Christmas '07

Christmas 2007 marked the first Christmas for me in a warm climate, and I must admit it felt a little weird to be wearing shorts and a t-shirt on December 25. Inside our apartment, though, it looked as festive as ever, with a nicely decorated tree and a bunch of presents under it, along with stockings hung by the chimney with care.

Tracy's family took a long road trip down here from Seattle and spent most of the day with us. Unfortunately, Tracy was on call at the hospital overnight on Christmas Eve, and didn't get back until noon on Christmas Day with only a couple of hours of sleep from the night before. Even so, she powered through the day and made a very tasty ham for Christmas dinner. Much to my surprise, we ended up having twelve people total for dinner, as several of her friends from residency came by after their shifts. I've never seen so many people in our small apartment! After dinner, we ended the evening with a traditional showing of "Elf", followed by an early bedtime for most everyone. What a day!

Since Tracy and I were Secret Santa for my brother Devin, we waited for him to get back from his Christmas trip to Houston to celebrate with him this past Friday night. Three of us spent the evening opening up some of the remaining presents from my mom, and as well as presents for each other. It was a Christmas unlike any other for me, but it also happened to be one of my most relaxing Christmases in recent memory. Having Tracy around to help wrap gifts, and not having as much shipping to do as usual (as well as no travel) certainly freed up a lot more time.

Here are some pictures from this week. I'm hoping to add some more from other people's cameras as I receive them.

A new Little Brother

After nearly five years in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program in Seattle, I decided to get involved with the local program here in San Diego. This week I got matched up with an 11 year-old boy from nearby La Mesa named Jonathan (or John, as he prefers). He lives at home with his mom and his older brother, who is also matched up with a Big Brother.

Yesterday was our first outing together, and it was very much a learning experience for me. After picking him up, we headed down to the Bahia Hotel near Mission Beach, where his Mom has a sailboat at the marina. We played around in the exercise room and video game room for a while before he showed me the boat (an older Catalina 27). Originally, I was planning to take him to Rubio's for some fish tacos for lunch, but he convinced me to go to both Rubio's (where we each had two tacos) AND Jack In The Box, where he proceeded to order a bacon cheeseburger combo with milkshake and curly fries. Though he didn't finish it, I was amazed at how much food he put down. In retrospect, I shouldn't have let him eat that much, but, being our first outing, I was trying to learn his limits before imposing my rules on him (Big Brothers aren't supposed to play the role of surrogate parent). Not surprisingly, he seemed a bit ill on the drive back to his house. I wanted to apologize to his mother, but she wasn't home upon our return.

After having a shy and quiet Little Brother in Seattle, John couldn't be more different. He seems to enjoy talking about everything, and isn't afraid to let me in on details of his personal life. He's very well-spoken, and enjoys playing both the piano and trumpet. He also jumped at the opportunity to run fast on the treadmill -- quite odd for a kid his age! I'm curious to see how this all plays out, since even though I've done this kind of thing before, it's like I'm going through it for the first time...

Interesting stats on monitor energy usage

The other day, Tracy sent me this interesting rant against websites that have white backgrounds (yes, that means you, Google). By this point -- thanks to my Kill-A-Watt -- I've become very skeptical of anyone who makes outrageous claims about energy usage.

Some cross-referencing brought me to this article, put out by the government, which conveniently forgets to mention that the rules are different between CRT monitors (the big fat ones) and LCD monitors.

Fortunately for me, I'm not the only one with a Kill-A-Watt. Someone else did a much more thorough analysis than I ever would, and essentially comes to the conclusion that the best course of action is to replace all CRT monitors with LCD monitors. Well, he doesn't exactly say that; he still makes misleading large-scale calculations based on the incorrect assumption that every monitor in this country is a CRT. But basically, if you're really interested in saving energy, replace your CRT monitor or TV with an LCD.

Apparently I have metrosexual nephews

Thanks to Tracy for this link. Anyone who knows my family should get a good chuckle out of this one.

We gave in

After a week of seasonably cool weather, we turned the heat on in our apartment. I was hoping we could go the whole year without it, but alas, reality set in.

Mythbusters at home

As we all know, environmentalism seems to be very much in vogue right now. Predictably, it has resulted in a spate of columns and news segments devoted to how to conserve energy. Far too often, the writer/commentator tries to convince the reader/listener that unplugging certain things from the wall will actually save you significant quantities of money/energy. I was skeptical. Fortunately, I had recently purchased this wonderful gadget to determine just how much energy was being drawn, in power-on, power-off, and standby modes. I decided to use it to test most everything plugged in in our apartment (aside from laundry machines and refrigerator). I've listed the data at the bottom of this post. Among my conclusions are:

- Contrary to what you might read, the following things consumed no power when they were powered off: hair dryer, toaster, laptop power cord (when not connected to computer), cell phone charger (without phone plugged in) and most lamps (only one exception)
- The most "short burst" power was consumed by the hair dryer on high (1530W), followed by the microwave (1300W) and toaster (950W). Among things that are left mostly "on", our floor lamp with dimmer consumed the most (140W) when turned all the way up.
- High-tech, modern stuff was surprisingly efficient. Our 26" LCD TV consumed only 71W (just more than a standard 60W bulb), Tracy's computer ranged from 30W-45W when it was doing work (14W when it wasn't), and mine (newer) was even less than that at 20W-27W.
- Most surprising fact: my printer consumed the same amount of energy (3W) regardless of whether it was powered on or off. Other items that consumed energy just by being plugged in (powered off) were my speaker system (2W off, 4W on), the DVD player (1W off, 7W on), and (surprisingly!) my desk lamp (1W off, 42W on)

Given these measurements, then, it is possible to say that the following are equivalent in energy consumption to running a 60W bulb for an hour:

- Running my laptop (no external monitor) for about 2 hours
- Running my laptop (with monitor) for about an hour
- Watching my TV for about 51 minutes
- Running the microwave for about 2 minutes and 40 seconds
- Running the hair dryer on high for about 2 minutes and 20 seconds
- Charging my phone for about 12 hours
- Reading in bed at night for 3.5 hours

On the whole, our home is very energy efficient anyway, with gas plus electricity only about $30-$35 per month (and I'm guessing the fridge, laundry and dishwasher use most of that). Based on the results of this study, I have unplugged my printer and speaker system and encouraged anyone willing to listen who is interested in conservation to buy a Kill-a-Watt! Here is raw data:

Item	Consumption (off)	Consumption (on)
Toaster	0	950
Microwave	2	1300
Radio	0-1	1-2
CD player (same appliance)	2-3	4
Tracy’s computer	0 (unconnected)8 (charging)	13 (standby) 30-45 (active use)
Floor lamp 1	0	49 (low – one 60W bulb) 84 (high – two 60W bulbs)
Floor lamp 2	0	50-140 (dimmer)
Speaker system	2	4
DVD Player	1	7
26” LCD TV	0-1	71
Piano Keyboard	0	10
Adam’s laptop	N/A	14 (standby) 20-27 (active use)
19” LCD Monitor	0	0-1 (standby) 33 (active use)
Phone Charger	0 (unconnected to phone)	5 (charging phone)
Desk Lamp	1	42
Printer	3	3
Bedside Lamp	0	17 (CFL bulb)
Clock Radio	N/A	0
Electric Toothbrush	0	0
Hair Dryer	0	418 (low) 1530 (high)
Router	0	5

Business in D.C.

This past week, I took my first business trip in a really long time (I think going to NJ in the summer of 2002 might've been my last business trip). My boss and I headed to Washington D.C. for a quarterly conference called CISRAT -- don't ask me what it stands for, although the "C" part is an acronym within the acronym. Only in the military, right? The reason for the conference, more or less, is to go over modernization and availability scheduling for the Navy's fleet of submarines. Fascinating stuff, I know, but this is what I am currently writing software to facilitate, and it does present some interesting and unique challenges (as well as a whole bunch of jargon!).

The trip itself was pretty cool, even though this was my third trip back to the east coast in just over three weeks. We flew out on Sunday morning, and got in later that night. Monday and Tuesday were at the conference, which wasn't too bad because I had my laptop with me and a network connection, which allowed me to multitask when things got over my head (as they inevitably did). Since my company wasn't really an active participant, it wasn't too stressful either. By Wednesday afternoon, we were boarding our return flight to San Diego, leaving the snowy east coast for some nice Southern Cal weather. It was actually my first time flying into San Diego during the day, a pleasant experience that takes you over the desert and Grand Canyon, right through downtown and into the airport. Lots of cool stuff to look at -- I highly recommend!

