More Palomar Mtn. Goodness

Beluga Boogie

One of our favorite attractions at Sea World is the Beluga whales. The way the sunlight through the water glimmers on their skin is something to behold.

Who knew they could dance to Mariachi as well?

Epcot Confessions

This got me thinking . . .

When I was 18 years old, 4 buddies of mine were going to Disney world. They invited me but, being 18, I was broke. They offered to pay for me - I said "Yes".

As we sat on the runway @ LAX, I turned to one of my buddies and explained how take-off was my favorite part . . . he told me to "SHUT THE HELL UP" and then I realized he was afraid to fly . . . . sorta reminds me of this:

We arrived safely, checked into our hotel and that was that.

The next day we explored Epcot (in clockwise fashion)and discovered that you could buy alcohol in each country - Margaritas in Mexico, Sapporo in Japan and so on (only America didn't serve alcohol - don't get me started).

The fact that I was only 18 didn't seem to pose a problem as there was 5 of us and that can amount to a significant bar-tab for a waiter who is willing to play dumb.

We circled the world a couple of times - always ending with crummy Molsen Golden in Canada.

We got caught in a monsoon rainstorm while in "Great Britain" and I found myself asking a British gift-shop worker when she got off work. We agreed to meet at downtown Disney. This is the one and only time I have ever asked out a complete stranger on a date.

We met, we ate, we drank, we did not kiss. She explained that she was actually from GB on a work visa and that when her stint was over at DW, she wanted to travel the states. I told her my buddy and I were renting rooms at a house in So. Cal. and that if she came out, I would show her around LA and Hollywood. And that was that.

6 Months later, I received a call from my Disney Dalliance saying that she would be in town on Thursday and could I pick her up at the train station? I was now living in a studio apartment by myself . . . .

I rented a twin bed for her, picked her up and we spent 4 glorious days together - days spent exploring the city, nights in my studio apartment.

The story ends with her going home to England and me going off to college to study to be a minister.

We talked a few times and then lost touch - but there is a certain shelf in a certain gift shop at Epcot center in Orlando, Florida, where I will always remember the one and only time I got up the gumption to ask a complete stranger on a date . . .

Road TRIPPIN'

Yeah. We had a 11 hour road trip the other day. This is what hour 9 looks like in the back seat of Hannah . . .



And yes, that is Yaz - Upstairs at Eric's on the radio. Because nothing powers you through the last few hours of of a road trip like music that reminds you of all your 80's high-school angst . . .

Vaction: Stress to Relaxation Graph

Hilarious.
You can see more comics like this at www.phdcomics.com

Travelling with Pets

I came across this list of websites that cater to people who want to travel with their dawg.

I plan on running through the list the next time we hit the road.

Dog in My Suitcase

Lets Go Pets

Official Pet Hotels

W Hotels

Lowes Hotels

Ritz Carlton

Of course if none of those pan out there is always Motel 6.

Lileks went to Vegas

Funny stuff:

"I left the faux-square, took a faux-alley past the faux-canal and found a gen-u- wine bathroom. On the way out, a man and two security guards were running in. “There’s a purse in here,” said the man. Before I reached the end of the corridor the man was back, sprinting past me with a purse. He delivered to a lady pushing a stroller, and she pawed through the bag: her money was gone, she wailed. (The shade of Steve Wynn shrugs: never bring a stroller to Vegas, lady.) This was totally wrong, because she had intended to lose that money over a longer period of time."

Gift Idea #12

Link Here.

Taking Stock

I received a call this past Wednesday while the dawg and I were terrorizing B. Hills. It seemed my assistant and my stand-in were drowning in work. The demands of the desk were overwhelming them. I encouraged them to go to the higher-ups for assistance and gave them some info on a couple of files.

After I hung up, I dialed the higher-ups directly to call in the reinforcements. I hung up after the first ring. The assistant and stand-in are adults. If they truly need help, they will ask for it. I am not going to micro-manage them while on my vacation in B. Hills.

Understandably, I approach my return to the House of Pain today with a certain amount of trepidation.

During the Thanksgiving festivities, a family friend asked how the "Credit Crunch" had effected my industry. I gave him the holiday-cliff-notes version of The Great Upheaval and his response was, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

I totally understand what he was saying - "Hang in there - you will be the better for it" etc etc. I remember learning that phrase when I was in High School and I will admit that I gained a certain amount of "backbone" from it. But now I am old(er) and tired(er).

I know this all won't kill me - but I am not much interested in being any stronger. Let's pass on the "I feel like I'm going to die part" and you can keep your "stronger".

