No Kids Allowed

My Invisible Friends

2008-06-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have invisible friends. Some of you are probably saying to yourself, "that makes so much sense now!" well its true and I am not ashamed to admit it. These friends aren't actually invisible though, they are six Venezuelan guys who call themselves The Invisible Friends (Los Amigos Invisibles for the monolingual people) and when they get together they play some of the grooviest music north of the Equator! I have probably seen them over a dozen times and all the shows have been awesome.

The group (from the left) Armando (keyboard), Mauricio (bongos), Mamel (in back, drums), Catire (in front, bass), El Cheo (guitar) and Julio (vocals)

This last weekend they played in Santa Barbara so my friends Brian and Doug decided to take the trip up to see them. A little background here, Brian introduced me to Los Amigos something like 5 or 6 years ago. Since then he has seen them around 20 times and he has become good friends with the group. Normally it would have been a no-brainer to go to the show, but with mounting gas prices, the distance to Santa Barbara and the fact that they weren't scheduled to go on until 11pm (Doug had a meeting at 7am the next morning), it did cause some hesitation. Not enough to deter us from going though, I mean it may be 6 months till they come back to So Cal!
I met up with Brian and Doug around 6:30 and we were going to wait for our other friend Juancho, but he had to go pick up a friend in LA so we were going to meet him there. We got up to SB 9:30 or so, swung by the venue (SoHo, a rather small club in the back of an office complex off of State St) so I could get my ticket. We then hung out for a little, got some McDonalds and walked around. We got back to the SoHo around 10:30 or so and met up with Las Hermanas Garcia (4 sisters who are friends with the band always go to the shows as well) and our other friend OC. Of course Juancho was running late, apparently his friend Damien that he was going to pick up couldn't come.

The guys finally showed up a little before 11, we all said hi and chatted for a bit then they went in to set up. We all moved inside to get a spot up front and waited for the show to start. As I mentioned before, the venue was pretty small and the stage was tiny. There was hardly any room to move around once the drums, keyboards and Mauricio's bongos were set up. Aside from that it was a great show, and we were right in front, well most of the time. There were a couple girls that would squeeze in and then push you out of the way, and towards the end this one kid showed up reeked of a week old dirty diaper, it was pretty disgusting. The guys did play a longer set then usual since they weren't "co-headlining" with anyone. They played mostly older stuff with 3 or 4 new songs. The thing I love about the show is that they play non-stop. None of this stopping and talking, they just played.

Juancho, Julio, Brian, and me (Zorro) after a show in LA

After the show we hung around for a little bit and talked to the guys a little more. There was no back stage at this place to a lot of people were getting pictures with them. We didn't want to stay too late though since it was already 1 and we had a long drive back. We bid our farewells and headed for home. I have to thank Brian for driving, he was a champ to get up home by 3am. I stayed the night at my parents house since I didn't want to drive all the way back down to SD and then as is all to common, I woke up at 7:30am. I can never sleep in anymore, my body is so used to getting up ealy. It was a fun weekend though and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Saying goodbye to the M

2008-06-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know my little family (of vehicles) has gotten quiet large. And not to say I am a bad parent, but I came to the realization that it was time to find a better home for one my kids. I hate to admit this, and again, don't read anything into the quality of my parenting, but I do love some of my kids more than others. That is what made it so hard for me to say goodbye to this particular kid, my M3.

Its been two fun filled years since I brought the M3 into my family. At the time the family was much smaller and thus it received a lot more attention. It was everything I could have wanted, classic style and great performance. I had a lot of good times with the car, believe me, but recently it has been feeling a little jealous. To be honest I have been spending a lot more time with the Porsche. It was partly the M3's fault though, it was too nice of a car to turn into a dedicate track car, which is exactly what the Porsche is. So it came time to find the M a new home.

Handing off the keys to Don

I have had the car listed for a little while, but I didn't want to give it away cheap to someone who wouldn't treat it the way it deserved. I had a few people interested, but nothing worked out. I got an email this last week from a guy named Don and he wanted to see the car. He was in LA so I brought he car up to OC. He came by, looked at the car, test drove it and liked it. We haggled a little on the price and finally came to an agreement. He would come back down the next day to take delivery of the car. That night I rounded up all the extra parts I had and got all the paperwork together. The next day after I got up to OC I had it washed and waxed and prepped for delivery. As I drove to the meeting location I was actually feeling a little sad. I really like the car, but I had to go through with it. We met up at the train station and took care of all the paperwork and I showed everything I had. He then produced a large roll of cash from his pocket and told me I might want to sit in the car the count it! It was all there and the transaction was complete, the car now belonged to someone else.

When he said he would pay cash, he meant it!

Don, I hope you enjoy the car. Take care of it and treat it right.

The Phone Conundrum

2008-06-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

My contract is up in a couple weeks with Verizon, and I am trying to decide what I want to do. Here are some of my options:

1 - Do nothing.
2 - Renew and get a new phone.
3 - Switch to AT&T and get an iPhone.

Here is the break down with the pros and cons and whatever else crossed my mind.

Option 1, it won't cost me anything right now and my phone still works fine. Eventually I will have/want to upgrade my phone and renew my contract but I am a little tight on money right now. I know go ahead and say what you want, I know I am single and have a good job, I shouldn't be complaining about not having money. True, and you are right, I have no idea what it is like to have a family and grad/med/dental school loans to pay off. But I do have some expensive hobbies and a family of cars that needs to be maintained. This option is the most economical, but since when have I been economical?

Option 2. I don't necessarily need a new phone, but I would like one. The RAZR has worked fine for me but I am ready for something new. This is where the large part of the conundrum unfolds. What kind of phone do I want to get? I liked the small size of the RAZR and light weight, do I want something similar to it? Or do I want a smart phone with tons of stuff I may never use? I would like a phone that I could use to access the Internet, but do I want to pay an extra ~$35 a month for the data plan? If I was to go this route the phones are generally bigger and more expensive. I am interested in the HTC Touch, but have heard some negative things about it. Verizon is coming out the VX9700 (LG Dare), which is their version of the iPhone, that looks nice. Pricing has not been released yet. Or there is the venerable Blackberry, but do I want to be one of 'those' guys? I guess I need to see how often I will be using the myriad features of a smart phone and how important size is to me (people keep telling me size doesn't matter, but what would I know?). I mean have you tried sticking a big phone in the pocket of your skinny jeans? Actually, that might solve all my problems....