I now have a relative nearby

Three weeks ago, my brother, Devin, arrived in San Diego after deciding to leave Boston and start a new life out here. His plan was to spend a few weeks finding a job in L.A., and then start shortly after Thanksgiving. After a hectic few weeks of driving back and forth to the O.C. and L.A, plus a Thanksgiving trip back to Pennsylvania with me, he has left our fair city and moved up to Orange County, where he is gainfully employed at his job in Newport Beach. It was a pleasure having him as our guest, and it's also nice finally having a relative living within, oh, a few thousand miles of me -- it's been more than five years since I could say that. Brother Beavis, it's great to have you out here!

A Wild Thanksgiving Weekend

This weekend I headed back east for the second time in two weeks. The whole family (including the four youngest ones) converged on my sister's new house in Pennsylvania, and we had a Thanksgiving holiday unlike any other. For most of my life, Thanksgiving was fairly predictable: it would be hosted at my mom's house in Cheshire and people would show up in the afternoon for a big feast, football, drinks, dessert, and board games. Only in the past few years, as the family has grown, did I have Thanksgiving anywhere but Cheshire. But with a new generation of family ready to take over the holidays, it was clear that the old traditions needed to evolve.
Cari and Matt purchased a new (huge) four-bedroom house this past summer, and we needed every bit of it. The very spacious kitchen with abundant counter space made meal preparation much easier for the multiple types of food that needed to be prepared. Nobody ended up sleeping on a couch or on the floor, and the common areas were large enough to accommodate all the children's toys that were repeatedly strewn about. After a big meal on Thursday, we spent the remainder of the weekend doing things like visiting Santa and seeing the Christmas lights, cutting down a Christmas tree, and revisiting family pictures and video from the last few months.

However, the most drama from this weekend occurred during my return trip to San Diego. Devin and I traveled back east on the same flight Wednesday night, but our return flights were on different airlines. Fortunately, they took off and landed within an hour of each other, so we planned to rendez-vous at the San Diego airport on Sunday afternoon. However, my flight was late getting out of Philadelphia due to some human errors from Delta (couldn't agree on the departure gate, leading to the inevitable delay). This caused me to miss my connection in Atlanta (despite my best efforts to sprint from one end of the airport to the other), leaving me on the standby list for the three inevitably overbooked remaining flights for the evening. I actually reached my gate with the plane still there, but the door was closed, and, well, the rest is history.

Figuring that since (a) I was flying first class, and (b) I missed my connection due to Delta's ineptitude (rather than my own lateness or weather or some other act of God), I might have a good chance of moving to the front of the line for the next flight. Hardly. I got to the gate for the next flight out to find that I was 15th on the standby list to a flight that was already overbooked. At this point, I decided to revisit the rebooking desk to voice my displeasure at the situation, and to see if they could remedy it any better than Monday morning. Originally, they told me that they could confirm me through Dallas on American (first class, even!), but then explained that my record was "locked" and they couldn't make changes. Not quite understanding what this meant, I inquired about flying into Orange Country, and she was able to book me on a middle seat in coach -- hardly ideal considering the O.C. is about 80 miles north and Devin would have to come pick me up. But rather than going to my gate, I decided to give the re-booking desk one more shot to right a wrong, and this time they came through. The agent was able to confirm me on the 7:26pm flight, almost five hours after my original flight, but I still got to fly first class and still got in at a reasonable time (9:15pm). As I write this from the Atlanta airport, I only hope there is no more drama for this day!

A weekend of extremes

This weekend, Tracy and I decided to road trip it up to the Eastern Sierra and Death Valley, a grand 800-mile whirlwind tour of Eastern California. During the course of our drive, we got very close to Mt. Whitney (the tallest mountain the Lower 48), and spent some time at Badwater Basin (the lowest point in the western hemisphere). We also found some time to play on the huge sand dunes in the park, see lots and lots of salt, and camp out under the most starry sky I've ever seen. It was an ideal time of year to visit this area, as it wasn't too hot and certainly wasn't too cold either, with sunshine throughout the entire trip. I've got a hankering to go back to Mt. Whitney and maybe even attempt a summit trip if I could find a willing partner. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures.

Would you call this "all natural"?

One of my co-workers has a box of protein bars on his desk that actually taste pretty good. Recently, they've added the "all natural" label to them, which immediately made me wonder what the ingredients were (as you could probably guess, it would take a chemist to understand what is really in those bars). Here is a link to a page that lists the ingredients. Have a look, and let me know if you agree with Promax's assessment.

Side note: I recently watched a documentary about the "Future of Food", which presented scathing criticisms of Monsanto, genetic engineering, and many other trends for the future. One of their big gripes was that foods that have genetically modified ingredients are not listed as such on the labeling in this country. The bigger point is that labeling is such a powerful force that it had better be accurate or the average consumer will be misinformed. I tend to agree with this stance.

Giving golf a go

This weekend, with Tracy off in Palm Springs for a conference on Saturday, I decided to get together with some of my friends from work or a day of golf. Maybe it was because one of the clients I am currently working on is a golf retailer, but I thought it was time to dust off what I learned in a golf class that I took in college nearly ten years ago.

It didn't go well. I hadn't so much as been to a driving range in several years, so just making contact was a challenge (I had several swings and misses). The course we went to was nice enough, a green oasis in the middle of a city whose main color is brown. The fees were quite reasonable, and, while it wasn't technically a par 3 (one hole was 395 yards), it was very do-able. I just hit a lot of ground balls. For the nine holes, par was 32, and I shot a 77. My (very patient) friends end up shooting in the 50's, so at least they didn't show me up too badly! After shooting a 15 on one hole, I was ready to close up shop for the afternoon. I'm glad I didn't, since in hindsight, I had fun and I'll do it again. Maybe my own set of clubs would inspire me?

Today, Tracy and I spent the afternoon at the beach. Honestly, it's probably only the third or fourth time I've been to the beach since I moved here, but it is quite a novel idea to go to the beach in October. Temperatures the next two days are supposed to top 90 degrees, which is also kind of new for me in October. I wasn't too keen on my first San Diego summer, but fall is turning out to be just fine.

Rafting pictures

One of the guys from the trip put together this very nice album. He also didn't waste any time in organizing next year's trip (he wants it to be on the Gauley again, but I'm lobbying for a California river). Part of his marketing effort is displayed below:

Rafting the Gauley

Ever since I was old enough to remember amusement park visits, I recall an unusual attraction to the ride known as "the rapids", where they put you and about eight others in a round, yellow raft and send you down a man-made river, with the hopes of getting wet. It was definitely a sign of things to come. Last weekend, I went to West Virginia and experienced the best of my eight rafting trips to date, on the Gauley River.

The Gauley River is a dam-controlled river in the middle of the state, and each fall, the state opens up the dam from Friday through Monday, between the hours of 7am and 3pm, simply so the rest of us could enjoy rafting the river. (Incidentally, the dam is named the Summersville Dam, even though tradition states that it be named after the nearest town, in this case Gad. They quickly realized that the "Gad Dam" might be a bad idea! See this link for more if you're interested.)

After taking the redeye to Charlotte Friday night, I drove the 3+ hours up to the outpost in Fayetteville, WV and met up with five other guys from around the country (one from Seattle, two from Texas, one from Illinois, and another from NYC). I only knew one (Kevin, from Seattle), but on trips like this, everyone learns a lot about each other quickly.

After spending the night at the outpost, we headed out early Sunday morning to the base of the dam, where we split into two rafts of three people plus guide, along with our own videographer, who would accompany us for our two days of rafting in a kayak. The upper Gauley features five class V rapids (the most dangerous that are still runnable), along with many smaller rapids spread over about 9 miles. On Sunday, we ran the upper Gauley twice, and it was easily the most fun I've had on a river. The guides were excellent, and the weather (75-80 degrees and no clouds) and water (65 degrees) couldn't have been better. Despite the bad rap it gets, West Virginia really has a lot of natural beauty!

That night, we camped along the river at a campsite owned by the rafting company. This was hardly roughing it. An access road allowed them to set up permanent structures with tents, grills, picnic tables, and a fire pit. Dinner consisted of salmon and baked potatoes, homemade bread, pecan pie, and lots more. All throughout the trip we received first-class luxurious service, which is strange considering our remoteness. After a steep hike up to a ledge overlooking the river valley, I opted to take a dip in the river to cool off and freshen up. It was so refreshing!