It's like the other saying - "Pain is just weakness leaving your body". Well, okay. But it's the PAIN part that I have a problem with. I don't mind being weak(er). I will keep the "weakness" and you hang onto the pain part.

"Keep your 'Ho there'. I will no be moved!." (princess bride reference)

Hey - It's the Monday after my vacation - what did you expect?

Just for fun - here's 10 minutes of Princess Bride Goodness . . .

VA CA SHUN - Days 8-9

Saturday morning I got up and just couldn't manage. I had a HUMONGOUS list of things that I had wanted to accomplish on my vacation but my twisted ankle somewhat limited me during the first half of the week - then we were out of town for three days and now . . . *sigh* . . . I just couldn't manage.

As I get older, I find travelling to be more and more exhausting. We had a wonderful, relaxing three-day Thanksgiving and now I needed to recover - by doing nothing.

I basically sat around and read all day.

Sunday, being the last day of vacation and the house being in a general state of disarray, was "go time". The wife and I got up and knocked out a significant number of chores and now it is back to the grind.

VA CA SHUN - Days 5-7

So Wednesday morning we loaded up the pooch and three days worth of luggage and headed to Beverly . . . "Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars . . ."

The wife had a get together with some work-types which the dawg and I begged off. The dawg and I walked around West Hollywood - found a park, spread out the blanket and relaxed in the sun.

Once the wife joined us, we had a picnic with all the left-overs I had cleaned out of the fridge as I didn't want them to go bad while we were out of town. We checked into a Motel 6, spent some time at another park and then repaired to the hotel room and ordered Chinese food to be delivered.

Thanksgiving morning, I awoke in the darkness (as I usually do) and quietly loaded up the dawg and headed out to look for something to do while the wife slept in like any normal person would.

All I had packed was shorts and a t-shirt (and my Thanksgiving duds that I didn't want to get dirty yet). We stopped by a Starbucks for a bucket o' Latte and then headed back to Warner Park. It was COLD. Okay, not cold by Nanuck-of-the-North standards but plenty cold by So-Cal standards. We walked the entire 20-acre park and then loaded back into the Jeep.

Only - try to find something to do at 6:30am on Thanksgiving morning in LA, WITH A DAWG. I stopped by McDonald's, refilled the coffee and headed back to the park by default.

I let the dawg off the leash and wrapped a beach towel around me for warmth. I sat at a picnic table and read one of my vacation books. I thought to myself, "You know, if it wasn't for this dawg, I would be warm and cozy inside a Starbucks right now. Not sitting on a concrete picnic bench which might-as-well-be carved out of ice, freezing my yarbles off."

That's when I realized again, if it wasn't for this dawg, I would not have sought out West Hollywood park yesterday. If it wasn't for this dawg, we would not have had a picnic or walked through Warner Park yesterday. If it wasn't for the dawg, I wouldn't be up, outside, watching the sunrise in the cold. If it wasn't for the dawg, my life would be less adventurous.

I picked up a cappuchino for the wife on my way back to the hotel around 8am.

We went out to breakfast and then for a 2-mile nature hike (again courtesy of the dawg) along the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains and then went back to the hotel to freshen up for the Thanksgiving gathering where we joined up with this guy and his family. . .

Thanksgiving was a great success and a good time was had by all.

The wife and I headed back to the Motel 6 and turned in.

Friday morning was a replay of the previous morning - up in the dark, loaded up the dawg and headed for the park. There was another dawg off-leash at the park in the pre-dawn stillness. The two had a great romp while I chatted with the other dawg's owner.

Since it was the "Day after Thanksgiving" the local Barnes and Noble was opening at 7am. The dawg and I got a cuppa-joe and settled in to one of their reading chairs.

Around 8:30 we picked up some coffee for the wife and headed back to the hotel where we packed up for the drive home.

On the way back to San Diego, we stopped by to have lunch with these folks and then stopped off in Manhattan Beach for a stretch and some sushi.

Then it was home-sweet-home.

It was a nice, drawn out, relaxing Thanksgiving. Just as it should be.

VA CA SHUN - DAY 4

Got up and drained my half of the coffee pot.

Guess what I did next?! THAT'S RIGHT! Took the dawg to dawg park.

Look, I have a twisted ankle and I need to stay off it as much as possible. I also need to decompress during this oh-so-brief va-ca and that means reading NOT doing chores. AND the dawg is eating the hose so he needs his exercise. That means him running amok, eating the faces off other dawgs while I sit in the camping chair, book in hand.

After that we stopped by petsmart to stock up and then headed for home.

I dropped off the dawg and made a trip to Home Depot where this had been unpacked and then to Albertsons where I endured THIS.

