Friday, July 25, 2003
Wow. Over a week since my last post. I just haven't been in a mood to write much. Things have been weird at work, and I don't want to spew on here about work very much.
Haven't been sleeping very well lately. Probably the work stuff. I woke up at 4 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I'd get up and actually write.
Today's random topics (not necessarily in this order): the California recall, last night's Amazing Race episode, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, playing bass, Cupid
So I've been back at my bass again lately. My playing hasn't really dropped off too much (it wasn't that great to start with), but I've managed to forgot most of the licks I learned. So back to the drawing board. I found the tab for Pink Floyd's "Money" online so I've been hammering away on that one all week. I need to listen to the track again though, because I think the tab was missing a section. I've played the tabbed version all the way through a few times and something just doesn't feel right. I think there are some transitions missing. Anyway, I need to plug in now and see how it sounds. I think I've got it down pretty well. I was feeling pretty good about it so I decided to pull up the tab for Rush's "La Villa Strangiato" and give it a shot. Hoboy, I've got a long way to go.
This whole recall thing seems pretty weird. Yeah, Gray Davis is a terrible governor, but the voters here did put the chump in office. There was nothing fishy about the election. Apparently he wasn't honest about the state budget deficit until after he was re-elected. Well, duh. The guy's a career politician -- slippery as an eel and only cares about himself. I've never heard him say anything whatsoever of substance. Granted I don't follow the news as much as I'd like, but still. So they want to vote to recall him. Great. But the recall measures stipulate that the recall has to take place within an allotted time frame, which means they have to mobilize and organize one entire voting day just for this! That's literally millions of dollars in cost to the state, most of which is going to be felt by the local governments who, let me assure you, are operating on shoestring budgets already. The really bizarre thing is that nobody seems to really understand what the recall means. And they only needed as many signatures to trigger this as 12% of the total votes Davis received in the last election. So now we'll pay to vote again. I hope Davis does get tossed, based solely on the fact that if he isn't tossed after all of this, people will be against ever trying it again -- even if it is a real necessity at some point in the future. Assuming he does get recalled, though, then what? Apparently people think that there needs to be a new election for the office. I disagree. Standard succession (and the state supposedly has tons of lawyers looking into this right now), is that if a Chief Executive leaves his office for any reason -- death, retirement, impeachment, recall, etc. -- then the next highest official takes his place. At the national level, the Vice President takes over for the President. At the state level, the Lieutenant Governor should take over for the Governor. That means that if the recall succeeds, Cruz Bustamante should become the new Governor for the remainder of Davis' current term. I doubt that'll happen, though, as it seems the wolves are at the door and baying for a new election.
Did you catch Amazing Race last night? If not, skip this paragraph. This is definitely one of the best shows on TV. I like it because it gives you an understanding that there is a whole world of people out there. It's not just America and everybody else -- we've been force-fed this whole concept that we're more important than anyone else, and it has pervaded American society (note the emphasis on personal gain in the whole CA recall situation). News flash: we're not even a majority of the world's population. Anyway, back to the race. When John and Kelly lost out on the Fast Forward and Kelly was ready to give up I just wanted to slap her. If one thing is clear after watching the show it is that you NEVER GIVE UP. You never know when someone will screw up horribly, or when you'll have to get a flight that doesn't leave until 10 hours later, or whatever. Ugh. And then Millie and Chuck. Man, they looked horrible. They certainly looked like they were lacking some sleep. And the whole trip out of their way that let John and Kelly back in the game was completely a brain fart. I just don't understand why Chuck was driving if Millie can't read a map. That makes no sense. It was good to see Chuck actually consoling Millie about the whole thing, though, for once. They've been bickering and whining so much, it was refreshing to see her break down and see him support her. But what they really need is to just get laid and relax. Man, are they uptight.
Final topic: Queer Eye for the Single Guy. This airs in its 1-hour entirety on Bravo, but NBC edits it down to 30 minutes and puts it on after Will and Grace. We hadn't even gotten through the opening credits and I was rolling on the floor. I think the whole over-the-top, campy thing gets a bit old (the fashion guy Carson was starting to grate on me by the end of the show), but it was a lot of fun to watch. I'll be watching for more episodes of this to see if it usually this good.
Well, sounds like Wendy's up. It's going on 7. Looks like the funky weather is still in full force (it was actually raining yesterday when I left for work) -- it looks kind of chilly outside. Bart is sleeping here on the desk with me. I'm glad it's Friday. I think we're going to go see Seabiscuit tonight. I've got a soccer game at 9 tomorrow morning. Wendy is going kayaking with her friend Leslie on Sunday down by Monterrey. They're heading down tomorrow night to stay in the area overnight, so I'll have a night to myself. No idea yet what I'll do with it.
Just realized I didn't talk about Cupid. Normally I hate these find-love-on-tv shows, but for some reason I like this one. Wendy and I agree that if any of the guys on the show are perfect for Lisa, it's Hank. But, man, it would be tough to know that you'll always have to deal with her Harpy friend Laura. Man, that girl is an A-1 bitch, suffering from full-of-herself syndrome. And that is some bad overtanning she's got going on, too.
Got comments? Email me.
Haven't been sleeping very well lately. Probably the work stuff. I woke up at 4 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I'd get up and actually write.
Today's random topics (not necessarily in this order): the California recall, last night's Amazing Race episode, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, playing bass, Cupid
So I've been back at my bass again lately. My playing hasn't really dropped off too much (it wasn't that great to start with), but I've managed to forgot most of the licks I learned. So back to the drawing board. I found the tab for Pink Floyd's "Money" online so I've been hammering away on that one all week. I need to listen to the track again though, because I think the tab was missing a section. I've played the tabbed version all the way through a few times and something just doesn't feel right. I think there are some transitions missing. Anyway, I need to plug in now and see how it sounds. I think I've got it down pretty well. I was feeling pretty good about it so I decided to pull up the tab for Rush's "La Villa Strangiato" and give it a shot. Hoboy, I've got a long way to go.