Monday morning, we rafted the 15 miles of the middle and lower Gauley, which were much more tame even though we still did our share of swimming. By the time it was over, it was very apparent that the group was wiped out, and after returning the outpost, we watched the video and ate a nice dinner at the restaurant there. By Tuesday morning, we were headed out in 6 different directions.

There has already been talk of a repeat trip for next October. For some of the guys, this was their third trip already. I'm lobbying to have next year's trip on a river in California, since it's unlikely I'll be able to get time off right after my honeymoon to take a long trip back to West Virginia.

We ended up with a 55-minute video of our trip, and some still photos, too, which I'll post on this blog as soon as I get them.

It's over

After 152 days without rain, it rained. Tracy and I made a bet back in early June about when the next rain would fall. I guessed October 1, she guessed September 23. She missed by a day.

In other news, today I was introduced to this family with 17(!) kids. I also found this funny commentary about them from two years ago. Enjoy!

Quote abuse

I have always been kind of a closet grammarian, and one of my pet peeves (though certainly not my biggest) involves quote abuse. What is this? The frivolous use of quotation marks around something that really doesn't deserve it at all. Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise today for me to find this fun little article about a woman who keeps a blog of these sorts of abuses. Admittedly, I would have to disagree on a few of the examples pictured, but there are countless other offenders that could be indicted here.

In other news, today was supposed to be The Day That It Rained, after 151 dry ones. I had the ark loaded up and ready to go with animal couples. But alas, the rains never came. Maybe tomorrow? I miss the color green.

Planning our wedding

Ever since I did that whole "proposal" thing back in July, it seems like lots of Tracy and me's (is "me's" a word?) free time has been dedicated to planning our wedding. This past weekend, we went up to Seattle for three days attempting to pick out a venue, and came back with two options, neither of which is particularly optimal but both are more than acceptable. Tracy wrote about this in her blog in some detail.

Basically, it's hard to plan a Seattle wedding from San Diego. We'd like to have control over all the intricacies, but realize that it's much more practical (and less stressful) to delegate some of the work over to an event planner. At this point, we're both leaning toward the farm on Vashon Island, but realize that it will be much more logistically challenging that having it at Ray's. While Tracy is in Austria for a week, I've been spending some free time getting information about caterers. I just fear that there are going to be a lot of hidden costs regardless of who we choose! So much to learn...

It didn't rain today for the 143rd straight day, but I did a traditional raindance. Fortunately, I don't think anyone saw. We'll see if it works.

States I've been to

create your own visited states map


Later this month, I shall add West Virginia.

It didn't rain in San Diego today.

Finally, something being sold for FREE!

As I was shopping around online, trying to complete my collection of National Park patches, I came across this one from Capitol Reef. The listed price is $0.00, and so I decided to go ahead with the ordering process to see if it would stop me. It didn't. Fortunately for them, I'm an honest citizen and did not place the order, but you just don't see these kinds of offers every day!

Is it time for a raindance yet?

Today, September 3, marks the 134th consecutive day of no rain for me in San Diego. The reason I added the "for me" is because "scattered thunderstorms" have brought localized rain to areas of San Diego, just not the areas I've been in. The record for the city is 184 days, set just four years ago.

It is also 93 degrees in our bedroom (and probably equally as warm outside) and I'm just tired of the prevailing weather pattern that has brought gradually warmer temperatures and equally non-existent precipitation to this area since...well...April 23 (the last day it rained).

Alone in the wilderness

A magnificent growth of giants...one naturally walked softly and awe-stricken among them. I wandered on, meeting nobler trees where all were noble giants...this part of the Sequoia seemed to me the finest, and I then named it "the Giant Forest"

As Labor Day weekend approached, I found myself without any plans and so decided to put together a backpacking trip up to Sequoia National Park, about 6 hours north of San Diego. With a major heat wave scheduled for the region, it looked like an even better idea (compared to my 90+ degree apartment). Tracy was on a "cross-cover" schedule at the hospital, meaning that she didn't necessarily have to work, but also couldn't go more than an hour away from work. Since I couldn't find anyone to go with me, I decided to go it alone.

It was a trip of firsts for me: my first solo backpacking trip, my first hiking experience in the Sierra, and, as it turned out, my first hiking trip about 7000 ft. of elevation. In the end, all I sought was a good workout, some cooler temperatures, and an escape from the crowds that were certain to invade the city. I was successful on all three counts.


Sequoia National Park is the second oldest national park in the country, established in 1890. As its name suggests, it is home to some very big trees, located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range not too far from Fresno. It is shares a boundary with Kings Canyon National Park, which is just to the north. The lowest point in the park is probably at about 5000 feet, and the highest is Mt. Whitney, which, at 14,500 feet, is the highest point in the lower 48.


After an early morning drive up, I arrived about 12:30 to temperatures of about 100 degrees at the park entrance. About 20 miles in, I stopped at the Visitor's Center to pick up a backcountry permit, since they are only available on a first-come, first-served basis. The ranger gave me a choice of two trails, and I picked the one with more shade and more water. I didn't pay as much attention to the fact that the hike to my camp was 2700 feet up (over 7 miles), at an elevation of 9400 feet. I had two liters of water with me, hoping that there would be streams along the way.

I did fairly well until about 1.7 miles remained. At this point, I was at about 8400 feet, and my pack got heavier with each step. My goal was to reach camp with enough daylight left to cook dinner and set up my tent (I started about 2:40pm). However, I found myself having to stop every few minutes to catch my breath and let my heart beat slower. By the time I approached the Twin Lakes area, I had stopped maybe 15 or 20 times, and, with no real water sources, had to conserve my water as well. I was getting nauseated, terribly sore, and had trouble catching my breath.

There were a number of factors that could've contributed to this: (1) This was my first backpacking trip of the year, (2) This was my first hike about 7000 feet, where the air is much thinner, (3) I had no hiking partner, meaning nobody to push me and nobody to share the load of food and tent, (4) I had been fighting a cold toward the end of the week, meaning my breathing wasn't great to begin with. While all of these probably contributed, I think the first two probably had the most impact.


The hike itself was rather pleasant. It wasn't so different from some of the hikes I've done in the eastern Cascades -- dry, dusty, and hot. I wasn't really treated to many big views, but I did have some encounters with deer, and of course, the ubiqitous sequoias. Originally, I was planning to stay two nights, but given how sore I was after the first day (the hike kicked my ass more than any I have ever done), and the fact that I was hesitant to drink the stagnant lake water, I figured it would be best to make it a one-night stay. I had no desire to get to any higher elevation. So, Sunday morning, I awoke to a wonderul sunny, 55 degree morning and had some breakfast and did some reading. When it started to get warm, I began my descent.

Once I got back to the trailhead, I turned into a tourist again. Most of the people there seemed to be speaking non-English -- lots of Asians and Hispanics (with their bountiful children). The park is home to the world's biggest living thing (the General Sherman tree, whose base has a 109 foot circumference).


I also made a little detour north to Kings Canyon National Park, to see what that was all about. It definitely seems to be worth a return visit all its own, as it looks very similar to North Cascades National Park (my personal favorite). And then I made the long trek home, getting back around 11pm. I'm still very sore!

Here are the photos I took:





Fun Trivia Fact #1: Sequoia/Kings Canyon is home to the second largest roadless area in the lower 48. I'm told the largest is in either Idaho or Montana.

Fun Trivia Fact #2: There are only two glaciers left there (in Kings Canyon), despite the extremely rugged topography. Both of those are expected to be gone within 20 years.

Fun Trivia Fact #3: The General Sherman tree is the biggest tree on early, in terms of mass. But several other trees on that list are in the same area (including the General Grant tree in Kings Canyon).

Fun Trivia Fact #4: The only place in the world that sequoias grow is in this region of the Sierra Nevada, generally between 5000 and 8000 feet. They are similar to their Redwood cousins on the Northern California coast, but they are girthier and shorter.

This is where I live...

Tonight, as Tracy and I were hanging out in our living room with the front door open to let in a draft, we heard a prolonged car horn beep coming from the street outside our apartment. Honestly, it sounded like someone had passed out/died at the wheel and their head landed on the horn. I don't think I've ever heard a horn beep for as long as this one. It must've been about 25 or 30 seconds. Then it stopped. Then it started back up again for about 15 seconds, followed by short bursts for another 10 seconds. At this point, we decided to head outside to see what the problem was.