Afterwards I did a little of this, a little of that, picked up the kitchen, fixed the swing step (yes, we have a step that attaches to the trailer hitch and swings out from underneath the car so the dawg doesn't have to jump so far - apparently, they don't make them anymore which explains why I am having to FIX mine) , made cranberry sauce for 20 and washed the dawg - who is now intent on shaking off today's bath in EVERY SINGLE ROOM IN THE HOUSE! Hey! you missed the closet in the guest . . . never mind.

At this point "all our bags are packed and we're ready to go . . . " we are headed to LA for the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow to hang out with the other 18 people who will be eating Cranberry Extraordinaire.

Light, if any, blogging until Saturday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Make it a day filled with love, peace and gratitude.

Hang on everyboy! Here we Goooooo!

I stopped by the grocery store today to pick up ingredients for 20 servings of Cranberry Sauce Extraordinaire:

It was as if the Department of Motor Vehicles had closed it's doors and advised everyone to head to Albertsons to search until they found something that sounds good for Thanksgiving.

It was madness. It was terrifying.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why two grown adults are incapable of navigating their shopping carts past one another in an aisle that is two-and-a-half shopping carts wide.

And what is with parking your cart in the middle of the aisle? And don't get me started on these goofy plastic shopping-cart-add-ons shaped like cars and buses and whales all intended to keep your dear, sweet child quiet because you lack the parental fortitude to do it yourself. AND THEN YOU TRY AND 180 THAT THING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE?!! TWO DAYS BEFORE THANKSGIVING??!!

Lest you think I am slipping into my usual holiday curmudgeonly blues or overstating a minor irritant as "terrifying"; consider this . . . that bumbling buffoon who cannot operate a 15 lb shopping cart at 2 1/2 miles an hour will soon be careening down the highway behind the wheel of a 3000lb SUV at 75 miles an hour - yapping on their cel phone while trying to cue up the dvd to get their kids to stop hitting one another while trying to figure out why the navigation screen keeps going all "funny" and "Oh, I almost spilled my Latte" all while switching lanes in front of you without warning . . .

If that doesn't get you to look over your shoulder the next time you're loading your groceries into your car I don't know what will . . .

Maybe we should have grocery store bouncers - not unlike the bartender, who when asked for another round for you and your boisterous friends, raises an eyebrow and asks, "Hold on now, which one of you is driving?"

"Hey! You! Yeah, you with the cart parked 90 degrees in the middle of the baking and spice aisle while you stagger around searching in vain for the hamburger helper - I am going to need to speak to your designated driver or I am going to need your car keys."

"And by the way, don't let me catch you in the liquor aisle again . . ."

Sheesh.

VA CA SHUN - Day 3

Woke up this morning got dressed and headed out. The wife was going to work from home in the morning and so I thought it would be best to get out from underfoot - not distract. Not fight over the sole computer we own.

I think we are actually very good about sharing the computer but there are times when it is like sitting at a four way stop.

"You go ahead"

"No you."

"I was here first but I am letting you go ahead."

"No, really, I like sitting at stop signs . . ."

"Okay, I'll go"

"Just. Great. I guess I will just sit HERE AND WAIT!"

Since I am all out of magazines, the dawg and I headed to the local bookstore to pick up some vacation reading material. I was looking for fluff. 400 pages or so that I could whip through in 3 or four sittings. Nothing struck me.

I settled on two books:

And:
I fully expect to be disappointed by the second. I bought it because I enjoy Laura Ingraham's radio show and whenever one of these books comes out I feel like "This is the one that will have been really worth buying":

After that we haded to dawg park where I read while the dawg chewed on the faces of other dawgs. After 2 1/2 hours HE STILL WAS NOT TIRED. It was all I could take - we headed home and I started putzing around the house.

I backed up the Itunes to an external drive which basically locked up the 'puter for an hour+.

So I cleaned the fridge. Now, now . . . I am sure there are nay-sayers out there that wonder why I would spend my vacation cleaning out the ice box. But behold the glory!

I know what you're thinking: "Hey, no beer!" I know. It makes me sad too.

We met up with some friends in Old Town for dinner and that was a wrap. Three days of VA CA SHUN under the bridge.

It's going by too fast . . .

VA CA SHUN - Day 2

We started off the day as we should all start our Sundays (No, not with CBS Sunday Morning) by meeting up with friends at church.

When we lived in Seattle, we regularly went to a church that we LOVED. It has been hard to find one that fits the bill since we have been back in San Diego. Part of the reason is that we have been too busy on Sundays to even attend church. Part of the reason is that we have been so busy the other six days of the week that when we get to Sunday, we can't muster the gumption to get dressed and get out the door.