This whole recall thing seems pretty weird. Yeah, Gray Davis is a terrible governor, but the voters here did put the chump in office. There was nothing fishy about the election. Apparently he wasn't honest about the state budget deficit until after he was re-elected. Well, duh. The guy's a career politician -- slippery as an eel and only cares about himself. I've never heard him say anything whatsoever of substance. Granted I don't follow the news as much as I'd like, but still. So they want to vote to recall him. Great. But the recall measures stipulate that the recall has to take place within an allotted time frame, which means they have to mobilize and organize one entire voting day just for this! That's literally millions of dollars in cost to the state, most of which is going to be felt by the local governments who, let me assure you, are operating on shoestring budgets already. The really bizarre thing is that nobody seems to really understand what the recall means. And they only needed as many signatures to trigger this as 12% of the total votes Davis received in the last election. So now we'll pay to vote again. I hope Davis does get tossed, based solely on the fact that if he isn't tossed after all of this, people will be against ever trying it again -- even if it is a real necessity at some point in the future. Assuming he does get recalled, though, then what? Apparently people think that there needs to be a new election for the office. I disagree. Standard succession (and the state supposedly has tons of lawyers looking into this right now), is that if a Chief Executive leaves his office for any reason -- death, retirement, impeachment, recall, etc. -- then the next highest official takes his place. At the national level, the Vice President takes over for the President. At the state level, the Lieutenant Governor should take over for the Governor. That means that if the recall succeeds, Cruz Bustamante should become the new Governor for the remainder of Davis' current term. I doubt that'll happen, though, as it seems the wolves are at the door and baying for a new election.
Did you catch Amazing Race last night? If not, skip this paragraph. This is definitely one of the best shows on TV. I like it because it gives you an understanding that there is a whole world of people out there. It's not just America and everybody else -- we've been force-fed this whole concept that we're more important than anyone else, and it has pervaded American society (note the emphasis on personal gain in the whole CA recall situation). News flash: we're not even a majority of the world's population. Anyway, back to the race. When John and Kelly lost out on the Fast Forward and Kelly was ready to give up I just wanted to slap her. If one thing is clear after watching the show it is that you NEVER GIVE UP. You never know when someone will screw up horribly, or when you'll have to get a flight that doesn't leave until 10 hours later, or whatever. Ugh. And then Millie and Chuck. Man, they looked horrible. They certainly looked like they were lacking some sleep. And the whole trip out of their way that let John and Kelly back in the game was completely a brain fart. I just don't understand why Chuck was driving if Millie can't read a map. That makes no sense. It was good to see Chuck actually consoling Millie about the whole thing, though, for once. They've been bickering and whining so much, it was refreshing to see her break down and see him support her. But what they really need is to just get laid and relax. Man, are they uptight.
Final topic: Queer Eye for the Single Guy. This airs in its 1-hour entirety on Bravo, but NBC edits it down to 30 minutes and puts it on after Will and Grace. We hadn't even gotten through the opening credits and I was rolling on the floor. I think the whole over-the-top, campy thing gets a bit old (the fashion guy Carson was starting to grate on me by the end of the show), but it was a lot of fun to watch. I'll be watching for more episodes of this to see if it usually this good.
Well, sounds like Wendy's up. It's going on 7. Looks like the funky weather is still in full force (it was actually raining yesterday when I left for work) -- it looks kind of chilly outside. Bart is sleeping here on the desk with me. I'm glad it's Friday. I think we're going to go see Seabiscuit tonight. I've got a soccer game at 9 tomorrow morning. Wendy is going kayaking with her friend Leslie on Sunday down by Monterrey. They're heading down tomorrow night to stay in the area overnight, so I'll have a night to myself. No idea yet what I'll do with it.
Just realized I didn't talk about Cupid. Normally I hate these find-love-on-tv shows, but for some reason I like this one. Wendy and I agree that if any of the guys on the show are perfect for Lisa, it's Hank. But, man, it would be tough to know that you'll always have to deal with her Harpy friend Laura. Man, that girl is an A-1 bitch, suffering from full-of-herself syndrome. And that is some bad overtanning she's got going on, too.
Got comments? Email me.
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
OK, I just woke up from a very odd dream and thought it was worth writing down.
I was in the house I grew up in. I never saw my sister and my maternal grandmother but I knew they were both in the house. I was downstairs in my room. I heard a loud noise in the front yard and looked out my window. I saw an old car driving through our front yard like it was joyriding, and there was a dog running alongside it. Inside the car were two gangmembers, one was hispanic and one was black. They were laughing and doing donuts in the grass while the dog ran around. I continued to watch them in bizarre fascination.
Then there was some kind of big brown dog on our front porch that I didn't recognize. It was sleeping but woke up and pounced on the gang dog. It bit hard into the smaller dog, picked it up in its mouth and shook it violently, and then flung it away. The smaller dog went flying through the air and crashed into the bumper of an RV that was parked in the driveway at the end of the front porch. The gang members saw this and became enraged. They stopped the car and got out. They pulled out guns and started swearing.