Apparently, a car was blocking our across-the-street neighbor's driveway, and he was celebrating the fact that the owner had left it unlocked, which allowed him to beep it to his heart's content. His logic? He believed that perhaps the car's owner would recognize the beep and come move the car. Ummm...yeah. I couldn't make this stuff up. I reminded him that it was after 9pm and other people lived in the neighborhood, and miraculously that convinced him to stop beeping.

What does it take to get a quiet night around here? These people make the "Ballard Crazies" pale in comparison.

Work

I haven't talked a lot about my job on this blog, but it's not because I don't like it. I work with a great group of guys, in a beautiful location, and the work is intellectually stimulating. Occasionally (like twice this week), I do an on-site visit to one of our clients, and realize just how different a world they live in. It reminds me a whole lot of the movie "Office Space". Here's a cartoon I found hanging on the wall there that sums it up pretty well (click on the image to make it bigger):

Not in Kansas anymore...

I had always been taught that, when driving, you should stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. In Hanover, NH and Seattle, this point was even further driven home, as cars seemed to look for pedestrians to stop for. But this morning, I learned just how different things are here in San Diego.

On my way in to work, there is a crosswalk along a relatively busy street (speed limit 30mph?), with flashing yellow lights over it. I saw a woman with a coffee cup standing in the crosswalk looking both ways, clearly hoping to cross. So, naturally, I slowed to a stop and assumed drivers in the opposite direction would do the same. After 10-12 cars, not one failed to even slow down, let alone stop. Even worse, a big tractor trailer 3 vehicles behind me go so impatient that he cut around the cars in front of him and passed in front of me!

Our apartment

We've been living here a little more than two months, and I still haven't posted pictures of it. So, without further ado, here they are:

Taking the plunge

Last night, I took another big step toward becoming a grown up -- I got engaged! Knowing that Tracy would be suspicious of anything remotely romantic that I did once I moved down here, I've been admittedly holding off on giving her any false hope. The result is that as soon as I asked her out to dinner last night, she had a hunch that I might be up to something big (it didn't help that I got caught trying to leave this morning's outfit in her car!).

The night started with her meeting me at work in Pacific Beach. From there, we walked over to a seafood restaurant called The Fishery, which is quite good and conveniently located only a few blocks from my office. After that (as I had warned her), we went on a sunset stroll along the beach toward Crystal Pier. Having never been out on the pier, I suggested we go out to the end it. It's an unusual pier, in that there is a hotel built right on to it with a bunch of private beach cottages, one of which I had secretly reserved that morning. On the way off the pier, I instead took a left turn into one of the cottages, where the ring was waiting for her on the bed. At first, she seemed a little upset at the turn of events, as though this wasn't the way the script was supposed to go! After all, she did have to work early this morning, and she is on call overnight at the hospital as I write this. I figured all would be well once she opened the box, though, and I was correct. The rest, as they say, is history (she said yes).

And so begins the next stage of our lives together. We anticipate the wedding will be next summer in Seattle (probably August or September), but beyond that, we don't have any details. I wanted to give it at least a full day before diving into the planning, although I'm sure Tracy's already done a lot of that already in her head. I've posted some pictures of our special night below (you could click on the image to see bigger versions of the pictures):

The Life Aquatic

Last night, I embarked on an overnight fishing trip with my friend, Larry, aboard the Condor, based in San Diego. I had never done such a trip like this, only day trips in such exotic destinations as Hawaii, Alaska, and Vancouver Island. I also had never fished with 29 other people off the same boat, so crossing lines was certainly a concern of mine. My world is still rocking back and forth as I write this.

The boat was quite nice -- 94 feet long with berths for 35 guests. Needless to say, 28 of the other 29 people were male; mostly older, with big stomachs and facial hair. Yeah, you know the type. We took off around 10pm, and after some brief instructions on how it was going to go, I laid down for some (surprisingly good) rest till about 5:30am, when we dropped our lines out for the first time. Albacore tuna was our target fish, and we used live bait (anchovies and sardines). We headed about 40-50 southwest of San Diego, to the open Pacific off the coast of Mexico.

My day got off to an inauspicious start. Two of my first three "casts" resulted in a snake's nest on my reel. Apparently, I had some lessons to learn. Those three attempts lasted a grand total of three minutes, which was a sign of things to come. After those three, we also motored along for another two hours or so before dropping lines again. In that time I got seasick for the first time in my life. Not fun.

The rest of the day consisted of moving from kelp bed to kelp bed, staying at each for maybe 2-5 minutes. All in all, I probably had my line out there for 20 minutes during the whole trip. Here's a good picture of everything I caught:













Most everyone else suffered a similar fate. In all, the boat only caught 8 fish (7 albacore and a yellowtail), so most people went home empty-handed. Was it worth it? Probably, since I always would've been left wondering what might've been had I not gone. I don't think I'll ever choose to go out on a boat with that many other fisherman, though. Besides being overwhelmed at the amount of maneuvering that was necessary to avoid crossing lines, I seem to have been out of my league, since everyone else seemed to know what they were doing. On the positive side, it made me reminisce about that 175 lb. tuna I caught during my Hawaii trip a few years back, and how fun it was. I'm afraid I'm hooked for life.

Next up: sailing this weekend in Seattle. Saturday will mark my third different boat (and third body of water) in the week. Hopefully my world stops rocking before then!

Recent happenings in my life

San Diego has been a transition for me in many ways, but one of things I'm realizing is that I don't often have that much exciting stuff to write about in this blog. Since I've pretty much cut out overnight sailing or backpacking trips, my adventures are somewhat less...well...adventurous. Regardless, as my bike's odometer passed the 1000-mile mark (since last fall, I think), I figured I'd update my readers on the other random happenings in my life -- bullet point-style:

- Tracy and I finally got around to getting a television, mainly so we could watch movies on something other than our laptops. It's a 26" Vizio LCD screen, and it's pretty neat. Now we just need a DVD player. Neither of us have had a TV since February, and Tracy hasn't had one since she moved down here over a year ago, so this is all very exciting...

- Tracy's sister, Kate, and her boyfriend, Ben, are down visiting/vacationing. They've been here since Wednesday and are staying till Tuesday morning. It's always nice having out of town guests, since it means we get to be tourists again. Among other things, we went to a Padres game, a few parties, kind of went to see a band play, and this afternoon, we went sailing under the Coronado Bridge -- all very exciting. Tomorrow is back to work/reality day, which brings me to...

- I'm bringing my car into the Mitsubishi dealership tomorrow to have a strange paint problem repaired, one in which the black paint on the roof and hood are fading to almost white. Even though my car is over six years old with 52,000 miles on it (read: not under warranty), apparently this paint problem is so pervasive on these models that they're fixing it on their dime. I didn't know such service existed in our world anymore, but it's very good news for me. I was debating whether I should fix it myself and hope that it didn't come back, or wait till I sell the car and let someone else do it. This makes the decision easy, but it means no car for a week.

- Upcoming news: deep-sea fishing trip on Thursday, and then a weekend trip to Seattle. Stay tuned!

Another fun weekend in LA

This weekend, Tracy and I ventured up to Los Angeles for a long-awaited concert featuring the Decemberists at the Hollywood Bowl. As part of the trip, I talked her into going with me to the Richard Nixon library in Yorba Linda, CA, so there was something for both of us.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Nixon Library, which also doubled as his birthplace. This was my first presidential library, and I must admit that it was quite impressive. Lots of historical artifacts, including Nixon's early years (he was raised in a Quaker household -- who knew?), and his entry into politics not long after he graduated from Duke Law School. There was an entertaining wall of handwritten letters from children saddened by his defeat in the 1960 Presidential election, as well quite a bit of material from his trips to Asia (I never realized how well-traveled he was, both as Eisenhower's VP and as President). Pat Nixon was also honored in quite a few exhibits, as well as the Nixon children. Strangely, the section on Watergate was "covered up" for renovations, but by the time we got there, the museum was closing anyway. Lots of history happened during Nixon's political career! Listening to him talk, I couldn't help but notice the contrast between him and our current President, in terms of accountability, charisma, and modesty. Nixon seemed like a pretty likable guy.

