitement of the game made it worth while.



We arrived at the stadium in time to tailgate for over an hour, where we enjoyed BBQ grilled steak and chicken, plus of course, cold beer. We did get a little rain from the strange storm that hit California, and it did get quite cold as the game went on, but a little rain would never stop us from having fun, as you can see in this photo. Also, the parking lot is on the golf course, which is surprising. I would not want to play golf on this course come Sunday morning.

The game was high scoring, with most of the scoring done on big plays, like returing the kickoff for a touchdown. But more importantly, UCLA won 44 to 31! We left just before the game ended, but since the game started at 7:30, I didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning. Needless to say, I had a hard time waking up before 10 this morning, in time to watch the Charger game. I plan to go for a hike after the game to get some exercise this weekend, but then I'll be back in time to see the end of the Padres final home game of the regular season. Go Chargers and Padres!!!

UCLA At The Rose Bowl

UCLA on the field against Washington Huskies.

Deluxe Willow, Kendra and Kennedy

Also in the box were four new Buffy figures. These are from the lastest Diamond Select Toys deluxe line. The other Willow I bought was a White Witch Willow, which they made in the non-deluxe line a few years back.


I'm not a big fan of the deluxe line because with all the moving parts, the figures look funny. However, I was glad they made a Kendra. Only in a few episodes, her character was very popular and played very well by the actress Bianca Lawson.

Kennedy was in more episodes than Kendra, but I'm kind of surprised that DST choose to make a figure out of her before some of the other non-core characters like Riley. I guess she was popular, plus she had a relationship, kind of, with Willow.

Star Trek Series 4 Action Figures

Star Trek series 4 was just released by Diamond Select Toys. This Q figure isn't too bad, but it looks too much like ...


... this Wesley Crusher. These newer figures, as compared to the original ones produced by Playmate Toys, do have more detail, but I miss the variety of figures. I understand that the main characters will sell the best, but some of my favorite figures from the original line were one episode characters like Tosk, and Hunter of Tosk.


I also bought a regular Series 4 Beverly Crusher besides this one. To make room for my ever increasing collection, I'm going to have to rearrange my guest room a little. I'll empty out the closet, but the shelving in there and open up a whole wall for more figures!

10,000th Visitor

Congratulation, Brad, you are the 10,000th visitor to my blog. Mark came in a close second being the 9,999th visitor. My blog has been up for over three years and has been viewed by people all over the world. It's interesting to see someone from Japan find my blog by searching for a new Irish pub in Carlsbad. Thanks to everybody who reads my posts and keep on blogging.

The Weekend Continued

Somehow I ended up at my friend's house in Desert Hot Springs Saturday afternoon after the beer tasting event. I was invited a few days earlier and didn't think I could make it. I decided I could either sit around the house the rest of the weekend or spend time in the sun with friends. Yes, I did swim in this pool, which I found out is a salt water pool. The water was warm, but not too warm.

There was an evil cat lurking in the hallway. No, I did not use Photoshop to add color to her eyes. I stayed to watch the Charger game and then drove home in time to get ready for this week at work.

Stone Brewery 11th Anniversary

My first time to the Stone Brewery Anniversary Festival since their 7th anniversary and a good time was had by all.


Ten beer tasters was enough to satisfy my microbrewery beer craving. Even though it is Stone's festival, there were dozens of microbreweries with a wide variety of beers, too many of which tasted grapefruity. One beer was so "different" that just the smell of it caused a negative reaction by my sister and I at the exact same time. We still drank it. The trick was to stick to dark beers.

This could happen to you too if you're not careful while tasting beers. Even the man in the shadows was in shock. He thought the alligator wasn't alive.

Entertainment at the beach bar

Every time were are in Mexico we stop in at La Palapa de Jose Restaurant & Bar. Miguel De Hoyos plays there Friday and Saturday nights, and is usually joined on stage by another guitarist. I don't know how he does it, but when Miguel plays solo, it sounds like he is playing two guitars at once with four hands. They were probably wondering who this American was filming them, but I gave them a good tip for this one minute of video. The audio isn't as loud as I'd like, due to the poor microphone in my small digital camera, but you can still get a good idea of what the music is like.

Pottery, Statue and Me Sunset

These are actually ash trays. We saw them at one of the resorts. There was lots of interesting pottery at this roadside shop. In fact, I somehow brought a pottery fireplace thingy across the border in my car for a friend.



This mermaid statue is new, as you can tell by how clean she is. The red paint really stood out.

Man, my face looks red. Must be from the sunset, either that or I had been drinking beer, tequila, vodka and whiskey drinks all day long.

Rainy Beach Video

We didn't let a little rain and thunder stop us from having fun on the beach. The ocean water was cold but still refreshing, despite the lack of sun. There was also a UFO sighting!

More Mex Photos

Woody is deep in thought.

The sun was shining when we walked down to the beach, but then the thunderstorms approached from the east. When it started to rain, we simply went into the water to dry off.

It was a nice, warm sunny day on Saturday.

Everyone wants to see the sun set. Earlier there were dolphins swimming in the surf.

Baja Waves

And here is the formentioned movie.

Exploring Baja

This wooden ship was at the Calafia resort, one of the places that I was told used to be a happening spot, with live music and crowds of people drinking cheap beer. There was an interesting, multi-level eating/dining area overlooking the waves crashing onto the shore. We left after one weak, expensive Margarita.




There were plenty of good places for photos. There was a wedding going on at this hotel and I saw the bride and groom getting their photos taken down by the ocean. I took a movie at that same spot of the waves and will post that later. This hotel, Las Rocas, actually looked like a fun place to stay. It had a nice pool and there were lots people enjoying the sun.

Interesting mannequins inside a store made for good photo-op for Judy and Steve. Even after exploring other resorts, we still got back to our resort early in the afternoon, with plenty of daylight left. Unfortunately, somehow we didn't have time to play Whiffle ball this year.

Relaxing, Sunsets and Drinks in Mexico

Now that we were across the border, with no wait at all, it was time to relax. The protest ended early we got to our resort by the early evening, in time for the first of three sunsets.



We drove down the road to the local town each night for drinks, food and entertainment. In years past, these bars were packed with American partiers, now there's music playing and no body is dancing or listening to the disco or live music. You wonder how the clubs stay in business. Our favorite taco stand did burn down, so they must have been loosing money.

On the last night there we had the best sunset. Judy went down to the cliff for a better view and from up on the balcony we could see her wine class glowing red from the sun. So we all went down there and took "artsy" photos of her.

Mexico Trip 2007

My four days off just flew by during my stay in Mexico. This was my friend's annual birthday/Labor Day trip to Baja. We spent some of Saturday exploring various resorts along the coast. This photo of me and the new Jesus statue was taken at the Las Rocas Hotel.