My Substitute Reality -You're just jealous cause the little voices only talk to me-

Saturday December 3, 2005

Blogging and Glamis

Filed under: Life — don @ 10:25 am

Jocelyn is now a blogger. She hasn’t written much yet but I suggest we bug her until she does. Heather also has a blog and she writes fairly regularly. In fact most of the people in my family have blogs. Donna has one. Richard has one. Robin has one. Even Lauren has a website very similar to a blog. Mom’s isn’t really a blog but it’s more than just a web page with pictures. It’s actually quite interesting for the genealogicly inclined.

Glamis is a REALLY LARGE sandbox. Pismo Beach is a pile of sand next to Glamis. We were there for 2 days and only saw a fraction of the place. On one of our rides I was leading, Jeremy was behind me and Scott was behind him. I went over a hill that Jeremy didn’t want to try so he stopped while I kept going. It took me a few minutes to realize they weren’t following anymore and when I did I headed back.

I couldn’t find them. I rode around for the next 15 minutes and didn’t see them. I stopped a few times at the tops of hills and looked around but no luck. I finally decided I should head back for 2 reasons. One, it isn’t a good idea to be alone in the dunes and two, I wanted to make sure they were ok and camp was where they would go first.

When I got back they were sitting in front of the trailer. Seems they had realized we were separated about the same time I did and drove to the tops of a few hills looking for me. When they couldn’t find me they also decided camp was the best idea.

We’ve been to Pismo many times and we’ve never “lost” each other. It’s just not big enough and the sand isn’t high enough. We decided the only reason to go to Pismo is the weather. I don’t think we’ll be going to Glamis in the middle of the summer. We were there in November and the temperature was in the low to mid 80s. It also takes about twice as long to get to Glamis.

There are a few other dunes we’d like to try. There’s Dumont out by Baker and Sand Mountain in Nevada. So much sand and so little time.

Sunday October 23, 2005

Can you say mid-life crisis?

Filed under: Cars,Life — don @ 9:20 pm

Sure, I knew you could. The Mazda didn’t work out but I did learn a valuble lesson. You would think at 51 I would have already learned it but obviously not. The Mazda started losing oil pressure at idle when it got warm. It didn’t do that when I first bought it so I’m pretty sure the person I got it from doctored it.

I decided that was my last time buying a vehicle that didn’t have a warrenty. So today we went and got a car that Betty can also drive and it’s got a warrenty. It’s a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder. It’s something we can actually drive a long ways without having to worry about. I was nervous about taking that Mazda further than about 25 miles.

There are a couple of pictures in the gallery. Yes that’s a ding on the front. We did a Carfax report and it came back clean so I believe it’s ok. Besides, it’s got a warrenty.

Thursday October 6, 2005

Carlsbad

Filed under: Life — don @ 6:59 am

We’re going to Carlsbad this weekend to see Heather, Mark, and Camden. I’m not sure what there is to do in Carlsbad but we were told to bring swimsuits. I do know it’s close to my favorite restaraunt chain, The Fish Market. It’s the best place to go if you like great fish. I was introduced to it when I used to go to the San Jose area for work back in the late 80’s. My favorite is swordfish but they make a great cioppino. That’s probably what I’ll have since you can get good swordfish many places but good cioppino is hard to find.

Thursday September 29, 2005

Where there’s smoke….

Filed under: Life — don @ 4:01 pm

Yes, there’s fire. I’m sure you’ve heard about our newest fire in SoCal. It started at Topanga Canyon Blvd and the 118(Simi Valley) freeway. I went outside and took a few pictures. This first one is looking due east from our front lawn. Notice how clear the air is. The next one is looking due west where the fire is. Check out my gallery.

And now I have a sty. A sty in my eye. Oh my. I can’t remember how old I was the last time I had a large sty but I do remember I was a kid and my folks took me to an eye doctor to have it fixed. I remember the eye doctor was a terrible man who put a needle in my eye that was about the size of a telephone pole. I remember asking my mom if I was going to get a shot and her saying “no, you don’t need a shot.” She was probably right as shots are given with needles that are closer to the size of a pencil.

Ok, so the needle didn’t actually go into my eye, it just went into the corner. Considering all my brother Daryl went through with his eye when he was a kid I was probably a real big baby. That’s ok, I was the baby after all.

So now I’m dealing with this sty and I’m sure it’s getting better with the heat packs. I thought about going to the doctor but most of the advice on the internet says to just use heat and if it doesn’t go away in a few days THEN go see the doctor.

I’m pretty sure my dreams tonight will include telephone poles and mad doctors.