The new Dare and the Touch

Option 3. I like the iPhone. I haven't really used it, and everyone and their grandmother has one, but I like it. It can do almost everything I would want a phone to do and more. The main drawback is that I would have to sign up with AT&T. That means I would no longer get the INcalling with Verizon, which most of my family is on, The new iPhones are reasonably priced, I haven't really looked at the plans though. Right now this option is the dark horse, it doesn't look like it can win, but it may storm out of nowhere and take the prize.

Is this what's up next for the iPhone?

I think what I need to do next is setup a Pugh matrix and score all of my options with my current plan and phone as the datum.... Ok, I may actually do that but first I need to establish a set of critical customer requirements (CCRs) with me being the customer. What do I want out of a phone? What will I use it for? A lot depends on how my new job works out. I am not sure I will need to have easier access to my email or the need to keep a better organized calendar (we won't mention my room). I am also interested in learning more about the new LG Dare, if it is as good as the iPhone, then option 3 is gone. Feel free to comment and tell me what I need from a phone or how your phone has changed your life or how much you love/hate your provider. I will keep you updated on my indecision.

How I spent my last two weekends

2008-06-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

*if you don't want to read the whole thing and jump right to the pics, click here*

The last two weekends I ventured out of San Diego and into the desert for some fresh air. I went up to a little town called Rosamond California. It is a burgeoning metropolis with a population of well over 14,000. It was founded in 1877 by Southern Pacific Railroad, but had its big 'boom' during the 1890's when gold was discovered. In 1933 the Army established Muroc Air Field which later became Edwards Air Force Base. (Find more info here!)

I am sure you are asking yourself why I would want to spend a weekend, let alone 2, in such a hip, happening place like Rosamond. The answer lies 6 miles west of the State Route 14 on Rosamond Blvd. It is called Willow Springs International Motorsports Park. It is probably one of the most complete motorsport complexes on the West Coast boasting 6 different tracks including clay ovals, kart track and technical and high speed road courses. The two tracks used for road racing are the Big Track, a 2.5 mile 9 turn course, and the Streets of Willow, which is a multi-configurable 1.8 mile technical road course.

Both events I attended were put on by the Porsche Owners Club (POC). A very track/racing oriented group of very dedicated Porsche-philes. The first weekend was host to the Short Track Series (STS) events #3 & 4; an on-going championship aimed at promoting driving skill and on track awareness. I only ran on Saturday and had a great time. This was only the fourth track day in my 924 so I was still getting used to it. Mark Williams was assigned to be my instructor for the day and he helped out a lot. I also had Jim Marks, currently third in the cup racing championships, drive my car and show me some things. In my last session I was able to set my personal best time of 1:34:708, a second quicker than what I ran with Speed Ventures in March. I was happy with my time, happy with the weekend and even got a plaque for having the best time in my car class!

This last weekend was the big Tribute to LeMans event at the Big Track. I was looking forward to this event for two reasons. First, this would be my first time on the Big Track and it is always fun to learn a new track. Second, my friend Cory and his dad were going to run in the 4 hour endurance race and I was going to be part of the pit crew. The weekend started out on an ominous note for Cory and his dad. Their car had a lot of vibration during Friday night practice and they thought it might have been the wind and the big light bar they had in the front of the car. It turns out that some of the engine and transmission mounting bolts had worked themselves loose, which is not a good thing, and it also messed up one of the CV axles. Cory's brother Shawn spend all morning repairing the car and finally got it ready for qualifying after lunch. Qualifying went okay, the car felt good and we all planned how to do the pit stops. The race started at 6:00 with Cory's dad driving the first stint. He came in after an hour twenty, we refueled the car, changed the tires and Cory took off. Time in the pits, 11:20. A great time seeing as we had a mandatory pit time of 27:46, which meant we would have 16 minutes for the next stop. Unfortunately we would not make it to the next pit stop. After only 30 minutes into his stint Cory called in and said he lost drive to the wheels and had to pull off. Once he got towed in we were able to diagnose what happened and see if we can get the car back out on track. It was not to be since the rear left hub bearing was broken and CV axle damaged. We were forced to retire from the race. The weekend didn't get much better for Cory as he broke the clutch in his 944 during qualifying for Sunday's race.

Ed Muscat coming up the turn 4 balcony with others in chase

My weekend fared better, thank goodness. As I mentioned earlier this was my first time at the Big Track. It was also the first time doing a time trial event so I was registered as a student. This was helpful since I was able to work with two great instructors. On Saturday I worked with Mervyn Rudgely, who races a 924. He drove the first couple laps to show me the line then I took over and finished the session. I took it pretty easy, getting used to the track and making sure I didn't block the faster guys too much, but I feel I got up to speed pretty quick. The next couple sessions Merve road with me and gave me pointers to help me out. The last session I went out on my own and recorded a respectable 1:42:761. I was happy with the time and looking forward to improving more the next day. On Sunday I worked with John Tunnicliffe who is leading the 944 Spec championship. He gave me some good advice, telling me I was turning in too early on a couple turns and I can get on the gas sooner in others. I felt like I was going quicker and my times were improving but the car was pushing a lot and I wasn't able to get everything out of it. After my third session JT helped me adjust the tire pressures to try to correct the under steer. My next session was the time trial, I got one warm-up lap and 2 hot laps and that was it. I wasn't very happy with either lap as I wasn't able to put it all together cleanly. I did get my best time, 1:42:671, but that was only a .09 sec improvement. I know I could have gone faster.

Coming around the skidpad at the Streets

After that session I started to pack up my car to get an early start for the drive back to SD. The Muscat's were already packed up since their cars broke but we all hung around a little to watch the races. John won the 944 Spec race and there was some good racing in the other classes as well. I had one more track session but didn't want to put any more stress on my car since I would be driving it home and my tires were already pretty worn and I was tired. Most people had the same idea so I helped a couple people load up, then headed out. On the way home I noticed a slight vibration when moving the steering wheel to the right. It wasn't enough to make me stop, but it was a point of concern. I eventually tracked down the steering issue to a loose suspension bolt that controls the camber. It would have been a bad thing had the bolt come out while I was doing 120mph through turn 8! I am getting more and more wary of driving the car to and from the track. Something is bound to happen sooner or later and I won't be able to get home. I need to start looking for a truck and trailer.