I ran out of my room to the phone. I picked it up but there was no dial tone. Then my sister said something and I yelled at her over the phone "Get off the phone! There are people with guns outside! Lock all of the doors!" Then I hung up and picked up the phone again and there was still no dial tone. I depressed the receiver and got dial tone -- but only as long as I held down the button. If I lifted my finger, it went dead. I dialed 911. It started ringing. I suddenly realized that the garage doors were open so I dropped the phone and ran to the basement door. I looked out into the garage and didn't see anyone so I opened the door, ran out and pushed the buttons to close the garage doors. I ran back down the stairs and suddenly a small basset hound came scurrying into the garage and down the steps past me. I breathed a sigh of relief but didn't recognize the dog. I was about to close the basement door when I realized with a panic that the back door in the garage wasn't locked either. I ran back into the garage, locked the back door frantically and ran back inside. Suddenly from under the garage doors (they were taking forever to slowly close), our black cat Bart came sprinting, with his eyes wild and his fur sticking out like he was crazed. He came sprinting past me into the basement as the garage doors suddenly came down with a crash. I felt relieved that he was inside. I went back to the phone and picked up the handset to see if anyone from 911 was there. I said "Hello?" Silence. "911?" Nothing. Then a woman's voice said very calmly, as if she had just been waiting for me to pick the phone back up "Hello? Yes, this is 911." "I need help!" I yell. "I'm at 38, no 36, no 38, no 36, no 3811 Santa Barbara Rd! I'm sorry." I couldn't remember the address. "There are men here with guns and they're trying to get into our house." Just then I remember that I didn't lock all of the windows or tell Vickie to lock them and I drop the phone. I hear gunshots.
Then I woke up. I wonder what that meant.
Got comments? Email me.
I was in the house I grew up in. I never saw my sister and my maternal grandmother but I knew they were both in the house. I was downstairs in my room. I heard a loud noise in the front yard and looked out my window. I saw an old car driving through our front yard like it was joyriding, and there was a dog running alongside it. Inside the car were two gangmembers, one was hispanic and one was black. They were laughing and doing donuts in the grass while the dog ran around. I continued to watch them in bizarre fascination.
Then there was some kind of big brown dog on our front porch that I didn't recognize. It was sleeping but woke up and pounced on the gang dog. It bit hard into the smaller dog, picked it up in its mouth and shook it violently, and then flung it away. The smaller dog went flying through the air and crashed into the bumper of an RV that was parked in the driveway at the end of the front porch. The gang members saw this and became enraged. They stopped the car and got out. They pulled out guns and started swearing.
I ran out of my room to the phone. I picked it up but there was no dial tone. Then my sister said something and I yelled at her over the phone "Get off the phone! There are people with guns outside! Lock all of the doors!" Then I hung up and picked up the phone again and there was still no dial tone. I depressed the receiver and got dial tone -- but only as long as I held down the button. If I lifted my finger, it went dead. I dialed 911. It started ringing. I suddenly realized that the garage doors were open so I dropped the phone and ran to the basement door. I looked out into the garage and didn't see anyone so I opened the door, ran out and pushed the buttons to close the garage doors. I ran back down the stairs and suddenly a small basset hound came scurrying into the garage and down the steps past me. I breathed a sigh of relief but didn't recognize the dog. I was about to close the basement door when I realized with a panic that the back door in the garage wasn't locked either. I ran back into the garage, locked the back door frantically and ran back inside. Suddenly from under the garage doors (they were taking forever to slowly close), our black cat Bart came sprinting, with his eyes wild and his fur sticking out like he was crazed. He came sprinting past me into the basement as the garage doors suddenly came down with a crash. I felt relieved that he was inside. I went back to the phone and picked up the handset to see if anyone from 911 was there. I said "Hello?" Silence. "911?" Nothing. Then a woman's voice said very calmly, as if she had just been waiting for me to pick the phone back up "Hello? Yes, this is 911." "I need help!" I yell. "I'm at 38, no 36, no 38, no 36, no 3811 Santa Barbara Rd! I'm sorry." I couldn't remember the address. "There are men here with guns and they're trying to get into our house." Just then I remember that I didn't lock all of the windows or tell Vickie to lock them and I drop the phone. I hear gunshots.
Then I woke up. I wonder what that meant.
Got comments? Email me.
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Boy, it's tough to keep up posting every day! Life just has a way of getting in the way, but that's what keeps things interesting, eh?
I got back to work yesterday, not knowing what to expect. I don't take a week off very often and it seems like something big always happens while I'm out. Now I don't think it's really appropriate for me to discuss too much work stuff in detail because I don't know how specific I can be without jeopardizing my job, so I'm always going to keep things pretty simple and vague when it comes to work (or at least try to). But yesterday morning my boss/former boss (long story) tendered his resignation. He gave three weeks notice. Ugh. Can't say I didn't see it coming because of the stuff that's been going down lately, but I was still surprised and disappointed. He's going to move back to England with his wife and kids and try consulting for a while. What this means to the project -- other than scramble like mad to pick up the pieces -- is anyone's guess at this point. The rest of the summer promises to be quite interesting, and not necessarily in a good way.
Went over to Tim and Erin's last night and played D&D. I also started up a blog for our campaign. The 3.5 Player's Handbook and Monster Manual that T&E pre-ordered thru Amazon arrived yesterday so we spent some time discussing what was new before we got started. I tried to keep detailed notes on what happened so I could blog it -- man, that's tough!
Well, time for work. Later, peeps.
Got comments? Email me.
I got back to work yesterday, not knowing what to expect. I don't take a week off very often and it seems like something big always happens while I'm out. Now I don't think it's really appropriate for me to discuss too much work stuff in detail because I don't know how specific I can be without jeopardizing my job, so I'm always going to keep things pretty simple and vague when it comes to work (or at least try to). But yesterday morning my boss/former boss (long story) tendered his resignation. He gave three weeks notice. Ugh. Can't say I didn't see it coming because of the stuff that's been going down lately, but I was still surprised and disappointed. He's going to move back to England with his wife and kids and try consulting for a while. What this means to the project -- other than scramble like mad to pick up the pieces -- is anyone's guess at this point. The rest of the summer promises to be quite interesting, and not necessarily in a good way.