After the museum, we met up with Tracy's friend Christine and made the hour-long drive up to Hollywood Bowl to watch the Decemberists perform alongside the LA Philharmonic Orchestra. The venue itself was breathtaking, set amid the Hollywood Hills with the famous sign in the backdrop, and sold out with probably 10,000 people. The best part was that you were actually allowed to bring food and drinks inside, meaning you could basically have a picnic in there, complete with your own wine or beer. I've never seen a venue do this before. The show itself was pretty good (including the two opening acts). I wasn't familiar with too many of the songs, but I seemed to be in the minority on that one. Once the concert was over, the shuttle bus quickly whisked us back to our car in the satellite lot, one of the most efficient post-event setups I've experienced. Kudos to the Hollywood Bowl!

It's summer in San Diego

Now that the annual "June gloom" has lifted, summer has begun in earnest here in Southern Cal. That means a stronger sun, even less chance of rain (I believe the last rainfall was mid-April), and a pretty hot apartment.

This, of course, made me start thinking about Seattle -- I'm hoping to go back in a few weeks for a sailing excursion and see some friends. I began noticing some pretty major differences between the two cities. Two of my main sources of summer happiness in Seattle are sailing and escaping to the mountains. Both would most likely be cooler than sticking around a warm house on a hot summer day. Neither of these is really a viable option here. There is sailing, but there aren't really any cool destinations like there are up in Puget Sound, and I'm pretty limited to daysails. There are also mountains, but I've learned that going more than about 5-10 miles inland means the temperatures are going to rise 15-30 degrees (depending on how far you go). That kind of limits me in the eastern and western directions. Going south means Mexico, and while that can be fun I'm sure, I don't know that I'm ready to drive down there or deal with Tijuana just yet. Which means, if I want to escape the heat and the city, I need to go to the beaches here, or go north toward LA. It also means lots of crowds.

I'm also beginning to think that my favorite neighborhood in this city is Pacific Beach, where I work. It's the only area where I can consistently find that bright green grass that I enjoy so much, as well as cool ocean breezes. The problem, of course, is that getting in and out of that area in the summer means having lots of company. I'm clearly not the only one trying to escape the heat!

First the post office, now the DMV

Aside from perhaps the security line at the airport, everyone's least favorite line always seems to be the DMV (What is it with government services and lines anyway? And do we really want universal health care? But I digress...). This week, after realizing that my Washington plates were about to expire, I decided to go into the DMV for a double-dip of car registration and driver's license. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this as one looks forward to a spinal tap. Here's my story:

I called the DMV and actually got to talk to a person (one point for the DMV!) to ask what I needed to bring with me to take care of my two tasks. I also asked what would happen if my Washington tabs were expired by the time I registered in California, and was told that I had better walk to the DMV if I didn't want to risk a ticket. Fortunately, I had exactly one day to avoid this dilemma -- Wednesday. Wednesday also happened to be the day that the DMV doesn't open at the normal 8am, but rather 9am. There is a DMV around the corner from my apartment, and when I showed up there at 8:45am, the line was 60+ long. I'm not kidding. I decided to go to work and wait till the lines subsided.

Another major perk of the DMV here is that they will show you wait times online. This allowed me to identify patterns, and at 11:15, with the estimated wait at 14 minutes, I made my move. Now, the way it seems to work at DMV's is you wait in line to get a number, and then you wait in a chair until your number is called. Apparently that 14 minutes is the time you need to wait to get a number only -- after that it was another half hour wait, before I could register my car, get my new plates (a surprise), take my driver's test, and get back to work. All in all, it took about an air-conditioned hour and a half -- not too bad, considering this was the DMV -- and only cost $210 for all these fine services.

The highlight was clearly talking to the woman who processed my applications. She told me that the registration fee was as low as it was ($183) because the governor before Arnold dropped the prices, and then Arnold vowed not to raise them again -- a promise he followed through with. By this point, I was very excited, and started liking Arnold more than I already do. But rather than sharing my happiness, the woman seemed to be disapproving out this move, saying that Arnold "doesn't know how the rest of us live. His watch is worth more than these people earn in a year. He's just an actor, and wants to be liked." At this point, I liked Arnold more than the "rest of them", so I think she had a good argument. I think $183 is quite a bit for a pair of license plates, some stickers, and the privilege of taking 45 minutes out of my work day to run in place, but apparently the woman did not share my sentiments. Sometimes it's hard to believe I ever worked for the government...

The Best of California

This weekend was an action-packed one. Among the highlights were a timesharing presentation (no, really!), a Red Sox-Padres game, and a day trip up to LA. Strangely enough, the baseball game was the biggest dud of the three, since my team got dominated 6-1 in a game that wasn't really as close as the score indicates.

The timesharing presentation was surprisingly informative, and I wanted to share some of the things I learned for my avid readers out there. The reason we were even there was because they gave us a free trip to Catalina Island, but the offer they made us for the timeshare unit was very tempting. In short, we priced out a studio unit at a new complex in Carlsbad, whose price (1/51 share), was about $8000. Using their (overpriced) financing, this would work out to about $177/month for 7 years. What we would get for that (in addition to the equity) is 3400 "Hilton points" every other year for as long as we owned the place. 3400 points is equal to a week's stay at a 1-bedroom unit during peak times at any one of their 4,200 properties worldwide (or two weeks at the low-season rates). Since Tracy and I aren't really "resort types" at this point in our lives, we passed on the opportunity, but it would sound a lot more appealing if there were kids around and bed and breakfast-type places were not really an option like they are now. It's worth revisiting in a few years, I think, especially since there is a lot of flexibility in when and how you use the points.

My trip to LA this morning to see a friend who is moving out of the country turned out to be quite pleasant. It also revealed to me perhaps one of the best aspects of California -- the freeway system. LA is approximately 120 miles from here, and it's all 4+ lane freeway. This led to virtually no traffic (even though there were lots of cars), and it's very common to go 75-80 mph without concern for a speeding ticket. I made it in about a pleasant hour and 45 minutes in each direction. I can't stress enough how easy it is to get around San Diego itself because of these freeways, but it's especially nice that the luxuries extend beyond the metropolitan area as well. Say what you want about Californians and their driving habits, but you can't help but appreciate the infrastructure they've created!

Bad Post Office Karma?

I wanted to share a post office story from last week. After recently blasting the post office for it's poor, overpriced, and inefficient service, I was pretty excited to send out a package using the automated postal center (the only innovation from the post office in the last...oh...two decades, "Forever Stamps" notwithstanding). After all, this new technology allows me to avoid the almost-guaranteed lines of ten or more people, as well as having to watch the counter employees work in slow motion and there weren't really a bunch of people waiting in line for service. In short, I could print out postage for my package and drop it in a box, and be out of there in two minutes or less.

When I walked up to the machine, it asked me to insert my credit card. I honestly thought this was an odd way to begin a transaction, but it had been a while since I last used it, so I figured the interface might've changed a bit. After inserting my card, though, six books of stamps appeared in the dispenser, and my credit card was charged more than $40. Oops. (Side note: For some unknown reason, stamps out of the machine come in books of 18, whereas they come in books of 20 from real people. More on this later...). I half-noticed when I walked in that some boy was playing at the machine before I used it, and he must've dialed up an order for these stamps and left the machine with the screen asking for a credit card. Just my luck.

By this point, I was livid, since I would now have to not only wait in the line, I would have to convince an incompetent postal worker to give me my money back, since 108 stamps is more than I use in about ten years (and hopefully, by then, the Post Office as we know it will have dissolved). Sure enough, it took about 15 minutes to reach the front of the line (by this point I'm about 20 minutes late for work), and naturally, the post office guy was unable to help me. Among the excuses I got: "We don't even stock books of 18" and "The supervisor is on vacation this week, and nobody here is authorized to...". I believe he ended this with "provide decent customer service" but I'm not totally sure. As I said, I was livid. I protested in vain, made a minor scene to let the other people standing in the line know that I was about to be hawking stamps (the first time the line actually worked in my favor), and began doing what the post office guy couldn't do for me -- sell the stamps I didn't want. Fortunately, it took me only two or three minutes to get rid of all of them, thanks to some extremely understanding (or naive, since, after all, they were waiting in line to buy stamps rather than using the machine), older folks. I walked out of the dreaded post office, nearly half an hour late to work, with an odd feeling of triumph. Maybe I should write the Postmaster General to explain the shortcomings of the USPS? Nah, it's not like it would actually accomplish anything.

Trust in strangers on the internet hasn't died yet!

I consider myself to be a pretty trusting person. Unless people give me a reason to mistrust them, I generally consider them trustworthy. All this changes on the internet, though, since I pretty much assume anyone I communicate with is a flake.