It's one of those catch-22 situations - not unlike running. You need to run regularly to stay physically, mentally, and emotionally fit. When life starts beaning you with fast balls from all directions is exactly the time you need to get out and RUN but you can't because you are too busy worrying about where the next high-hard-and-fast one is coming from.

Church is the same way - we should all be going regularly - especially when we are too busy or stressed to. Go figure.

I will spare you my review of the service. It's just not right to go to church and then sit down over hot wings, pizza and a pitcher of beer to critique the work of God's people. But of course you have to when you are looking for a new church to attend. And that is exactly what we did.

Afterwards the wife wanted to run an errand which left me doing laps in the strip mall with the Dawg. The dawg and I parked it next to a fountain and waited for the almost inevitable child or two to come by and reverently ask if they can pet the dawg. Every now and then, a child will ask if they can hold the leash - which I suppose is the teenager's equivalent to sitting the driver's seat of a parked car. I usually wait to see how they react to holding the reins and then suggest that they take the dawg for a walk on their own - which is usually greeted with stunned looks of joyful amazement. This time was no different. The 45 pound urchin walked the 90 pound dawg around the fountain in astonishment.

It truly is amazing how much happiness a well-behaved dawg can bring to people. Often times I see looks of joy spring on peoples faces as they point from passing cars, "Look! IT'S A DAWG!" at least I assume they are talking about the dawg and not pointing at me and saying, "Look! That guy is ASTONISHINGLY HANDSOME!"

After the strip mall, we headed home and the wife took a nap while I putzed in the yard. Just as Sundays should be.

VA CA SHUN - Part 1

YES! That's right. I am officially ON VACATION. The wife, dawg and I are headed through the looking glass on Wednesday to join up with a family of friends for Thanksgiving and then returning home on Friday. It seemed silly to go into the office for only two days (Mon - Tues) so I got someone to cover for me. We'll see if I have any clients left when I return. OH THE ANTICIPATION!

I slept in until 7:30! Keeping in mind I have been getting up at 3am for the past two months - 7:30am to me is like noon to someone who normally gets up at 7:30.

The Dawg and I loaded up and headed to dawg beach - me with my swollen ankle, camping chair and a swollen backpack full of reading material - him without a care in the world.

I actually brought along a notebook so I could list all the things I wanted to accomplish at home on my vacation and task them to the appropriate days. Number of things I have accomplished on today's list? 1. Going to dawg beach (unless you count sitting on the deck with a vodka-tonic, smoking a cigar and reading a book as an accomplishment).

Although, while at dawg beach, I read this article that I found strangely touching. I forget, am I supposed to be mad about the illegals or the flesh and blood equivalent of Statue of Liberty?

The New Colossus

By Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Indeed.

I also read this article about John L. Parker Jr., the author of Once a Runner a book of cult-like-status in the running world that he wrote 30 years ago. The article was written to cover his sequel to Once a Runner - Again to Carthage the title of which, of course, is taken from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice:

"In such a night
Stood Dido with a willow in her hand
Upon the wild sea banks, and waft her love
To come again to Carthage."

(I only knew that because I read the article) Admit it - you were impressed for a moment.

Here is an excerpt from the book in case you are interested. I particularly liked this one:

"Picking his way carefully along the trail, he thought about something he had read about the great alpine climbers. As children, they grew up surrounded by a vast landscape of unattainable peaks. As they grew older, stronger and more skillful, when they looked up, they saw more and more places they had been to and to which they could return at will. That zone of accessibility would grow and grow over the years until the very best of the guides could stand in their village squares and turn full circle, searching the horizon in vain for some tiny forbidden aerie they had not conquered, some remote crag beyond their powers.

"It would have to be a wonderful and prideful thing, to feel so thoroughly at home in such a daunting and beautiful landscape. But as they grew older, the climbers who survived would find that some peaks were difficult again, some climbs strangely taxing, some routes quite impossible. They would realize, to their surprise, that the process was reversible; that it was, in fact, reversing.

"You could see them, the aged former heroes sitting sadly in the village square, turning full circle to gaze at a frozen world once again inaccessible to them."

Well shootdang.

Happy Birthday Holly!

I couldn't think up a clever way to surprise you with your birthday gift since it isn't something you can hold in your hand. So here it is!:

Wednesday the 18th we are going to get up at o-dark-thirty and drive here.

But Wednesday night we have 6:30 reservations to meet up with people here!

Thursday the 19th, we are going HERE!

And Friday the 20th we are going HERE!

And Saturday the 21st we are going HERE!

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights we are staying HERE!

Some people wanted to donate to the cause so now you will know why people may be gifting you $$ for your birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

Love,

m