Went over to Tim and Erin's last night and played D&D. I also started up a blog for our campaign. The 3.5 Player's Handbook and Monster Manual that T&E pre-ordered thru Amazon arrived yesterday so we spent some time discussing what was new before we got started. I tried to keep detailed notes on what happened so I could blog it -- man, that's tough!
Well, time for work. Later, peeps.
Got comments? Email me.
Sunday, July 13, 2003
I promised more on Friday about the Schulz Museum, but I'll get to that later. I didn't write anything yesterday because it was the first full day Wendy and I spent together since before Vickie came to visit.
I got up at 4:30 Saturday morning in order to leave by 5 AM to get Vickie to the Sacramento Airport in time for her 7:50 flight home. We made it to the airport uneventfully and with time to spare. I took the opportunity to once again talk to Vickie about going back to school or switching jobs. Wendy and I had already invited her to stay with us if she wanted to move out here and go to one of the California Universities for in-state tuition, and I reiterated that invitation again. I don't know if she took it seriously or not. I know she's a lot like me in that we like to comfortable -- we don't usually seek out change even if we really want it. We'd rather be unhappy but comfortable than take a chance on being really happy and make a change -- we can't help but think that if things go wrong, we could be even more unhappy, so we pass up chances to make changes that could make our lives a lot better. We probably get that from our mom, who tends to catastrophize. She worries about the worst that could happen. Come home late one night? Maybe it's because you were in a car crash and you're dying by the side of the road! Stuff like that.
Take my current job, for example. Wendy and I packed up everything and moved across the country for this job, a job I really wanted. I left behind a job where I was comfortable, but I was going nowhere and wasn't terribly happy -- the company was rapidly deteriorating for a vareity of reasons, and it was a small company with limited opportunities for advancement. But I was sticking it out there out of a misguided sense of loyalty and a reluctance to make a change. If it wasn't for Wendy helping me evaluate things and understand that this change was something that I both wanted and needed, I might not have taken the risk. And then I'd have been laid off with everyone else at DreamForge when they finally went under. (Note that I'd put a link to DreamForge's site here but it no longer exists, so try these sites instead: here, here, and here).
So anyway, I took Vickie to the airport then went straight home and crashed in bed for another hour or so. Wendy had an appointment to get her nails done at 10:00 (she gets a simple French manicure [there's also an article that mentions French manicures and Hobbits here] because she has weak nails that bend under at the tips -- nothing foo foo and girly). Since the salon is less than two miles away and the weather was lovely as usual, we decided to bike over. I took my current read to keep busy while I waited.
Wendy really likes this salon, the Lion's Mane, and its proximity to us is a big plus. Her regular hair stylist recently had a baby and won't be back to work for another month or two, and Wendy's already gone a couple of months without a cut so she's been looking for another stylist. She also thinks I get crappy, inconsistent haircuts at the cheap no-appointment-necessary hair place I normally go to -- she says its because they're supposed to get customers in and out within 9 minutes so they can't take their time to do a really good job. Anyway, Wendy and I ended up getting haircut appointments when she finished with her nails.
By this time it was almost noon and we were hungry. We took our bikes around the corner to the Cafe de Croissants and had a delicious lunch -- I had a ham, egg, and cheese croissant sandwich and Wendy had a chicken salad croissant sandwich -- out on their covered patio. The whole shopping complex where the cafe and the salon are located is situated next to the Mountain Shadows Golf Resort and while we ate I watched an elderly man working on his short game, trying to chip in from the fringe on the putting green. He occasionally hit a decent shot, but his form was rather bad -- he consistently broke his wrists and had little if any movement in his upper body -- so more often than not his shots went hither and thither.
Hmm. Almost 11:00 right now. We've got a massage appointment at noon, so I need to get going. Hopefully I'll write more later (this is getting to be a habit, isn't it?).
Got comments? Email me.
I got up at 4:30 Saturday morning in order to leave by 5 AM to get Vickie to the Sacramento Airport in time for her 7:50 flight home. We made it to the airport uneventfully and with time to spare. I took the opportunity to once again talk to Vickie about going back to school or switching jobs. Wendy and I had already invited her to stay with us if she wanted to move out here and go to one of the California Universities for in-state tuition, and I reiterated that invitation again. I don't know if she took it seriously or not. I know she's a lot like me in that we like to comfortable -- we don't usually seek out change even if we really want it. We'd rather be unhappy but comfortable than take a chance on being really happy and make a change -- we can't help but think that if things go wrong, we could be even more unhappy, so we pass up chances to make changes that could make our lives a lot better. We probably get that from our mom, who tends to catastrophize. She worries about the worst that could happen. Come home late one night? Maybe it's because you were in a car crash and you're dying by the side of the road! Stuff like that.
Take my current job, for example. Wendy and I packed up everything and moved across the country for this job, a job I really wanted. I left behind a job where I was comfortable, but I was going nowhere and wasn't terribly happy -- the company was rapidly deteriorating for a vareity of reasons, and it was a small company with limited opportunities for advancement. But I was sticking it out there out of a misguided sense of loyalty and a reluctance to make a change. If it wasn't for Wendy helping me evaluate things and understand that this change was something that I both wanted and needed, I might not have taken the risk. And then I'd have been laid off with everyone else at DreamForge when they finally went under. (Note that I'd put a link to DreamForge's site here but it no longer exists, so try these sites instead: here, here, and here).
So anyway, I took Vickie to the airport then went straight home and crashed in bed for another hour or so. Wendy had an appointment to get her nails done at 10:00 (she gets a simple French manicure [there's also an article that mentions French manicures and Hobbits here] because she has weak nails that bend under at the tips -- nothing foo foo and girly). Since the salon is less than two miles away and the weather was lovely as usual, we decided to bike over. I took my current read to keep busy while I waited.