I had great fun both weekends and was able to stop by and visit Theresa, Kevin and Zoey in Temecula on the way home from the Tribute events. I need to do some work to my car now, put on some camber plates, coil overs and give it a tune up. I also need to go over everything and make sure the bolts are tight! I have some time until my next event though. Most clubs take off July so it won't be until August. The POC is going up to Laguna Seca in Monterey on the 22-24th. I would love to go, but I don't want to drive up there. If it isn't too expensive and I can find a way to trailer my car I will go, otherwise it may be Willow Springs on the 2nd with the TCRA or the following week with NASA. It will be interesting to see how the car works with the new suspension.

For more pictures of the weekends, click here)

The Fortune Cookie

2008-03-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

I am in some training at work all this week, and it isn’t a bad deal. I get out of work, it isn’t hard, and they provide us lunch. Today they brought us food from Panda Express. It was a decent spread of Chinese food, and as customary they provided fortune cookies. As a person who puts a lot of weight into fortunes, I randomly selected a cookie. When I tore open the plastic pouch, I was slightly surprised to see a fortune wedged in the gap of the cookie. Was this going to be my fortune, or would there be another one inside?
I pulled out the stowaway fortune and quickly read it, “You may attend a party where strange customs prevail.” Oh-kay. I may attend a party. Really? That is great news! And at this party that I may attend, strange customs will prevail? What do they mean by strange customs? And how will they prevail? Will I be at a party that will be overrun by harmonica playing monks that refuse to trim any body hair or bathe? Will there be a fight where one group has to prevail? I really didn't know what to think about this fortune.
I broke in to the rest of the cookie and found that there was indeed another fortune tucked inside. I customarily ate half the cookie, tapped the other half 3 times, passed it around my body then pulled out the fortune. I read it and was slightly dismayed, “You are the life of the part.” Alone this would have been a great fortune. I have my moments, but I am not usually the life of the party, unless you count parties where I am the only one there. It looked like my luck was about to change. Then I remembered the former fortune, “You may attend a party where strange customs prevail.” If I am the life of the party and strange customs will prevail at this party I may attend, does that mean that I will be the instigator of these strange customs? Do I have some weird habits or customs? What does all this mean? It was causing my mind to ache thinking about it so I did what I always do when I get a fortunate that doesn’t make sense or I don’t agree with, I threw it away and grab another cookie. The fortune in this one said “You will soon be crossing great waters.” That is more like it. Have a great day!

The Weekend that Was: The Super Bowl...finally!

2008-03-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

I guess I never got around to writing up the super bowl party. My apologies. Here is the quick recap. Got up had breakfast, watched Benskie’s new favorite show Top Gear, lounged around and waited for everyone else to arrive. It was snowing pretty good so we were a little worried that 1) the roads would be too bad and the other wouldn’t make it, and 2) and most importantly, we wouldn’t get a good signal from the satellite with all the snow. Fortunately both worries were unfounded. The other guys showed up, and we got ready for the game. We had a surprise visitor show up to join the festivities as well, one Scott Chesney. Yes this was the RA of the floor above us that was torn between trying to be our friend and yet upholding the responsibilities bestowed upon him as an RA. Yes he did try to get us in trouble for making dry ice bombs, but overall a decent guy.

The game was great, almost everyone was rooting for the Giants to win and they were hanging in there. It wasn’t the most exciting game or the highest scoring, but we were loving ever hit on Pretty Boy Tom Brady and every dropped pass or stuffed run. Everyone was getting into the game, except Parker, Kyle’s 5 month old, he didn’t enjoy it when we all started yelling and screaming. The game got really interested in the 4th quarter, where some big plays by the Giants, most notably Eli ‘Aw Shucks’ Manning, David Tryee and his helmet and USC Alumus Steve Smith. In the end the New York Football Giants prevailed over the seeming invincible New England Patriots.

We hung out after the game for a while, helped clean up and listened to Adam, Mike, Ben and Derek talk about the top business schools. We played catch for a little with Benskie showing us his different pitches. He actually had pretty good movement on the ball. That came to an end when Richie decided to put Macy’s head in the path of the ball and they didn’t have a very friendly reunion. The mood was lightened when, was it Ben or Joe? asked to see Macy’s boobie. Things started to calm down after that until we broke out Rock Band. We rocked that for a while, everyone taking turns playing either the guitar, bass or drums, unfortunately we didn’t have a mic. It soon came time to say our good byes. It had been a great weekend with lots of memories rehashed and new ones made. It was great to see everyone again. Despite the fact that it had been a while since we had all been together, it didn’t feel like it. Even though most of us have matured and now have families, when together we will always be the Boys from V Hall.

May we carry on this tradition next year and the many years to come. We have an invitation from Benskie to reunite next year at his place in Maryland, and there is always a standing invitation to come to sunny Southern California. Wherever we do it, as long as we are all together, it is fine with me.

The Weekend That Was

2008-02-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, now that we know how this weekend came about, I will try to describe the events that took place. Unfortunately there is a lot that I have to leave out in order to not incriminate anyone as well as maintain the family focus of my blog.

The weekend got started Friday with Adam arriving first. In the spirit of the reunion Adrock rented a Hyndai Sonata, a car that has come a long way since Ben first owned one. Adam brought his lovely wife Amber out for the trip but she was not about to make it out till Saturday night. I arrived around later that night and hung around the airport waiting for Joe to arrive. He wasn’t expecting me to be at the airport and was kind of surprised to see me. It was great to see Joe again and starting getting caught up on what was going on. I asked how things were in Georgia, he asked if I was working out or what I was doing to stay in shape. Seriously, and this was common thing throughout the weekend. Not him asking about my workout routine, but giving people compliments. So much so we decided Joe should be a self-esteem coach or something. Thanks Joe.