Recently, I've been putting lots of items up for sale on Craigslist. It's a great way to get rid of stuff you don't need, and you generally get more for it than you would at a yard sale. Plus, you don't even need to have a yard sale. The problem -- as noted above -- is that people are flakes, and they rarely show up when they say they will (Editor's note: There is a direct relationship between cost and likelihood of showing up. Free items bring out the flakes.)

Last week, though, I had a surprising and unfamiliar Craigslist experience. I was selling an AM/FM Walkman for $10 on the San Diego Craigslist site, and I got an email (and later a phone call) from a guy in LA who wanted to buy it, saying it would motivate him to lose weight. My first thought was What is a guy in LA doing shopping for Walkmans in San Diego?, which was quickly followed by How does he expect this deal to get done remotely? Before I could even address it, though, he offered to send me a money order in the mail. I still figured he'd flake out, but you know what? He followed through, even adding in an additional $2 for shipping. It made me smile from ear to ear that in this age of never trusting anyone, he had the faith in me to actually send him a working radio that he sent me a check (albeit a small one). I just didn't think that happened anymore. Guess I was wrong!

REO and Oreos

This weekend was a pretty action-packed weekend. My friend, Shauna, was in town from Seattle for a conference, so I got to spend some time with her. I also went to the San Diego County Fair with Tracy, went wakeboarding with some people from work, and spent a sunny afternoon on the beach in Coronado.

The highlight was certainly the fair. It turns out that the featured act on the big stage was none other than REO Speedwagon! Yeah, I was pretty excited, since I can name about three of their songs from the 80's. Prior to the concert, we attended the pig races (which Tracy's been talking about for weeks), won a "free" trip to Catalina Island (if we attend the Hilton timesharing presentation next weekend), watched a very funny hypnotist, and I tried deep-fried Oreos and a deep-fried Twinkie for the first time in my life (the Oreos were much better). As for the concert? It was pretty much what you'd expect -- a large crowd of people who look like they'd been big fans "back in the day". I got fired up when they started playing "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore".

On Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early to go to El Capitan Reservoir to go wakeboarding with six other people. I had tried wakeboarding once before on Lake Washington in Seattle, but was unable to stand up after about 7 or 8 tries. My boss was confident that I would be able to do better this time, and he was correct. I stood up after about 3 times, and on subsequent times, got going for at least 8 or 10 seconds before wiping out. Let's just say I'm certainly not a natural!

Padres games

One thing I've managed to do a lot of, aside from shopping, is go to Padres games at Petco Park. It's a very nice ballpark, similar in many ways to Safeco Field in Seattle minus the sliding roof. Tomorrow night against the Mariners will be my fourth game of the season, and I've taken to rooting for the visiting team, just to make things interesting (since I have no particular allegiance to the local team). I've seen two Dodgers games and one Brewers game, and it just so happened that I had a visiting team's hat in each case (as well as a Mariners hat for tomorrow). The irony is, the Padres have won every game that I've seen at Petco Park (six in a row), making me a "good luck" charm, of sorts. Maybe I could find some way to get hired by them as a good luck charm!

A new home...again

My avid readers have been clamoring for a new post, and I didn't want to disappoint them any longer. Actually, that's a complete lie. I don't even know who reads this blog (Is anyone out there? Anyone???)

Last week, the venerable Dr. Tylee and I moved into yet another dwelling, this one an apartment in a more urban neighborhood. Our housesitting venture in the 'burbs complete, we got the keys to our new place over Memorial Day weekend and gradually moved in, spending our first night here last weekend. So far, so good, but there's still so much left to unpack, and of course, so much shopping left to do.

Our new home is a 2-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom townhome in the University Heights neighborhood. It has two floors, and a big two-car-garage. I don't think I've ever seen such a high proportion of floorspace on a property devoted to a garage (it must be 1/3 of the total area). But it's nice. No shortage of storage space! The kitchen is very gourmet -- easily the nicest kitchen I've ever had. There's a little breakfast bar, dining area, and living room downstairs (as well as a small patio), and upstairs are two bedrooms and a full bath. I hope to show pictures once the place is cleaned up and we have all our furniture.

My commute is now a little bit shorter (10.5 miles from 16), and Tracy's is shorter on average (she works at two hospitals). I biked in this morning for the first time, and the hill at the end, a 15% grade for about 1/3 of a mile) is even more of a killer than it was at the last house. Otherwise it's pretty flat.

We've been spending so much of our free time shopping and moving stuff, as well as unpacking, that I've hardly had time to do anything normal. Hopefully that will all change soon, since I've been waiting to have a place that feels like home ever since I left Seattle. I do miss the dogs dearly, though. Not sure we'll get one in this place, but I might break down...

San Diego peculiarities

As you get to know your new city, you gradually learn all the little things that make it different from, well, just about anywhere else you've been. San Diego is no different.

Being somewhat of a geography hobbyist, I always like to look at maps of cities, and take notice of any naming conventions that make the city easier to navigate. In Seattle, it was very boring, where many streets are numbered in increasing value moving away from downtown, and they are given a prefix (or suffix) telling what area they are in (e.g. NW 61st St., or 15th Ave. NE). This works well where streets are mostly in a grid layout (such as Manhattan), but doesn't work so well where streets rarely go straight for very long (like San Diego). The topography of the city simply doesn't allow it. So instead, they've taken to neighborhood themes for streets, such as presidents, states, birds, gemstones, letters, etc. I thought that was pretty cool. However, I also learned that they have a propensity for continuing a street name if it gets interrupted by some natural obstruction (such as a steep hill or canyon), as in: This would be that street if it were allowed to continue on a straight line. The mildly annoying result of this is that even that you are on, say, State St., and you're looking for an address on State St., you can't necessarily get there by staying on the current road.

They also have a habit of sometimes making a road take a 90-degree turn at a normal four-way intersection: In order to stay on Black Mountain Road, you'll have to go right rather than straight. This, too, is mildly annoying.

However, there is one road that defies all logic, by combining the best of both of these "loose naming conventions", and that road is Carmel Mountain Rd. Let's ignore, for a moment, the fact that Carmel is located several hundred miles to the north, which would be confusing enough on its own. It starts as an exit off of I-5, simply enough, and soon takes a hard right turn at the "intersection" with Camino Real. Fair enough. Then it meanders through some hilly terrain before eventually dead-ending near a canyon. But wait! About five miles, east, the road starts up again and weaves through some more 90-degree turns before eventually intersection with a different road. This is probably best displayed through a map (if you're really interested, you could get an interactive map on Google Maps).

Updates on my life

I haven't written to this blog in a while, and it certainly hasn't been for lack of excitement. As I write this, I'm back in Seattle to see some friends, go sailing, and ship down a few items. It certainly is nice to be back, and it wouldn't be Seattle without throwing a little rain into the picture :)

Recently, Tracy and I decided on where we are going to live next. For the last 2.5 months, we've been house/dogsitting for a family in a suburban area of San Diego. It was a three-month gig, and it's been pretty enjoyable for me, at least. I like having the dogs around, and they have a wonderful kitchen and big backyard with patio to enjoy the pleasant San Diego weather. But the family returns on June 2, which means we'll be finding a place to rent.

Our two final options were a townhouse in an up-and-coming area centrally located, near Balboa Park and the freeways, and a small beach cottage two buildings from the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Originally, Tracy had favored the former and I had favored the latter. I mean, how many chances do you get to see the open ocean from your living room window? Especially when we didn't have much furniture to our name. Eventually, though, I came to my senses and realized that the small size of the place would become bothersome, it made Tracy's commute longer, we wouldn't be able to host people as easily, and the kitchen wasn't as inviting for Tracy's wonderful cooking, so I had a change of heart at the eleventh hour. As a result, we took the townhouse and will be moving there in stages between Memorial Day and June 2. Our new address will be 4424 Florida St. #3. I'll be sure to post pictures when we move in.

A Riparian Adventure and a Baseball Game

This weekend, with Tracy having a rare two days off in a row, I suggested we head out of town for a day hike. With summer creeping up on us, the hiking season is almost over (how strange does that sound!). Our destination was a place called Cedar Creek Falls, a little over an hour from home. Read about the adventure in her blog.