Wendy really likes this salon, the Lion's Mane, and its proximity to us is a big plus. Her regular hair stylist recently had a baby and won't be back to work for another month or two, and Wendy's already gone a couple of months without a cut so she's been looking for another stylist. She also thinks I get crappy, inconsistent haircuts at the cheap no-appointment-necessary hair place I normally go to -- she says its because they're supposed to get customers in and out within 9 minutes so they can't take their time to do a really good job. Anyway, Wendy and I ended up getting haircut appointments when she finished with her nails.
By this time it was almost noon and we were hungry. We took our bikes around the corner to the Cafe de Croissants and had a delicious lunch -- I had a ham, egg, and cheese croissant sandwich and Wendy had a chicken salad croissant sandwich -- out on their covered patio. The whole shopping complex where the cafe and the salon are located is situated next to the Mountain Shadows Golf Resort and while we ate I watched an elderly man working on his short game, trying to chip in from the fringe on the putting green. He occasionally hit a decent shot, but his form was rather bad -- he consistently broke his wrists and had little if any movement in his upper body -- so more often than not his shots went hither and thither.
Hmm. Almost 11:00 right now. We've got a massage appointment at noon, so I need to get going. Hopefully I'll write more later (this is getting to be a habit, isn't it?).
Got comments? Email me.
Friday, July 11, 2003
Just got back from today's outing. Today was a hot one (the thermometer still reads 89 in the shade this late in the day), but we actually did a good bit.
First thing was to mail the mortgage check. The bill came yesterday. Wendy and I have worked hard to eliminate our debt and we're now at the point where we can actually pay a bill as soon as it comes in, so today it got paid. I can't tell you what a good feeling it is to finally be at this point financially.
After the check hit the mailbox, we were off to Office Depot. The printer ran out of black ink last night and we didn't have any more, so it was time to recycle the old ones and buy some new. That went smoothly and after a refueling stop at Costco (the cheapest gas I've found in the area), it was still only 11:05. The next planned stop was the Schulz Museum, but that doesn't open until noon, so we had about an hour to kill -- we decided to stop by the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens.
I really didn't know what to expect. I've driven past the place dozens of times, but haven't ever stopped. Well, Luther Burbank was what amounts to a "plant inventor" back in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His contemporaries were Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, and all three were friends and peers. Burbank is in the Inventors' Hall of Fame for his work with plants -- he was an early pioneer of botanical experimentation, who created, among other things, the Shasta Daisy and the White Blackberry. Now I'm not much of a plant person (as Wendy will tell you!) but it was quite amazing to see and read about the types of things he accomplished. And in an interesting twist of fate, there was a display in the Carriage House about the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915. What made that interesting is that the story of the Murder Mystery Train last night was set during that very Exposition -- as passengers on the train we were supposed to be international wine tasters who were in the area for the Exposition. I love curious little coincidences like that!
By the time we had taken in the gardens, it was after noon, so we were finally off to the Schulz Museum. I am, of course, a Peanuts fan -- and, honestly, who isn't a Peanuts fan? -- so I was looking forward to the Museum. It did not disappoint me.
More on that later. Gotta go for now.
Got comments? Email me.
First thing was to mail the mortgage check. The bill came yesterday. Wendy and I have worked hard to eliminate our debt and we're now at the point where we can actually pay a bill as soon as it comes in, so today it got paid. I can't tell you what a good feeling it is to finally be at this point financially.
After the check hit the mailbox, we were off to Office Depot. The printer ran out of black ink last night and we didn't have any more, so it was time to recycle the old ones and buy some new. That went smoothly and after a refueling stop at Costco (the cheapest gas I've found in the area), it was still only 11:05. The next planned stop was the Schulz Museum, but that doesn't open until noon, so we had about an hour to kill -- we decided to stop by the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens.
I really didn't know what to expect. I've driven past the place dozens of times, but haven't ever stopped. Well, Luther Burbank was what amounts to a "plant inventor" back in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His contemporaries were Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, and all three were friends and peers. Burbank is in the Inventors' Hall of Fame for his work with plants -- he was an early pioneer of botanical experimentation, who created, among other things, the Shasta Daisy and the White Blackberry. Now I'm not much of a plant person (as Wendy will tell you!) but it was quite amazing to see and read about the types of things he accomplished. And in an interesting twist of fate, there was a display in the Carriage House about the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915. What made that interesting is that the story of the Murder Mystery Train last night was set during that very Exposition -- as passengers on the train we were supposed to be international wine tasters who were in the area for the Exposition. I love curious little coincidences like that!
By the time we had taken in the gardens, it was after noon, so we were finally off to the Schulz Museum. I am, of course, a Peanuts fan -- and, honestly, who isn't a Peanuts fan? -- so I was looking forward to the Museum. It did not disappoint me.
More on that later. Gotta go for now.
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Wendy just got up to get ready for work. For some reason, I've been wide awake for almost an hour now. My sinuses are still giving me trouble -- I've got that one-nostril-clogged thing going on this morning. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Yesterday we got a late start and by the time we got to the Jelly Belly factory, it was almost noon and the place was packed. We had to wait in line about 45 minutes for the tour. They came by and gave everybody a free scoop of Jelly Belly's because the wait was so long. There were kids running crazy everywhere. In front of us in line was an elderly couple with what appeared to be their granddaughter; she was a lanky 18 or so and had one of those super-dark tans that looks vaguely unnatural. She also had a large, dark mole on the back of her right calf, and was wearing a raggedy, mottled t-shirt that had a reference to Texas A&M stretched across her oddly-hunched shoulders. Her grandparents, whom she towered over (this might explain the odd hunch), had reached that stage of life where they appeared to be shrinking, but in that odd fashion where the proportions of their bodies no longer look correct.
Back to the present: Bart was just being annoying, pawing at the window as he is wont to do when he wants to go out. I looked outside and sure enough there was one of the neighbor cats in the yard -- this time it was Kit Kat, who is fairly innocuous. Since Bart has a hole in his tail (he apparently got bitten in a cat fight and it started to get infected), I've been trying not to let him run around outside too much, and I definitely don't want him getting into another fight. So I ran outside to try to spray Kit Kat with the hose, but opening the back door was enough to chase her off. If only we could find some way to keep everyone else's cats out of our yard, Bart would be so much better behaved. *sigh*
Anyway, back to the factory. There was a family behind us who was visiting from Phoenix. The father was a tall, thick-framed man of 40, with a weathered face, stubbly greying beard, glasses, and an impish grin -- the kind of friendly face that just makes you smile back out of instinct. He had two young boys with him, one 12 and one 7, and young though they were, you could see that both would follow in their father's barrel-chested footsteps. After a short wait in line, the mother joined them. She looked to be late-30's and had a face that reminded me of some women back in Pittsburgh -- in her youth she was probably very attractive but age and childbirth had taken a toll on her. She had those enormous grandmotherly breasts that some women seem genetically predisposed to, the kind that are saggy and formless and call for a back brace with steel reinforcement. She, too, wore a smile, undeterred by the unkindness that time had visited upon her physically. You could tell that they were a happy family.
Finally we got on the tour, led by a young blonde girl named Olivia. She was probably a high schooler doing the tour guide thing as a summer job, and had that kind of short, athletic build that gives girls that I'm-really-not-trying-to-be-cute-but-I-just-can't-help-it look. She was wearing those large, thick-soled black boots that shorter girls like to wear, low-riding, hip-hugging khaki pants with a distinctive, low-slung black leather belt, a forest-green polo shirt tucked haphazardly into her pants -- so haphazardly that the slightest glimpse of bright purple underwear could be seen peeking out in back from between her bunched up shirt and her low-riders. She wore her thick, golden hair pulled back in a barely-visible black hairnet, topped off with a white hardhat that bore her name in black block letters across the back. The ensemble was completed by the black leather fanny-pack that was also low-slung, but at the opposite angle as her belt, so as to make it look almost cool.
Olivia had an odd lilt to her voice, delivering her tour guide lines in an almost perfunctory manner and solidifying my summer-job theory. It was a bit of a shame that she was so obviously going through the motions of her job -- you could tell she had one of those smiles that can light up a room and if she only applied herself a little bit she could bring a lot of energy to the tour. Not that the tour was bad, mind you. It just lacked....spark.
The tour itself reminded me that I generally don't like to go on public tours. People are so self-centered and unthinking that it makes me uncomfortable and often irritated -- they walk in front of people, push their way past people, talk so loudly that everyone in a twenty-mile radius can hear them, stop for no reason, linger longer than they should -- in short, most people just don't seem to notice or care that there are other people around, and fail to show even the smallest amount of respect for others. Wendy tells me (quite accurately) that I too often suffer from righteous indignation -- I expect others to follow the same standards that I set for myself and I get quite annoyed when people fail to meet these expectations, as they usually do. It's something I'm working on. I'll keep you updated on my progress... or lack thereof.
So back to the tour. They gave us funny little paper hats, like the kind the old soda jerks used to wear in the '50's. We walked on an elevated walkway around the factory, seeing people at work and watching videos on monitors. Every worker on the factory floor was either Mexican or overweight. The factory was filled with a cotton candy, bubble gum-my, slightly fruity aroma of pure sugar -- the kind of aroma that makes kids take a long, deep sniff and roll their eyes back in their heads. We saw the three-step process of making Jelly Belly's, which takes about 7 days, as well as how they make taffy and chocolate-coated candy. At the end of the tour, Olivia handed out free sample bags of Jelly Belly's.
After the tour, Vickie and I milled around the store area. I sampled various beans as well as their newest product JBz, which are M&M-like chocolate candies with the outer shell flavored like a Jelly Belly. The product is so new that they don't have packaging for it yet, so it is only available in bulk. The name is a bit silly (but so is "Jelly Belly") but it seems like they might have hit on something. With proper marketing, these could be very popular. My favorites are Orange Juice (tastes like orange chocolate), Raspberry (tastes like raspberry chocolate), and Banana (tastes like a chocolate-covered banana). Other flavors include Blueberry, Apricot, Grape, Sizzling Cinnamon, Buttered Popcorn, Cappuccino, Coconut, Toasted Marshmallow, Strawberry Cheesecake, Ice Blue Mint, Honey Graham Cracker, and Very Cherry. I bought some of the JBz, some Jelly Belly's in flavors that I like, and some bags of the Belly Flops -- the rejected beans that are misshapen, poorly colored, stuck together, etc. Vickie bought some Root Beer and Cream Soda Jelly Belly's and some other merchandise.
After our purchases, it was 2:00 and we were pretty hungry so we ate in the Jelly Belly Cafeteria. I got a Jelly Belly Cheeseburger and was surprised to find that the burger and bun were both bean-shaped (well, actually they were more boomerang-shaped, but the idea was there). It was actually a pretty good burger.
When we got back from Fairfield, we only had just enough time to get ready for the Wine Train. As it was, the directions they give online are somewhat circuitous so we were a few minutes late for the 5:30 arrival time, but so were tons of other people and the departure time wasn't until 6:30 anyway. Wendy works right down the street from the Train Station so she just met us there after work.