Anyway, Adam and Mike D picked us up and as we drove back to Mike D’s house the conversation quickly turned into all things business and finance (another common thread through out the weekend). Mike and Adam were questioning Joe on where he was working and what he was doing and they were comparing it to what they did. Interesting stuff let me tell you (no that is not sarcasm you hear). We got to Mike D’s house and Joe was momentarily distracted by the built up snow in Mike’s lawn and promptly make a snowball and threw it at the house above the garage; this surprised no one. It was great to see Becca again and Mike showed us around his beautiful house. Then we sat around for a while chit-chatting about families and real estate and watching some TV. We all started to get a little hungry and decided to get some Beto’s for some burritos. Mike and I both got burritos and Adrock got a huge plate of super nachos while Joe got a burrito and some taquitos. Remember, this is at like 11:30 at night. Then again, I don’t think I have ever eaten at Beto’s before 11 at night. Anyway we got back and at our food, no one finished their stuff except Joe, who wanted to watch TV while he ate. Some things never change. We all eventually went to sleep pretty late, I tapped out around 1 or so and Adam and Joe were still going strong.

The next morning we hung out at the house and played with Mike and Becca’s beautiful daughters, Macy and Molly Blue. We checked out their play room and Macy made us some interested dishes in her kitchen. We also caught a little bit of President Hinkley’s funeral on TV. Mike D talked to Kyle and we planned to meet up at 1:30 at Costco to get some of the food shopping done. Kyle was running a little late so we got the shopping done, despite not agreeing on what type of chips to purchase. I think we were all satisfied with the Kirkland/Mission chip strips. Once we finished we grabbed some food at the food court and waited for Kyle to show up. Once he did the first thing the guys asked him about his job and what he did. Go figure. We left Costco and had to stop by the mall to look for an Eli Manning Giants Jersey for Kyle’s wife Meagan. Unfortunately the store was almost completely sold out of Giants stuff, while interestingly they had plenty of Patriots stuff… Once that was done I took off with Kyle since I would be staying at his house. We headed off to pick up Rich in Thanksgiving point and Mike, Adam and Joe would meet up later with Derek and get Benski at the airport.

We went down to Thanksgiving point and met up with Rich who was having lunch with is lovely sister Rachael. I hadn’t seen her in a long time so it was nice to get the chance to chat for sec. I invited her to the Super Bowl party but unfortunately she has some prior commitment and wouldn’t be able to attend. From there we headed back to Kyle’s place since Kurt was on his way to the house in the car he rented. We arrived a couple minutes before he did and when he arrived Kyle gave us the grand tour of the place. Let me tell you it is huge! After that we met Kyle’s wife and his little son Parker and his two dogs. We sat around catching up till Adam called and let us know that we would be meeting for dinner at 7:45 at Ruth’s Chris in Salt Lake. We all got ready and piled into Kurt’s rental and headed out to meet up with the boy’s.

We got to the restaurant and the other guys were already there. After the initial greeting and everything it was like we were back in V Hall freshman year, joking around and laughing. The finally sat us in the upstairs section and gave us a very, um, helpful waitress. We put in an order for appetizers and asked for a couple different ones then she was like, that won’t be enough so how about two of each and we were like, no, no, one of each is okay. Oh and then she starts going on how she recognized Adam because he eats there often and sits down at the bar I guess? I don’t know what that was about. After that we all ordered our steaks. All of us were happy with our choices but Derek’s was redder then he would like. He asked for it medium well but it locked more like medium rare. He told the waitress and she took it back in to cook it more. The manager brought I back out to make sure it was good but it was still a little too pink. The guy told him to slice it up and lay the slices down on the plate (supposedly all the plates are heated to 500 degrees there) and let it cook a little more. So Derek did as he was told but then got caught up telling a story that had something to do with missing fingers and magic, and when he looked back down they had cleared his plate with his half eaten steak. Let’s just say he was not too happy and we expressed this to the waitress and later the Manager. The waitress had them cook a new steak and the manager promised we would not get charged for it. When the waitress brought out the second steak she had it boxed (since the rest of us where done eating) and said she cooked it medium, again not medium well like D asked, but get this, she cooked it medium so that he cook reheat it in the morning for steak and eggs. Great, that is why he came, so he cold make steak and eggs.

The waitress asked if we wanted dessert and Joe wanted to get a cheesecake so we decided to just get one and share it, but the waitress tried to push at least 4 on us but we held strong. About this time Adam’s wife Amber showed up. She had just flown in and made it time for some cheesecake. So dinner was good but the company was better. It was great to have all the boys together again. Of the ten of us from freshman year 9 of us were there, a pretty good turnout I would say. It was fun to reminisce and tell stories and laugh and joke. We all felt a little bad for the other couples that were seated around us. They didn’t last very long and one guy gave us a kind of nasty look when he left. We basically had the upstairs area to ourselves. With dinner over and the night still young, there was only one thing left to do to make the night complete. Go rolling! After we got the cars from the valet, yes we valeted the two rental cars, Kurt’s powerful Cobalt and Adam’s actually quite nice Sonata. As we waited for the cars Joe started talking to some older guy dressed up in some faux cowboy outfit who eventually drove off in his Bentley. What was that all about Joe? Anyway we found a bowling alley and headed to it.

We got to the bowling alley and it was packed. We should have known, what else is there to do in Utah on a Saturday night? Why was rolling such a passionate activity for us? Well the wait was about an hour long they said so we pondered taking off and doing something else, but in the end decided to stay. We got an empty pool table and played a couple games while some other played the basketball game as we waited for our lanes. The wait ended up not being that long and we finally got our shoes and were ready to bowl. Most of us were pretty rusty but it was fun out there rolling. I don’t remember who won, I think it was Mike D, but I could be mistaken. We only played one game and by that time it was getting a little late so we decided to call it a night. Joe, Derek and Adam and Amber went back to stay at Mike D’s house while Kurt, Rich, Ben and I went with Kyle back down to his place. Tomorrow would be the game!

To be continued…

The Weekend Update

2008-02-09T16:27:00.001-08:00

Sorry, I will get the rest of the recap of the weekend up soon. I almost had it finished but it somehow got erased or lost on my computer or something.

