Endopolis

I can't drink another ale, I can't stomach another brie and red onion pasty, and I can't walk another mile of cobblestones. Okay, so maybe I can sip a final beer or two, but we're done. We're off to Heathrow before the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. We arrive back at SFO sometime Monday afternoon.

We've had a blast. Traveling with a nearly 3-year-old toddler, our expectations were set at near rock-bottom. We figured anything better than jet-lagged tantrums and no sleep would be a success. But, Nathan has been a total trooper and so everything has been better than we ever could have hoped. Today he seems to have hit a wall, but is napping now so hopefully he'll wake up feeling better than he did earlier. He wants to go home.

I'm glad we did this trip for a number of reasons. First, for Jo (and me). I got to see and spend some time in her hometown, Bristol, and specifically in her neighborhood of Clifton. Clifton is a nice and quaint boutique shopping district now, with good restaurants and a charm and character that makes you feel as though you've stepped out of Bristol completely. It's been fun to see the old houses where she grew up and reminisce as we've walked the streets that still hold many of the same old shops to this day. Clifton has been a good base for us for these few days - we rented a flat here and are glad we got to spend so much time in and around town.

Secondly, even though Nathan won't remember much if anything from this trip, I'm glad we brought him over. To try the trip was ambitious on our part since we didn't know how it'd pan out. It did work out, and we're thankful. But now he's gotten to see a really different part of the world. I think travel is important for anyone, so hopefully we're planting a good seed in that developing brain of his and he'll be off on his own big adventures someday. And finally, if we didn't go now, then who knows when we'd ever get to. The exchange rate sucks, fuel prices are crazy (about a pound ten sterling for a litre of petrol here!), and the world seems on the verge of going nuts. It was the right time to try this trip.

So, cheers to England and Bristol for allowing us a good time. We've met good people here, visited with old friends, have been introduced to new ones, and hopefully will be back again. I have been posting a few photos of the trip on Flickr. I can't wait to get home and see all the others.

Now, fingers crossed for the flight home. If our arm rests go up all the way then it'll be an improvement from the flight to London. Our expectations remain low. 

Posted by senders at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finally have made it to Bristol - the past few days have been an adventure.

Holt was really amazing -- a very cute old Georgian town with cobblestone streets and an old charm. We attended a wedding near there for one of Jo's family friends, and that day was lots of fun. The reception was on a "common" English farm of 1,000 acres. It looked to me like an amazingly expensive estate. What do I know?

From Holt (in the relative southeast of England), we drove up along the coast for about 50 miles, through some beautiful villages. We then dropped down a ways and drove dozens of meandering A roads cross-country between Manchester to the north and London and Oxford to the south. The route was relatively forgettable -- the landscape was similar to driving along I-5 or 99 in California (except everything is green). We finally made it to Banbury, where we stayed one night. It was a bigger town than we expected, but home to the famed Banbury Cross. It also sits on the edge of the Cotswolds, which was our next driving route on our way to Bristol.

The Cotswolds are like a step back in time -- the villages are tiny and adorable, the buildings are older than dirt. Many date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. The countryside is gorgeous, with farmland breaking up stretches of forest, all over green rolling hills. We did a trip to Sudeley Castle in the morning, which was fantastic. Then, it was more driving and on to Bristol.

Speaking of driving, I've had my privileges revoked. I nearly got us killed twice in Banbury in a half-mile stretch, so I'm done. Jo's doing a fine job!

Bristol is a big city - nearly a million people. It's still got some small-town feel. We're staying in Clifton, which is kind of a hip neighborhood between the center of town and the Avon river gorge (spanned by the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge). 

We're here for a few days now, until the end of our trip. We've already done the city museum, seen a few Banksy paintings on various brick walls. We had a hell of a time finding our apartment, but we're settled now and looking forward to having a base for a few days after all that driving. 

This is Jo's hometown, so I'm at her whim -- sure we'll see lots of old haunts throughout the week. We've already seen a couple of houses she grew up in. We'll do a day trip to Bath, and probably into south Wales as well.

My laptop has been dead for a few days because I brought the wrong power adapter. Got a new one now, so hope to upload some photos finally tonight. 

Posted by senders at 05:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So we're in London, and off to Holt, northeast of here. We're picking up a rental car, and driving there. This should be interesting (and possibly a little frightening).

I'll start with the bad news, or rather a complaint. United Airlines is fine, but their seats suck. The flight from SFO to Chicago was fine. Comfortable seats, Nathan had a good nap. We were happy. Then we got on the next 777 to London. Not so good. Uncomfortable seats, and arm rests that only went up 1/2 way. What's up with that? Annoying.