We got checked in and they gave us name tags, telling us that we couldn't use our real names, we had to make up characters to play. Oh, I forgot to mention that we were taking the Murder Mystery Wine Train that was set in 1915. Anyway, Vickie was wearing a bright blue top, so she called herself Mrs. Peacock. Wendy was wearing a read top, so she called herself Miss Scarlet. I elected to call myself "Inspector Andrew MacTaggert" from Scotland Yard. A stroll around the station revealed a couple of Eliot Ness's, a pair of Bonnie and Clyde's, Seymour Butts and Anita Mann, etc. It wasn't long before the actors in their period costumes came out and began mingling with the guests. It was quite entertaining. There was a corrupt Senator, an Arch Duchess from Russia, a German naval officer, a Hollywood actress, an Italian wine-maker, and a Texan train conductor. They had a good combination of humor and over-the-top theatrics, and they all played their roles quite well. I was reminded of my actor/improv friends Frank and Gina, who could have fit into the roles of the Senator and Arch Duchess quite well, thank you.
We boarded the train following a short photo-shoot (so they could push the old "souvenir photos" at the end of the trip) and were seated in one of the dining cars. This was my first time on a train, and I was quite looking forward to it. The wait staff was very friendly but undermanned, so there were relatively long turns between wait staff visits; we often had empty water glasses. The meal came in courses: Appetizer, Salad, Ices, Entree. While the meal was being served, various members of the Mystery entourage would come in and mingle about, and things would happen: letters would be read, people would argue, facts would be revealed in conversation. At times it was a bit contrived, but it was for the benefit of the audience, so it was acceptable. We opted not to sample any wine -- the trip cost $110 per person but no wine was included in that price. We were a bit disappointed by that. The appetizer and salad were quite good. The ices left something to be desired (the grapefruit ice was horridly bitter). The entrees were good but not great; they were well-prepared and the main dishes were flavorful, but the accompaniments left something to be desired.
Between the meal and the performances, so much was going on that we really couldn't enjoy the train ride itself, which was also a bit of a disappointment. We figured the meal was $30, the train ride was about $30, and the performance was about $30, but we paid $110 for the total package, and found that a tad overpriced. I'd say it was worth about $75 or so, but then again it was in Napa Valley.
Well, it's getting late. More later.
Got comments? Email me.
Yesterday we got a late start and by the time we got to the Jelly Belly factory, it was almost noon and the place was packed. We had to wait in line about 45 minutes for the tour. They came by and gave everybody a free scoop of Jelly Belly's because the wait was so long. There were kids running crazy everywhere. In front of us in line was an elderly couple with what appeared to be their granddaughter; she was a lanky 18 or so and had one of those super-dark tans that looks vaguely unnatural. She also had a large, dark mole on the back of her right calf, and was wearing a raggedy, mottled t-shirt that had a reference to Texas A&M stretched across her oddly-hunched shoulders. Her grandparents, whom she towered over (this might explain the odd hunch), had reached that stage of life where they appeared to be shrinking, but in that odd fashion where the proportions of their bodies no longer look correct.
Back to the present: Bart was just being annoying, pawing at the window as he is wont to do when he wants to go out. I looked outside and sure enough there was one of the neighbor cats in the yard -- this time it was Kit Kat, who is fairly innocuous. Since Bart has a hole in his tail (he apparently got bitten in a cat fight and it started to get infected), I've been trying not to let him run around outside too much, and I definitely don't want him getting into another fight. So I ran outside to try to spray Kit Kat with the hose, but opening the back door was enough to chase her off. If only we could find some way to keep everyone else's cats out of our yard, Bart would be so much better behaved. *sigh*
Anyway, back to the factory. There was a family behind us who was visiting from Phoenix. The father was a tall, thick-framed man of 40, with a weathered face, stubbly greying beard, glasses, and an impish grin -- the kind of friendly face that just makes you smile back out of instinct. He had two young boys with him, one 12 and one 7, and young though they were, you could see that both would follow in their father's barrel-chested footsteps. After a short wait in line, the mother joined them. She looked to be late-30's and had a face that reminded me of some women back in Pittsburgh -- in her youth she was probably very attractive but age and childbirth had taken a toll on her. She had those enormous grandmotherly breasts that some women seem genetically predisposed to, the kind that are saggy and formless and call for a back brace with steel reinforcement. She, too, wore a smile, undeterred by the unkindness that time had visited upon her physically. You could tell that they were a happy family.
Finally we got on the tour, led by a young blonde girl named Olivia. She was probably a high schooler doing the tour guide thing as a summer job, and had that kind of short, athletic build that gives girls that I'm-really-not-trying-to-be-cute-but-I-just-can't-help-it look. She was wearing those large, thick-soled black boots that shorter girls like to wear, low-riding, hip-hugging khaki pants with a distinctive, low-slung black leather belt, a forest-green polo shirt tucked haphazardly into her pants -- so haphazardly that the slightest glimpse of bright purple underwear could be seen peeking out in back from between her bunched up shirt and her low-riders. She wore her thick, golden hair pulled back in a barely-visible black hairnet, topped off with a white hardhat that bore her name in black block letters across the back. The ensemble was completed by the black leather fanny-pack that was also low-slung, but at the opposite angle as her belt, so as to make it look almost cool.
Olivia had an odd lilt to her voice, delivering her tour guide lines in an almost perfunctory manner and solidifying my summer-job theory. It was a bit of a shame that she was so obviously going through the motions of her job -- you could tell she had one of those smiles that can light up a room and if she only applied herself a little bit she could bring a lot of energy to the tour. Not that the tour was bad, mind you. It just lacked....spark.
The tour itself reminded me that I generally don't like to go on public tours. People are so self-centered and unthinking that it makes me uncomfortable and often irritated -- they walk in front of people, push their way past people, talk so loudly that everyone in a twenty-mile radius can hear them, stop for no reason, linger longer than they should -- in short, most people just don't seem to notice or care that there are other people around, and fail to show even the smallest amount of respect for others. Wendy tells me (quite accurately) that I too often suffer from righteous indignation -- I expect others to follow the same standards that I set for myself and I get quite annoyed when people fail to meet these expectations, as they usually do. It's something I'm working on. I'll keep you updated on my progress... or lack thereof.