The Weekend That Was: The build up

2008-02-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

I am sure most of you know that this last weekend was the Super Bowl. Not only that though but it was also the reunion of the boys from the second floor in V Hall and one of the greatest weekends ever. To start we have to back to the beginning. For the last two years some of the guys have started to get together for the Super Bowl. Two years ago I believe it was in Portland and last year was San Fran both with decent turnouts. I wanted to go last year but due to the pressing need to be in Spain for work (I know, tough life right? It was pretty cold out there though), I was not able to attend. We all wanted to make this a tradition and get everyone out this year so when I heard the rumblings during fantasy football that the proposed location to get together this year was Utah, home to the Dulgarian and Mann families, I made a vow that I would be there.
Adam got the ball rolling during the College Football Bowl Confidence Challenge (which Mike D won) and was first to book his tickets. I couldn't back out of my vow so I made my plans to be there. We were able to pry Ben away from his newly finished basement and 10' wide projector TV and he booked his tickets, but the rest of the commitments were slow to trickle in. We hit a snag when Kyle realized that he had a family commitment that weekend to see Jerry Seinfeld in Las Vegas and wasn't sure if he would be able to get out of it. Mike D was more than willing to step up and host if necessary, even if his TV was only 56". So far we had solid commitments from Adam, Ben, Mike D and myself, with Kyle possibly making it back for the game on Sunday. We also got word from Dawnelle that Joe would be there even if the family couldn't make it. (We have to thank Dawnelle for checking Joe's email and making sure he was able to come out. I am sure we can all agree that it would not have been the same without him!) We still hadn't heard from Derek though, and things didn't look so good for Richie, Kurt and Dan. We finally heard from Derek and he confirmed that his ticket was booked and he would be there. His commitment was followed a couple days later by Rosco. Then we got some good news from Kyle, he would indeed be in town for the whole weekend, Jerry Seinfeld be damned! It looked like we were going to have a great turnout and a great place to get together. Unfortunately it looked like Dan was not going to make it, something about spending $70K a year on school and having a wife 37 weeks pregnant. We were also ready to count Kurt out since he had just graduated and wasn't working yet, but he surprised us all by announcing he would be accepting a job offer and thus would be able to also attend the party. That means we were going to have a 90% turnout for the Super Bowl, pretty incredible. I am sure we were all excited and giddy and getting everyone together again. I know I was.

Visiting the capital of the South

2007-12-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

I went to visit my brother Philip and his family in Chester, Virginia (just outside of Richmond) last weekend. It was a my first time being in the South, other than driving thru Mississippi and Alabama and stuff on my way to Florida, but that doesn't count since I didn't really stop (other than to buy some rapper chips, what were they called?). The flight there was long, a red-eye double stopper, I don't recommend it. I got the tickets basically for free though by redeeming my Delta Sky Miles so I can't complain too much.

I need to thank my Brother Philip and his wife Mindy for having us (My Pops and sister Cindy and her son Gavin also came). And thanks to Caleb and Helen for letting me sleep in there room with them.

Here are some pics of the weekend.

Philip and Caleb locked in the stocks with HelenCaleb showing his tree climbing skills
Cindy and Gavin in Richmond

Caleb in a soap box racer at the
Children's Museum in Richmond

Washington DC. (From left: Dad, me, Philip and
Caleb and Uncle Jim)

Lincoln Memorial

Nice shot of the reflecting pond and Washington
Monument. You can't really see the Capital
building in the back.

Jefferson Memorial with me, Dad, Caleb,

Uncle Jim and Rick (cousin)

Pamplin Park. Civil War History Museum.

Site of one of the last battles before the surrender Chuck just demonstrated how to
load and fire a muzzle loader, and
that is what he normally wears

Helen and I doing our best to be
period era soldier and little girl

The things I'm thankful for

2007-12-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

I am getting behind on updating this blog so I need to go back and give an account of my trip to Portland for Thanksgiving.

Up till about the beginning of November I wasn't sure what I was going to do for Thanksgiving. My friend Mario was set to return from his LDS mission to Tucson, Arizona on the 16th and I wanted to go see him but I didn't know if he was going to be in New York or Utah or back in Tucson looking to hook up with some 16 year old mia maid he met on his mission. Fortunately I got in touch with Maria, Mario's cousint, and she told me that Mario and his brother JP would be heading up to her house in Portland for Thanksgiving. This seemed like a great opportunity for a Thanksgiving reunion since not only was the Uceda clan going to be there but also Rich and the next generation of Rylanders (Isaac and Abby) and the Hansen Family, Derek, Amy and Jack. (Quick history lesson: Rich, Derek and I all lived in the dorms together freshman year (V hall). After the mish D and Rich move into Foxwood with Mario (a poor, timid, homeless Peruvian kid). Rich and Mario become best friends. Rich marries Mario's cousin Maria. We graduate and Rich and D take jobs in Portland and live in the same housing community.) So you see, with all that history congregating in one place, I really couldn't say no; my tickets were booked for Portland.

In order to save a tree and your time I will not recount every single event of the weekend, rather I will touch on the ones that stand out the most, the weekend highlights if you will. Rich and Mario picking me up at the airport and Rich telling me how he saw a guy on the curb that looked like me and locking eyes with him. Maria's first home cooked (by her!) Thanksgiving dinner; it was delicious. Seeing Isaac, the Chico Loco, again and meeting Abby. Seeing JP and his GF Erin. Watching the end of USC's domination of ASU with Derek. Sleepovers at the Hanson's and playing with Jack. Shooting clay pigeons with Derek and friends. Eating Peruvian food. Playing interactive DVD-based board games with the group. JP sleeping through all of it. Gang of Four and Mario not getting to play a card on the last hand. Losing Stratego to Richie, twice. Barry, Erin's dog, peeing on Mario. Isaac calling Mario Uncle Mairo. Amy's awesome french toast (you have to tell me your secret ingredient!). Getting beat by Amy in free-throws on Jack's basketball hoop (she beat Derek too). Jack throwing the ball better behind his head. Saturday's Market. Folky, hippy Xylophone group. Tram rides. Getting lost trying to find the tram. Voodoo Donuts. Peruvian hot chocolate. Rich pushing food on everyone. Isaac and his excuses to get out of bed. Abby and half her dinner ending up in her booster seat. Costa Vida. Watching clips of the infamous Vegas trip. Being with friends and not worrying about anything else.

Special thanks to Rylanders and the Hansens. Rich thanks for picking me up and taking me to the airport. It was good to see everyone. We have to do it again soon.

A trip south of the border.

2007-11-14T22:20:00.001-08:00

This trip took place a couple weeks ago but I didn't get a chance to write about it with the short week and a trip up to Portland. So here is a quick write-up.

To be honest I do not go down to TJ, or Mexico, as often as it many may believe with San Diego being on the border and all. I can probably count the number of times I have been down there since I moved here on one hand. But all those times have been fairly memorable. On this occasion my buddy Lance wanted take his friend Ben, a British exchange student who is getting ready to head back home, down to experience the splendors of Tijuana. Not only that but we found that the bull fights would be going on at the Stadium in Playas de Tijuana. I have never seen a bull fight, I know it is hard to believe but it is true, so I was excited to go.