After we got back home, we rushed to shower and change in time to head out to the Padres-Dodgers game at Petco Park. It seemed like it was going to be a sellout, but we figured we might get scalper tickets after the first pitch. We had both been to Petco before, a few years ago, but this time we decided to take the trolley into town rather than drive. This turned into a major production. It started out well enough, as I scored a great parking spot at the transit center. But when the trolley finally came (at this point, it was almost game time already), we could barely fit everyone in -- and we were still several stops from the ballpark! What's worse, (we think) we were supposed to change trains in Old Town. It was hard to tell, since the trolley map showed additional lines operating for "special events". Was the Dodgers game a special event?

When we got to Old Town, the noise on the trolley was enough so that we couldn't hear the announcement. Apparently it said we needed to switch lines to the blue line, and everybody funneled out and crossed the platform. Unfortunately, Tracy and I were the odd people odd, and we had to wait another 10 minutes for a train. This particular train took its merry time on the way to the park, and *finally* we arrived at 7:45, 40 minutes after the first pitch. Doubting there would be any tickets left, we nevertheless went to the ticket office (the scalpers must have already given up). The woman said that she hadn't sold a ticket in 3 hours, but she'd check. Sure enough, two tickets became available! Our luck was getting better! We bought them and proceeded into the ballpark.

Before heading to our seats, we stopped to get some food at the first concession stand. Bad idea. It took at least 15 minutes for the horribly slow service! I have never seen anyone move so slow behind a counter. Never. Eventually, we found our to our seats (they were very nice), but it was already the fourth inning! The Padres were just about to take the lead 3-2, and that's how it would end about an hour later (the game lasted only 2:10). We literally sat in our seats at a baseball game for just over an hour, thanks to our adventures with the trolley and the concession stand lady. Next time I think we'll drive!

Back on the water

This morning, I officially got checked out to take boats out at my new sailing club. After two classroom sessions and a three outings on the water, I was able to convince them that I knew how to handle a boat, tie the necessary knots, follow all the club procedures, and perhaps most importantly, dock the boat under sail. Unlike my boat up in Seattle, these boats do not have engines or a roller-furling jib, which means I'll have to do a little more work. They're also designed for daysailing (as opposed to overnights), so I will need to learn how far I can sail and leave myself enough time to get back in daylight. Naturally, the prevailing winds will be pushing me away from the marina, making estimating a bit harder (going back and forth upwind can take twice as long, if not more). I look forward to getting back into it, needless to say.

After sailing, I was preparing to meet up with a new friend of mine and some of his friends to play softball. Prior to sailing, I gave him a call to make sure we were still on, and he warned me that they might have to cancel due to rain (yes, it does rain here occasionally). Seeing as it was only partly cloudy out, I figured the chances were good that we'd play. But sure enough, on my way back home after sailing, the skies opened up for a nice downpour, and softball was canceled. One of the things I failed to mention on my comparisons between Seattle and San Diego is that when it rains here, it rains. The wind kicks up, and it's a genuine storm that blows through (and is over very soon thereafter). In Seattle, when it rains, the wind often stops blowing, the rain is more of a drizzle that you stop noticing after living in the city for a few months. Occasionally a good storm will come through, but generally it's just "cloudy with a chance of showers". Made me forget what real rain feels like!

On that note, I'd like to note how drivers in virtually every city complain about other drivers who "don't know how to drive in the rain". In the few times it's rained here in San Diego, I've noticed that driving becomes much more difficult, if only because the storms are very localized and chances are, the sun is still shining on the horizon not too far off, creating a glare to add to the spray on the road and the relatively heavy precipitation. It also probably hasn't rained in a while, meaning there's a lot of excess oil built up on the roads, making things slippery. All these factors add up (as they should) to traffic slowing down and people driving more conservatively. Frankly, I've got no problem with that.

The view from my office

Last week, my company moved into a different office within the same building, expanding from about 400 square feet to 800. My view in the old office was quite impressive, looking out over Pacific Beach, palm trees, Mission Bay, and beyond. The view from my new office is even better. Since nobody seemed to claim the corner desk where two windows converge, I decided to take it (at least until we re-configure the office). Now I have the same southern view as before, but I add a western view as well. Since the office is located only three blocks from the ocean, the view of the sparkling Pacific Ocean on a sunny day can be quite a distraction! I'll attempt to embody that in a photo, which surely won't do it justice (click on it to see the full-sized version):

The 1-month comparison: Seattle vs. San Diego

I recently passed the one-month mark in my new home, which clearly qualifies me to make overarching generalizations comparing San Diego to my previous home base, Seattle.

There are obvious similarities between the two: each is is west coast city located on the eastern shore of an U-shaped inlet from the Pacific Ocean; hilly, and yet bike-friendly; with I-5 as the main north/south highway running through he city; known for it's water recreation; located about 2 hours south of a larger metropolis, and short drive from the international border; relatively dry summers and relatively wet winters; reputations as a "nice place to live".

There are even some not-so-obvious similarities: JACK-FM on the radio airwaves; incessant commercials for engagement rings courtesy of the Robbins brothers; a decent amount of Kroger, Safeway, and Albertson's grocery stores; and strong ties to the aviation industry.

And then there are the differences: San Diego is a city that seems to be built around a freeway layout while Seattle seems to do whatever they can to make getting around as difficult as possible; while Seattle has a relatively mild climate (mostly staying between 40 and 75 degrees), San Diego has re-defined mild (50 degrees is cold and 75 seems to be hot, with most days ranging from 55 to 70 year-round); the rain (although it is raining as I write this); the primary color around Seattle is green, while the primary color around San Diego is sandy brown; wearing beanies year-round is pretty typical in Seattle, while I have yet to see anyone wear one in San Diego; and lastly, not surprisingly, there seems to be much more technological innovation going on in my field in Seattle than in San Diego.

So which one do I like more? For someone with my interests, the early returns suggest that Seattle is a better place. While I certainly appreciate the warm and sunny days, I really miss having an outdoor place to spend them (like the mountains). Going skiing, snowshoeing, or sledding from Seattle is quite easy, and you have a range of options from which to choose. From San Diego, it's much more difficult and farther away. And I do miss the rain. Somehow, I am able to appreciate sunny days much more when they have a few cloudy or rainy days (or even months) mixed in. Here, a sunny day isn't much cause for celebration, or "I feel like working outside", or "today's a good day to go for a bike ride", feelings which I definitely felt in Seattle. Heck, even the wind here is so consistent (blowing from the north at 10 knots, rising from morning to evening), that picking out a good sailing day is much less interesting. It used to be that being blessed with a sunny and windy weekend day in Seattle added that extra je ne sais quoi to a Seattle sailing experience. Maybe those days exist here, but it takes some cloudy, no-wind days to appreciate them.

But I'm not down on this place at all. It really is quite nice, and very easy to get into a feel-good groove where each day mimics the last. While faster-paced than Seattle, it's not nearly as bad as LA, New York, or Boston. People have been very courteous (another similarity to Seattle), and overall it's been an easier transition than I had expected.

Update on my life, plus an exciting bike ride

So life is getting steadily better for me. After a few awkward weeks on the new job, I finally began feeling comfortable and productive. Tonight, I joined a sailing club after going out for a test drive with them on Saturday. I've also decided to put aside my fears of a hilly 15-mile commute on my bike, and just go for it. I tried it round-trip for the first time last week, and it was one of my best and worst days -- all rolled into one -- since I've been here.

It started with a sleepless night, since a friend from out of town was staying the night and he got into close to midnight. After that, I kept worrying about getting enough sleep, since I had to get up a little earlier than usual to ride in, and then put 30 miles of biking in after not having ridden more than 8-10 in a really long time. I got out the door on time, and biked quickly bike the six downhill miles to the highway entrance. The way my route is set up, with canyons in the way, I'm supposed to take the highway one exit before taking surface streets toward a bike path into Pacific Beach.

Unfortunately, the highway entrance was closed this day, causing a lot of confusion for a few bikers and lots of cars. There isn't exactly an easy way to get out of this canyon. My two choices were to go north (away from my target) or south (toward a dead-end road that allegedly led to a dirt trail). Since I didn't know where north would lead me, I chose the latter, and before I knew it, I was on a trail fit for a mountain bike or ATV. I had a road bike. So for about a mile and a half, I labored on a slight uphill grade, unsure of where I would end up, or where to go from there (Editor's Note: Precious few roads in San Diego go straight. Many change names for no apparent reason, and others end and pick back up across the canyon.) As I was ascending, I noticed my quick release on my front tire getting loose, but I didn't stop to fix it. For this I would pay a price later on.