So back to the tour. They gave us funny little paper hats, like the kind the old soda jerks used to wear in the '50's. We walked on an elevated walkway around the factory, seeing people at work and watching videos on monitors. Every worker on the factory floor was either Mexican or overweight. The factory was filled with a cotton candy, bubble gum-my, slightly fruity aroma of pure sugar -- the kind of aroma that makes kids take a long, deep sniff and roll their eyes back in their heads. We saw the three-step process of making Jelly Belly's, which takes about 7 days, as well as how they make taffy and chocolate-coated candy. At the end of the tour, Olivia handed out free sample bags of Jelly Belly's.
After the tour, Vickie and I milled around the store area. I sampled various beans as well as their newest product JBz, which are M&M-like chocolate candies with the outer shell flavored like a Jelly Belly. The product is so new that they don't have packaging for it yet, so it is only available in bulk. The name is a bit silly (but so is "Jelly Belly") but it seems like they might have hit on something. With proper marketing, these could be very popular. My favorites are Orange Juice (tastes like orange chocolate), Raspberry (tastes like raspberry chocolate), and Banana (tastes like a chocolate-covered banana). Other flavors include Blueberry, Apricot, Grape, Sizzling Cinnamon, Buttered Popcorn, Cappuccino, Coconut, Toasted Marshmallow, Strawberry Cheesecake, Ice Blue Mint, Honey Graham Cracker, and Very Cherry. I bought some of the JBz, some Jelly Belly's in flavors that I like, and some bags of the Belly Flops -- the rejected beans that are misshapen, poorly colored, stuck together, etc. Vickie bought some Root Beer and Cream Soda Jelly Belly's and some other merchandise.
After our purchases, it was 2:00 and we were pretty hungry so we ate in the Jelly Belly Cafeteria. I got a Jelly Belly Cheeseburger and was surprised to find that the burger and bun were both bean-shaped (well, actually they were more boomerang-shaped, but the idea was there). It was actually a pretty good burger.
When we got back from Fairfield, we only had just enough time to get ready for the Wine Train. As it was, the directions they give online are somewhat circuitous so we were a few minutes late for the 5:30 arrival time, but so were tons of other people and the departure time wasn't until 6:30 anyway. Wendy works right down the street from the Train Station so she just met us there after work.
We got checked in and they gave us name tags, telling us that we couldn't use our real names, we had to make up characters to play. Oh, I forgot to mention that we were taking the Murder Mystery Wine Train that was set in 1915. Anyway, Vickie was wearing a bright blue top, so she called herself Mrs. Peacock. Wendy was wearing a read top, so she called herself Miss Scarlet. I elected to call myself "Inspector Andrew MacTaggert" from Scotland Yard. A stroll around the station revealed a couple of Eliot Ness's, a pair of Bonnie and Clyde's, Seymour Butts and Anita Mann, etc. It wasn't long before the actors in their period costumes came out and began mingling with the guests. It was quite entertaining. There was a corrupt Senator, an Arch Duchess from Russia, a German naval officer, a Hollywood actress, an Italian wine-maker, and a Texan train conductor. They had a good combination of humor and over-the-top theatrics, and they all played their roles quite well. I was reminded of my actor/improv friends Frank and Gina, who could have fit into the roles of the Senator and Arch Duchess quite well, thank you.
We boarded the train following a short photo-shoot (so they could push the old "souvenir photos" at the end of the trip) and were seated in one of the dining cars. This was my first time on a train, and I was quite looking forward to it. The wait staff was very friendly but undermanned, so there were relatively long turns between wait staff visits; we often had empty water glasses. The meal came in courses: Appetizer, Salad, Ices, Entree. While the meal was being served, various members of the Mystery entourage would come in and mingle about, and things would happen: letters would be read, people would argue, facts would be revealed in conversation. At times it was a bit contrived, but it was for the benefit of the audience, so it was acceptable. We opted not to sample any wine -- the trip cost $110 per person but no wine was included in that price. We were a bit disappointed by that. The appetizer and salad were quite good. The ices left something to be desired (the grapefruit ice was horridly bitter). The entrees were good but not great; they were well-prepared and the main dishes were flavorful, but the accompaniments left something to be desired.
Between the meal and the performances, so much was going on that we really couldn't enjoy the train ride itself, which was also a bit of a disappointment. We figured the meal was $30, the train ride was about $30, and the performance was about $30, but we paid $110 for the total package, and found that a tad overpriced. I'd say it was worth about $75 or so, but then again it was in Napa Valley.
Well, it's getting late. More later.
Got comments? Email me.
Thursday, July 10, 2003
My feet are cold. Well, not really my feet, just my toes. They always get cold on mornings like this when I come downstairs and sit in the den. There's not a whole lot of sunlight in here and the heat tends to rise up into the bedroom above (assisted by the absence of insulation in the floor/ceiling) leaving the floor -- and hence, my feet -- a bit chilly, despite the carpeting. A glance at the thermometer outside shows a reading of 60 degrees. Looks like it will be another sunny day. Probably get up into the 80's.
I think the plan today is to visit the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. That's about 45 minutes away. Then, time permitting, we'll zip up to the Schulz Museum and check that out. In the almost-three years I've been here, I haven't been to either place. Go figure.
Got comments? Email me.
I think the plan today is to visit the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. That's about 45 minutes away. Then, time permitting, we'll zip up to the Schulz Museum and check that out. In the almost-three years I've been here, I haven't been to either place. Go figure.
Got comments? Email me.