As usual we drive down to the border and walk across; it is a nightmare to enter the US from Mexico at almost any hour of the day, the lines are horrendous. The only time we do drive is if we go down to Puerto Nuevo for lobster. Once we cross the border and breath in the rich smell of trash and feces we grab a cab and head to the Stadium. Upon arrival we are once again glad we did not drive, the parking lot looked like a maze and I don't know how cars made it in and out. We have to get in line to purchase tickets and by the time we got in the first bull was already out.

The way these fights work, depending on the Matador, there are a number of guys, that I imagine are matadors in training, that come out and try to wear the bull down a little bit. At one point they brought out some guys one horses covered in padding and they would ride around and occasionally give the horse a nice little stab with a spear. I don't really see the point of these guys. They shouldn't be out there. Who wants to see two guys riding horses that are padded and blindfolded and obviously don't want to be there as they ruthlessly stab at the bull? At one point the bull charged the horse and mendigo rider couldn't get out of the way and we all thought bull's horn went through the padding. Fortunately it seemed like the horse was not injured and the horsemen shortly afterwards left the field.

The matador finally came out and he did not disappoint. He was graceful and light on his feet as he danced with the bull and spun and gently placed the plumed daggers into its back. The bull apparently got tired and eventually passed out due to exhaustion an they had to drag him off with horses. The next matador wasn't as good, but it was still entertaining. The third act was the most impressive with the mounted bull fighter. Throughout the course of his 'fight' the matador switched horsed 5 times and they were all beautiful. The horses were all very experienced and the horseman was very good as well. One of the horses could dance, others could out pace the bull by sidestepping, it was a great display of horsemanship. For those that know me I have a soft spot for horses. I would like to own a ranch and raise horses, kind of like the Man from Snowy River. It was a great show but unfortunately it has started to ran so we took off after that act.
We took a crazy cab ride back up to the border, we were all amazed our driver did not hit anything or anyone. We got back to the bordered and we were all hungry so we decided to get some tacos. You can't go down to TJ and not get tacos so we found a nice little puesto and ordered some tacos and Cokes in glass bottles. I think everyone agrees that Coke in glass bottles in Mexico is better than the Coke they sell in the states. I also heard that by drinking a Coke with your tacos it will protect you from the possible bacterias in the tacos. One a side note, we were going to eat some tacos at the Stadium but I don't think they actually sold any tacos. Understand me here, it was a taco stand but every time we went to buy tacos they had some excuse as to why they weren't ready. First they didn't have tortillas, then the meat will be ready in 5 minutes. Five minutes later, it will be 10 minutes. We eventually gave up. The tacos we had on the border were pretty dang good so it was worth it.

It's all in the jeans

2007-11-12T14:44:00.001-08:00

Yes, this post is about buying a pair of jeans. A nice pair of jeans is essential in any man's wardrobe. When I say a nice pair, I don't mean a $300 pair of Rock & Republic's, almost anything will suffice as long as they are comfortable and durable, as well as slightly fashion conscious (that means no tapered leg). It is mind bottling to know see many different brands and style of jean pants are available. (A quick look through the Neiman Marcus online store for jeans I come up with 13 brands priced from $145 for some Adriano Goldschmied's to $399 for some Rock & Republics. It is unfathomable) In the past couple of years we have seen an influx of designer jeans that frankly I cannot comprehend. Most of the more expensive jeans are made of Italian or Japanese denim with the latter being the more expensive of the two (click the link to see why). Apart from the quality of the denim you are also paying for the style and exclusivity (honestly how many of you spend over $100 for a pair of jeans?). Do people think these jeans will make them appear more attractive? And what is up with the pre-torn and pre-worn jeans? Or how about the ones with the huge embroidery on the butt? I don't get it, and I don't like it.

Fashionable...................'Distressed....................Torture
Embroidery.................... Jeans'........................ Device?

As previously mentioned there are a couple tenets when looking for jeans; comfort, style and durability (please tell me you don't treat your jeans the same you do your Armani slacks). These tenets can change and exceptions will be made. More and more jeans are becoming acceptable to wear out in place of slacks or a more formal type of pant. This was one of the instigating factors in my search. A couple months ago two pairs of jeans decided to develop tears in the left knee. These jeans would no longer be suitable to wear to work or a dinner or event, although for most other activities tears and holes are acceptable, it is kind of trendy as can be witnessed by the 'distressed' jeans. When looking for jeans, or any article of clothing, it is good to establish a criteria for what you want. This will help you narrow down the selection and make it easier to find something. In this particular occasion I was looking for a slim fit pair of dark color jeans, either very dark blue or black. About a year ago I pick up a nice pair of semi-faded black Levi's at Costco for like $25. They fit well, are comfortable and Levi's is a respectable, unpretentious brand. My friend Jon also recently got some 501's that he liked so i decided to look for another pair of Levi's.

The first place I went was the Levi's store downtown to scope out the selection. I wasn't familiar with the current styles, other then the pair I bought recently the last pair of Levi's I bought were some Silver Tabs in High School. Levi's has a fairly wide range of jeans from the standards to their Siver Tabs and relatively new Capital E brand (this is their premium label and it retails for around $165 and is from Turkish cotton denim from what I can find). I saw some jeans that I liked but the prices were a little higher than I had seen them elsewhere. The next day I stopped by a Mervyn's and perused the Jean section to see if there was anything I liked. I settled on a pair of black 501's that fit well and had the comfort and style that I found desirable. When I got home however I realized two things, first they sit higher than I would like and secong, they were 'Shrink-to-Fit,' meaning they would get at least a size smaller than what they were at the time. I thought about never washing them and letting them get worn in but I decided to continue my search. A couple days later I stopped by another Mervyn's and I found a pair of skinny 511's. These are the jeans punk kids buy instead of having to buy women's jeans, they are skin tight. Next I found a pair of slim straight 514's that I really liked, unfortunately they did not have my size or the color I wanted. I would have to look somewhere else.