After a few wrong turns and lots of downhill, I found the bike path and was well on my way to PB. Once the trail ended, I had to cross a busy intersection that required me to press the walk button. When the signal changed, I clipped in and turned to cross the intersection, and then FLOP! My front wheel came off and I fell flat on my face on the sidewalk. It must be truly funny to watch a clipped-in rider fall on his face.

Fortunately for me, I had only a few scrapes and snapped a zip tie for my trip computer. The last 2.1 miles of the ride was a little uncomfortable, but by the time the day was over, I had logged about 27 miles and couldn't wait to get back on the road again!

A mechanics question

Today's question pertains to physics, and I can't figure this one out on my own through my empirical testing. So any engineers in the audience, please feel free to lend me your solutions!

The problem is this: The house I live in has a driveway that slopes downhill toward the street. The last part of the ramp kind of "curves" down to the rain gutter and flat street, and almost without fail, I scrape the underside of the front of my car on the sidewalk as I'm backing out. I've tried some workarounds, including backing out at an angle (is 45 degrees the magic number?), but each time I think I've got in figured out, I go into a slump again. But here's the kicker: I have no problem at all pulling into the driveway without scraping.

So here's the question: Is it possible that it's harder to go down the driveway without bottoming out than it is to go up? Or am I really that inferior of a driver in reverse, such that I succeed 100% of the time pulling in, and maybe 5% of the time pulling out? The angle never seems to be that magical on the way in. Furthermore, most drivers can commiserate with me -- there is an innate fear of bottoming out on your way down a slope to a flat plane, while you rarely feel it going up. I'm perplexed.

Winning the credit card game

So a few weeks ago in my other blog, I wrote a piece about how people don't ask enough of their credit card companies. I realized, as I was writing it, that I was one of those people. I have been known to sign up for mileage cards that waive the first year fee, but I usually cancel them before the fee kicks in, once I receive the bonus miles. My primary credit card, though, is an Alaska Airlines Visa card from Bank of America that gives me a mile per dollar spent, as well as a companion certificate each year and a few other perks. For this, they charge me $75 each year, and I earn about 25,000 miles (slightly more than a free ticket).

This week I began to look for alternatives. I value 25,000 miles at about $250-$300, so after the fee, this was about $200. Capital One offers a "No Hassle" card that gives you 1% cash back, plus a 25% bonus at the end of the year, which would mean $300 cash, which seems like a better deal. I had some bargaining power.

So I called up Bank of America, ready to use it. I planned on saying that I wanted to cancel my card, and when they asked why, I would say that "it wasn't worth $75/year to me," at which time they would offer to waive the fee. The plan worked to perfection. It was basically as easy as calling up and getting an account balance. At the end of the conversation, the operator even asked if there was anything else she could do for me. What great service! I now recommend that anyone who pays an annual fee for their credit card follow suit. (Editor's note: They may like me more than most customers, since I've been loyal and always pay on time.)

Spider Extermination Attempt Nets Two; Habitat Destroyed

SAN DIEGO -- Two spiders were pronounced dead at the scene today during a mass arachnicide attempt. Names have not been released, but the official cause of death is being reported as massive head and leg trauma from a journey through a vacuum hose. Also during the mass raid, .0000000003 acres of prime spider habitat were completely obliterated, primarily in the corners of the ceiling and along the spiderweb ridge between the ceiling and the tops of the walls. No suspects have been found, though local environmental groups are up in arms.

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People who know me well know of my fear/loathing of spiders. When I moved to Seattle, I was amazed at the number of spiders that would find their way into my house. Now that I am in San Diego, I've noticed this isn't just Seattle's problem. Granted, I am currently living in a house that, for the most part, lacks traditional electric-powered lights. There certainly aren't any in the ceilings, and what few there are scattered around the house do little to illuminate those dark corners that spiders seem to enjoy most. So tonight, after seeing two live daddy-long-legs-ish spiders in my bedroom, I took it upon myself to do a mass purge. I fear that the spiders will get their revenge, but I needed to do it.

Buying a car from Christopher Walken

So on Sunday, Tracy and I decided to go test drive a few cars. Every so often, I need to re-evaluate my current car situation and determine whether it's time to move on. What brought this on was the fact that my car, despite its low mileage, is beginning to show some signs of wear and tear. The paint on the roof is fading, one headlight seems to be in the process of shorting out for the second time, and bumps are just a little bumpier. Plus, my gas mileage ain't what it used to be, and gas prices have gone up about 5 cents per day since I arrived in San Diego. And my commute is three times as long as it was in Seattle and requires a car.

For all these reasons, I decided to look at possibly a new Toyota or Scion. I first test-drove the Scion coupe, which looked a whole lot like my car at a fraction of the price, but didn't perform nearly as well. Next, I tried to test drive a Prius. Priuses are very hot down here for obvious reasons, and it has a lot of pluses that might get me to bite at the right price. When I asked to talk to a salesman, they presented me with Christopher Walken. Or so it seemed. Before he said a word, I could see an obvious resemblance, but after he opened his mouth, it was a no-contest. Here's a sample from a message he left me. (Apologies for the large file size) Compare this to the classic SNL skit and it all becomes clear. If only I had snapped a picture of him.

Despite his best intentions (this was his first week in car sales at age 58), I didn't end up buying a car from him. My car is still better than the Prius, especially as my driving declines when as I move to a new place in June. It was a fun day nonetheless.

MORE COWBELL!

In the Shadow of Giant Boulders: Joshua Tree

Yesterday, I went for a long day-trip with Tracy and some of her friends from residency to Joshua Tree National Park, which, at 3 hours, is the closest national park to San Diego. For those of you scoring at home, Joshua Tree is my twentieth national park visited, following (in no particular order): Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic, Crater Lake, Badlands, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Mesa Verde, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Zion, Yosemite, Glacier Bay, Hawaii Volcanoes, Redwood, Rocky Mountain, and Everglades. Congratulations, Joshua Tree.

We actually went there to do an interesting hike in the Wonderland Rocks area of the park, on the northern edge. This area basically looks like a bunch of boulders and other rock formations piled very high, which creates unusual shapes and spaces within which to crawl. It's really hard to explain, so hopefully the pictures do it justice! We hike mostly up for the better part of an hour and a half before returning to the car and entering the park through the conventional route. We saw some Joshua Trees on the way in, but hadn't yet seen any in the park land.

A Joshua Tree is actually a relative of the yucca plant. They only grow in very specific climates, like the high Mojave desert, and so there's aren't a ton of places in the world where you'll find them. Given the arid climate, it's impressive that such relatively large trees could even exist at all, but there are veritable "forests" of them as you drive through the park. Very interesting indeed.

All in all, it reminded me a lot of the parks in Utah, with a bright blue sky creating a pleasant contrast against the yellow and pink rocks. Certainly a different ball of wax from the parks I'm used to in the Pacific Northwest!

Joshua Tree, March 2007

Life in San Diego

Last week was my first week of work at my new job at Blueturn, and while it got off to a somewhat scary start, by Friday I felt like I was actually making some meaningful contributions. It's a small company that is in the process of rapid growth: when I interview in mid-February, there were only three full-timers. Now there are six, plus one part-timer. We are moving to a place twice as big on April 1 (moving up to 800 sq. ft. from 400), which will be nice with all the additional bodies. It looks like most of my time will be devoted to a client in the defense industry. I would tell you more about it but I might have to kill you ;-).

Tracy and I are housesitting a very nice 1100 sq. ft. house in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego, along with watching the two dogs. At first (as discussed in previous posts), I was a bit overwhelmed by all the driving, but I've since adjusted. Most of that is probably due to the fact that I have a very easy commute, which consumes most of my driving.

The dogs are great. They're generally outside when we're not home, and inside when we are, and they have ravenous appetites. Joey, whom we nicknamed "Jojo" or "Jojoba" (incorrectly pronounced "Joe-Joe-Ba", is a German Shepherd mix, and is the bigger and older of the two dogs. He can be pouty and curmudgeonly, but he knows how to turn on the charm when he feels like it. He's a leaner, and loves to just lean into you while he's getting his pets. Here's a picture of Joey:

Sugar is a pit bull/boxer mix, and she's as sweet as her name. We've nicknamed her "Sugar Puss", though unlike Joey, she'll come to just about anything. She doesn't bark or get into any trouble, and just wants to curl up in your lap and give you kisses. Here's a picture of her: