My Bike at Lake View Park

I stopped for a second time on my ride to check out Lake View Park. A nice park with a great view of Miramar Reservoir and even the Pacific Ocean.

Miramar Reservoir from Lake View Park

A 10 mile, one hour bike ride was a perfect way to send a relaxing weekend.

Hoist Fitness Machines at the 24 Hour Fitness Club

No, this is not intended to be an advertisement for either Hoist or 24 Hour Fitness, but I just wanted to make a quick blog entry about the new workout equipment I used yesterday at the gym. A few weeks ago the 24 Hour Fitness near my home added a set of Hoist machines. I used them yesterday and I really like them. They seem to give you a more thorough workout of each muscle like you would get from free-weights but with the back-support and comfort of a machine. I especially like the bicep machine. It has the handles on a cord so you have more free motion during the lifting. Plus, all the machines move as you lift. You put your legs on a support rest and as you life the whole machine moves in a smooth motion with a constant resistance. Hopefully the other 24 Hour location I go to will get these machines soon.

Best of my Photos from the 2009 Ford Show.

Ford2009Show

I got them uploaded quicker that I expected. Enjoy.

2009 Fabulous Ford Car Show at Knott's Berry Farm

The "Star Trek" mustang was once again on display at the car show. This year was the hottest year weather-wise for this show. I think because of the heat we cut our stay short.

See my photos here.

Burnt Plastic

I spent this Saturday morning scraping burnt-on plastic off my Mustang's exhaust pipe. Not fun by necessary to stop the smell of burning plastic every time I drove the car. Last weekend I unavoidably ran over an empty one-gallon plastic jug and it got caught under my car. I dragged it for a few hundred feet until I hit a speed bump and the jug broke away. After that, every time I drove and then stopped, my car smelled like it was going to catch on fire. I was so worried that I stopped driving it during the week. But today I drove up to my brother's house and with his suggestions I (he) found the source of the smell, and after using two jack, a piece of wood, a piece of metal, two jack stands and an all-purpose scraper I was able to get most of the plastic scrapped off. There is some left because the bad smell is still there, so I'll just have to hope it burns off soon.

Easter beer

I guess my beer was very heavy. It required both arms to hold it. Easter lunch at the Princess Pub in Little Italy with my sister and two friends was a perfect way to spend Easter. The fish (singular) and chips plus chocolate cake were excellent.

On the way home, I saw yet another accident on Pomerado road near my house. A truck was sitting off the road only a few feet from where someone was killed a few years ago and right across the street where a woman was killed last year. I still say the road needs to be widened. The as I turn left to my house, I see two police cars and a man in handcuffs sitting on the side walk. I guess I'll need to watch the evening news to see what happened. I don't like to see crime in my neighborhood.

Good Friday

I'm celebrating Good Friday with a beer, whiskey and Worf. The Kirkland beer is actually made by some microbrewery, so don't think I'm drinking cheap, imitation beer. The whiskey is Knob Creek and Worf is just Worf.

Balboa Park Bike Ride

I went on my first mountain bike ride on my semi-new, hybrid bike. That means my bike is neither a street bike nor a mountain bike, but it handles good on any surface except deep sand. We met at our friend's house and rode to the trails around Balboa Park. It was the best day for riding, with temperatures in the 70s and a cool breeze blowing. My friends had been on this ride before, but I was never able to join them. I thought the dirt trails would be more difficult on my bike, but I had no problems with traction and was able to keep up with the leader. It was funny, some of the hills didn't look steep, but at the top my legs were burning. There were only two hills I couldn't peddle all the way up, mostly because my bike wouldn't shift into the easiest gears. I need to get that adjusted.

We had no real plan, so we biked here and there, stopping along the way to rest. We ended up going across the Cabrillo Bridge (or Laural Street as I call it) and into the main square of Balboa Park. I then realized how long it had been since I've been to any of the museums in the park. I have not been to the San Diego Zoo in over 20 years!

As we headed back home, we accidentally rode around a park where there were lots of men laying out on the grass in very tight shorts. We quickly made our way away from this spot. That's Balboa Park for you. Then Steve, Woody and I took one last trek down into a valley as the girls waited for us. When we met back up, Judy's front tire was flat. So I got the pump from my bike which I never use and eventually got air in her tire. Then we made it back home safely.

Our plan was to wash up and then go to Woody's for a BBQ dinner. We (or I should everyone but me) made an excellent meal with double cheese burgers topped with green chile and a mustard/horseradish sauce. Rice and macaroni salad for sides and washed down with cold beer. An excellent reward for a two hour, eight mile bike ride. I got home after 10, which is past my usual bedtime but it was worth it getting less sleep. I had fun and hope to do more spontainous bike rides this summer.

New faucet

Replaced my kitchen faucet for the second time. This one has a sprayer! I made one mistake during the install and had to undo a connection that was hard to re-connect. Also, I might have to replace my cold water connection as it looks like it might be leaking too.

I figured out the reason for the faucets breaking was my Pur water filter I use causes back-pressure. The man at Home Depot said not to use that but get some other kind of filter.