The next day after work I stopped by the Macy's in the UTC mall. They had a rack of 514's in the color I wanted by sadly they did not have my size. I had them check the store at Fashion Valley and blessedly they had 4 of them. I asked them to hold a pair for me and I was able to get down there latwent down later that night to pick them up. I got the jeans and wore them all weekend I am happy with my purchase. The Levi's satisfy my tenets for jeans; they are comfortable, they are durable, they sit below the waist so you don't have to sag them and get the baggy butt look and they fashionable. The best part, they only cost me $35.55. For those of you who may be looking for jeans I would recommend looking at Levi's. They have myriad styles and affordable prices, besides, you can't go wrong with one of the oldest manufacturer of jeans in this country.

Now that I have new jeans I need to get some shoes I can wear with them...

Weekend update

2007-11-12T11:17:00.001-08:00

This was what looks like the last race weekend of the year. I was thinking of doing an event at Cal Speedway in December, but I decided to take a trip to the East Coast instead. There is still a chance I can squeeze another weekend in, but it looks like the autocross this weekend will be the last event. The event this weekend was up at Buttonwillow again. I decided to only run Saturday and not stick around for Sunday since I had some other things planned. The event ended up being a little frustrating. Earlier in the week I put new tires on my car and I wasn't sure how they would perform. I found the answer out right away it was not good. They do not have the amount of grip my old tires had and they felt squirmy. That, combined with running a configuration of the track I wasn't familiar with and leaving my traction control (ASC) turned on (at the behest of the chief instructor) made for the previously mentioned frustration. The car wasn't performing like I was used to and the ASC would constantly kick in and cut the throttle. The theory for these changes is that it will make me a smoother driver, and smooth is fast. You can get more details here, Buttonwillow Frustration.

After I finished up at the track I drove down to visit my sister Cindy who lives with her family in LA. I see them a decent amount but I don't get up to LA very often. Cindy was gracious enough to invite me for dinner in exchange for my visit and I couldn't turn that down. It was a pleasant visit and the fajitas were delicious. My brother-in-law Bryan and I watched the second half of USC football game against CAL (read my analysis of the game here), while Cindy prepared her Sunday School lesson for the beehives (12 year olds) on how their bodies are changing and they will start to experience different 'feelings' about boys. She wasn't entirely comfortable with this as it was going to be her first day with these girls and it was a slightly intimate topic. I am sure she did a good job.

After I left their house I decided to stop by a friend's birthday party in nearby Marina del Rey. The party was for Ronit Mevorach, one of the friends I have known the longest. (Is there a way to say that which isn't so long? Is she my longest friend, oldest friend? But that could mean she is just really old and it would be weird if I was good friends with a 50 year old single lady... or would it?) I don't see Ronit very often, but since I was in the area I wanted to stop by. The party was at Glow Bar inside the Marriott in Marina del Rey. I didn't realize it was inside the hotel till I drove by it a couple times but I finally figured it out and decided to just valet my car since it would be easier then trying to find parking. It was great to see Ronit again and she was super sweet, introducing me to a lot of hear friends and coworkers. She would tell everyone that we have known each other since we were in diapers, but in reality I think we were around 6 or 7, and no I was not still wearing diapers at that age. I ran into a guy I knew in High School, Charlie Pecararo, who is currently working on a Documentary (he is an actor, go figure) on the cars and lifestyle of Volkswagen in the '70s. I ended up staying for a couple hours and it was fun. I will have to get some pictures from Ronit and put them up.

Sunday was rather uneventful. I got back down to SD around 12:00. Almost fell asleep but made it to church in time at 1:00. After that had a little get together with some friends, had some dinner, then went home and watched the end of the Chargers game. It was a good weekend, but it would have been infinitely better if I didn't have to come into work today. I can't believe we don't get Veterans day off. Random fact of the day: did you know Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day until the 1954 when President Eisenhower changed it? In a similar vein, the word of the day brought to you by Dictionary.com is:

gesticulate \juh-STIK-yuh-layt\, intransitive verb:
1. To make gestures or motions, especially while speaking or instead of speaking.

That's it folks, have a great week and remember, do as I say and not as I do.

Halloween, again

2007-10-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

I don't think I was ever a big fan of Halloween. I think the main reason is the pressure to pick out a totally kick a costume. The last thing you want is to run into someone with the exact same costume on. Sure maybe you are kindred spirits and think a like, but the fact of the matter is both of you didn't want to spend the time to come up with something original. If I am going to dress up, I want to go all out and so something good. And therein lies the problem, I rarely have the motivation or time or money to go out and get a totally righteous costume. I must admit that the times I have come up with a good costume idea I have had a great time. I am not saying Halloween is boring or pointless, well pointless maybe but not boring, I just don't get too excited about it.

I think Halloween is primarily for three types of people: children, girls that like to wear very revealing clothing and guys that want to be pirates. There may be a couple other types I didn't mention, but for the most part those three types dominate Halloween (the pirate thing has been fairly recent though with the whole Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean thing). Seeing as I don't fit in to any of those categories, this 'holiday' doesn't have a great deal of appeal to me. I do enjoy the festivities though but more often then not it is expected to come dressed up. Therefore I have to wrangle together a costume, that I end up regretting, and spend the whole night trying to explain what I am supposed to be. Does that sound like fun? Not so much. The obvious solution to my problem would be to come up with a totally radical costume, great, but you have to remember my lack of motivation/time/money to do this. The only plausible solution would be to have someone come up with a list of ideas, help me to pick one, then prepare everything for me. But that isn't likely to happen anytime soon either. I guess I will have to continue with the way things are make the most out of it.

Have a happy Halloween, have fun, be safe and don't eat too much candy.

Don't worry, I am fine

2007-10-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Fortunately this isn't my house. I would never have a fountain like that, are you kidding me? All joking aside though these fires have been devastating for many thousands of people. It appears that the fires in the more populated areas have been contained but there are still 3 or 4 that are raging in the area. There are still a large amount of people that have been displaced and not allowed to return to there homes. The largest shelter is Qualcomm Stadium that took in over 11,000 people throughout the week. A big thanks to all the volunteers and people who donated to the various shelter.
I also want to thank all those people that called me to make sure I was not in danger. The fruit baskets and flame retardant underwear were much appreciated. Even though I was never in imminent danger, the fires did come within 15 miles from me. Due to the need for people to tend to their homes and keep the roads clear for evacuees and fire fighting crews, we were asked to stay home from work Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a bit difficult to stay home with nothing to, I can't really sleep in past 7:00am anymore. I did manage to go to the safest place I could think of, about 30 yards into the ocean, for a little bit. I also straightened out my house and room and got some shopping done. It was actually nice to go back to work this morning; get back into a normal routine.