Saturday September 10, 2005

New Kenosha Stuff

Filed under: Life,Personal — don @ 1:17 pm

I put some new pictures from Google Earth and our GPS info from the Kenosha trip into the gallery.

Tuesday September 6, 2005

The trip

Filed under: Life,Personal — don @ 9:39 pm

So we left LA on a Northwest flight Thursday the 1st. We arrived in Milwaukee around 6:30 and it took a lot longer to get our car than it would if I had used National. We rented from Hertz because I wanted a Mustang. It took close to 30 minutes for the people in front of me and then us. They are probably fine if you have their Gold club but otherwise go somewhere else.

We drove south to Kenosha on the 94. It only takes about 30 minutes. We got to the hotel and checked in and called Joce. She was out getting stuff for the wedding with Eric but we decided to meet for a late dinner when they finished. She told me she wanted to go to this new place close to the hotel. I thought it was a steakhouse but it ended up being a noodle place. Joce is a vegitarian and likes the noodles and veggies. The rest of us ordered meat on the meal. Decent food but I would rather have a steak.

The next morning we got up and decided to go on the Jelly Belly tour. It’s only a distribution place but they have billions of jelly beans in the warehouse. They drive you around in a little train on wheels and tell you the Jelly Belly story. Because they have food you have to wear the hat. That’s what I’m wearing in the picture. It’s kind of interesting and they give you a bag of beans at the end. One funny thing we learned is the beans that don’t come out right are called “belly flops”. You can buy 2 – 2lb bags for $8. We didn’t and I wish we had.

That evening we went to the rehersal and then back to the lodge to finish decorating. We were done about 12pm but that was only 10 to Betty and I. We went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Saturday morning we got up and actually had time to eat the modified continental breakfast. They also had a waffle maker, sausage, and biscuits and gravy. The waffles were very good. The other stuff not so much.

Then we headed to the wedding. Not a lot to say about that except the ring bearer was a tad too young to know what he needed to do. You can see him being carried by Gary in a few pictures. The weather was great and the ceremony only lasted about 15 minutes. That’s the right length as far as I’m concerned.

After the wedding we went to the reception. Again nothing more to say that you can’t see in the pictures. We left about 9pm right after Joce and Eric. Not much reason for us to stay since neither of us drink and the only people we knew were Judi’s family. I like them all but I’d already spent enough time with them.

The next day we had breakfast at the hotel again and headed off for the plane. I stopped to get gas so we wouldn’t be charged $6/gallon. I found out if you try to top off a Mustang it will overflow and make your shoe smell really bad. Just what I needed before getting on a cramped plane for 4 hours. We had an hour layover in Las Vegas where we not only changed planes but airlines as well. Predictably we didn’t have Betty’s bag when we got to LA. They found it and brought it to us last night.

It was a really great weekend and I was very happy to see Jocelyn. She’s grown up a lot. She works at United States Bank in Kenosha. Eric is planning on finding a better job than the YMCA where he’s working now.

All in all a fun time.

Sunday September 4, 2005

Married!

Filed under: Life,Personal — don @ 9:33 pm

We just got back from Kenosha. Here’s the link to the pictures. Tired, will write more later.

Wednesday August 31, 2005

Kenosha?

Filed under: Life,Personal — don @ 9:06 pm

Ohhhh, Wisconsin. I’ve never really been but I’d sure like to go. Ohh, Wisconsin, I think I’m gonna go now. You can try to sing that to the tune of “Mexico” by James Taylor but it doesn’t flow very well. No matter, we’re leaving tomorrow.

My youngest daughter Jocelyn is getting married on Saturday and the wedding is in Kenosha. Kenosha, WI. For those of you who watch “That 70’s Show” it’s where the kids go when they need some big city stimulation. I’m not even sure how big it is. I’m guessing it’s smaller than Tucson. Maybe I should look it up……………… I looked it up. It’s a little shy of 100,000. About 7,000 shy. That said it’s also the 4th largest city in Wisconsin.

Betty and I are flying Northwest Airlines. I got the tickets before the strike. Who knew? We are coming back on Midwest into Las Vegas and then American into LA. We got married in Las Vegas on Sep 3rd, 1994. Checck your calender and you’ll see this Saturday is the 3rd. I don’t think Jocelyn knew that when she and Eric picked the date. I’m telling Betty her anniversary present is an all expense paid trip to a quaint little town on one of the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan is one of them, right?

I’ll take lots of pictures and put em in my gallery when we get back. I might even try some of their cheese. I hear it’s almost as good as California’s.

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