These fires do bring to mind a couple of very important topics that I am sure everyone has been thinking of. The state of the current real estate market. I mean is it going to go up, or go down, what about all the insurance claims? Would this be a good time to buy? If so, where should I buy? The affordable areas are all inland and in the northeast of the county, exactly where the fires where/are. If anything these fires have prompted me to move back closer to the ocean, but that would mean I have to continue renting. Either that or find a house with a bomb shelter or something. This really is a difficult decision.

The other topic and the one I am sure you were all thinking of is emergency preparedness. As you are all aware we have been counseled, and not too long ago, that we should all have our 72 hour kits prepared and have supplies ready in case of an emergency or natural disaster. There is nothing like a fire or a hurricane to motivate someone to prepare, but by then it may be too late. I hope that for those that have yet to prepare their food storage, and I admit that I am one of them, this may serve as impetus to prepare and have it at the ready for whatever may come. Kits such as the one below can be purchased online for around $80 (buy here), or you can make your own. Don't wait until it is too late!

Pushing the limits

2007-10-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Sunrise at Buttonwillow

(A full write-up of the weekend can be found on my other blog here)

As I stated in my previous post I was up in Buttonwillow this past weekend at a track event. I can say that it was a learning experience and I know the limits of the car better. Now I need to learn how to control the car at said limits. Out of my four sessions on Saturday I went off track twice. That is as many times I have been off track the past year. Then on Sunday I dropped two wheels off with the instructor with me then later I went off again! Three times in one weekend. I want to believe that the condition of the tires was the mitigating factor here. I was driving with the ASC (Active Stability Control) turned off and with the worn rear tires it didn't give me as much warning when it started to go. At least I didn't go off in the same spot more then once. I improved in a couple areas and learned some new techniques. The track configuration was a little different than I had run before. I am thinking of heading back up next month to see if I can remember what I learned. I was thinking of doing an event with the Porsche Owners Club (POC) at Streets of Willow, but after this weekend I am leaning towards doing the event with NASA again.

They say dirt preserves the leather

In the meantime there is an autocross this weekend here in San Diego. I missed the online registration so I will have to show up early to get a spot. I think it will be a good chance to help me work on car control. I will try to run it hard and use up these tires before I get new ones before my next track day. I don't know what I am going to get yet something cheap. I am thinking of selling this car soon so I don't want to spend too much on tires I will use up. I also had to clean the car today to get all the dirt out. I was able to borrow a vacuum at the track and sucked up a couple pounds of dirt. I got it pretty clean but I think I owe the car a nice detailing.

All in all, it was a good weekend. I was bummed I went off track three times. I need more practice and that is why I do this. New tires and practice at the autocross this weekend should help. I will let you know how that goes once it is over.

TGIF!

2007-10-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

There are some big things going on in SD this weekend, a couple parties, a concert or two, a swell coming in, but I, unfortunately, will not be around to partake. That's right, I will be heading up towards Bakersfield for a little fun in the sun to enjoy some burning rubber and squealing tires. I will be heading up to Buttonwillow Raceway Park for a little HPDE (High Performance Driving Event for those not in the know) with NASA. That would be the National Auto Sport Association, sanctioning body for various race series across the country. I know you all aren't interested in hearing about this but that's what up for this weekend. If you do want to hear about it check out my other blog at http://deconstructingpeter.blogspot.com.

Otherwise, have fun, enjoy the weekend and keep it safe!

Viva Las Vegas

2007-09-30T20:33:00.001-07:00

So I just got back from Las Vegas. Unfortunately I can't post any of the pictures on this blog. Let's just say it was a memorable weekend. While there though I was able to see my brother who recently moved there. It was a jam-packed weekend filled with late nights and early morning. I was able to get back to SD at a reasonable hour though since I had to go to work in the morning.

Everything is going well in San Diego. We continue to have great weather but it is starting to cool down a little. I have been playing volleyball more often. We usually have an indoor game on Tuesdays and a beach game on Thursdays. I haven't been in the water recently. I will try to get out this week before the water gets too cold (for just trunks).

Pictures from my Europe trip coming soon.

Just been having to much fun...

2007-09-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

You know it is so hard to find time in my busy schedule to sit down and write a post. I need to put up some of the pics from my trip to Europe, but I need to get the ones my brother took first.

Other than that everything is pretty much the same. Planning to go see the Red Bull Air Races today. Should be fun!

Beautiful San Diego

2007-09-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the place I call home. It is a little place, quaint even, that I like to call San Diego. You may have heard of it before, it's kind of a big deal. People know it.

I often forget how beautiful the sunsets here can be. I admit I often cry when I see a sunset such as this.

Here is a shot I took of downtown as I sailed my 35ft yacht around the bay.

This is an aerial view of Pacific Beach where I spend a lot of my time, both in the water and out.

More pics soon to come!

How it all began

2007-08-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

There are a couple factors that motivated me to finally start a blog. The biggest would have to be the V Halls boys. These are the guys (or the wives of these guys) who never cease to remind of the new update to their blogs showing the latest pictures of the kid(s) or family vacations. It was actually last night that I finally decided to get this out there. We were all sitting around our respective houses across the country (thank goodness for the internet) trying to determine what to do about our Fantasy Football draft that got cancelled thanks to our good buddy whose name will not be mentioned, but his initials are Joe Benson. Apparently he didn’t realize he needed to “join” our league and be around for the LIVE draft. I am sure he had a good reason, we all love ya Joe. So we are sitting around and Kyle mentions his new blog showing off his beautiful wife, new son Parker and huge house, which prompts Bensky to ask me where my blog was and I told him I was working on something. Which was true because earlier that day my sister emailed everyone announcing that my parents each be starting their own blog. (I would put a link to it but I am not sure what my mom will put up there and I fear it may be revealing or embarrassing.) I decided that I couldn’t let my parents start a blog and not do one myself, so here is my blog. I will not guarantee that it will be at all worthwhile and no, I will not refund any time that has been wasted by reading my inane posts. I will however try to keep you up to date on what is happening in San Diego and try to make you all regret that you got married and had kids. So please enjoy.