I was a little surprised that we bypassed central London on the way in, and headed straight for the Canary Wharf area, which is like another city unto itself. Shiny glass financial and insurance buildings, very modern looking developments that sit atop renovated docks. Some older buildings remain, but most have been converted to condos and such. We went out for pints there around 5pm yesterday, and the area was teeming with young people getting off work.

After a good night's sleep after our arrival, we did all the touristy stuff in London yesterday. A guided Thames boat tour, a look around the Tower of London, a walk around Westminster Abbey and parliament buildings, and a lap around Trafalgar Square. The highlight of the day was browsing around the National (art) Gallery, which is filled with some amazing old paintings by the masters of their day. We even saw Van Gogh's sunflowers. Nice.

A restless night last night, but we're up and ready to go rent our car and drive up to Holt. Wedding tomorrow. Should be fun. Will try to post photos soon, too.

Posted by senders at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I tried to give blood today. I do it a few times a year, but today the blood drive came to Yahoo so it was supposed to be nice and easy. Giving blood has never been hard for me.

But today I sensed trouble when I walked in the door of the makeshift donation room, and saw a woman laying on the floor in the corner, feet up, and being tended to by a nurse. The woman was awake and seemingly alert, but she probably had passed out.

Still, I was undeterred.

I sat down, and the phlebotomist asked if it was my first time. I said no, and that my left arm was usually the one they wanted (the chair was set up for my right arm). Nevertheless, she prepped my right arm, and stuck me with the needle. She stuck me in an area that's never been stuck before: not in the center of my arm but off to the left, toward the inside of my arm. It hurt like hell. It immediately swelled up, and a look of surprise washed over her face. She clearly panicked a little, and she began taking the needle out, apologizing.

It hurt and was swollen, like there was a golf ball under my skin. But blood wasn't spurting all over so I wasn't really afraid. She patched me up and came back with an ice pack: a surgical glove with an ice cube in it. She strapped it to my arm.

We decided to try the left arm now -- the one I had originally suggested. That hurt a little more than usual, too, but the blood was flowing and I thought I was in the clear. Then the blood stopped. I started sweating it a bit as she moved the needle around in my vein. That hurt a lot. The blood clotted. "Your body is doing what it's supposed to do." She told me.

I was in pain. They patched me up and sent me to the cantina for cheap cookies and juice. Other Yahoos looked at me like I was nuts because I A. failed to donate any blood despite having both arms pricked or B. was laughing to myself as I Twittered the whole event as it was happening. Typing with one hand became difficult as both arms were wounded.

The whole thing was stupid. I just hope it feels better tomorrow. Ouch!

Posted by senders at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We knocked out the floors and windows shortly before and after we moved in. It seems like we never stop painting. Now we're doing the kitchen. It's actually been going pretty smoothly, all things considered. Our contractor has been great (happy to make a recommendation to anyone) and is very well organized. There are certain things that suck about remodeling, which are mostly out of his control. They include:

• Dust
• Clutter
  
• Broken things
• Bad decisions (by us)
  

Let's start with the dust. Our house is nearly uninhabitable right now. When I sit down on the couch, you can practically see a poof of dust rise from it. The floors are coated. It gets tracked all over the house. Living without a functional kitchen is an inconvenience that I can bear (washing dishes in the sink and eating out are getting old, but it's not impossible). This fine dust that is everywhere, including my lungs, is really annoying.

Adding to the mess, the contents of our former kitchen are strewn about the family room, dining areas and living room. There is shit everywhere in our house where you'd actually want to hang out. This, combined with the dust is starting to make our place look like something you'd see on the news, minus the 67 feral cats and 24 emaciated dogs kept in pens.

Today, they're hanging the upper cabinets on the wall. Great. However they opened one box only to realize the hinges on a cabinet are all broken. This will require a new cabinet. I'm waiting for a call back from the manufacturer to see how long this will take.

Like any modern family, for some reason we needed a beverage center -- a glorified mini-fridge that sits underneath our new counter and faces out toward the family room. It will hold wine for us, beer for me, and if there's any room leftover, drinks for kids. We ordered the wrong one. That was dumb, and it's been a pain in the ass getting the one we wanted. Long story, not worth the detail.

Here's how it looked last week (my flickr gallery):

But these things are frustrating and they pile up on each other. Next week, we go on vacation to the UK for a couple weeks, and I'm starting to wonder if the kitchen will really be done by the time we're back. It's possible, but I fear the dust and mess will be there to greet us on our return.

Posted by senders at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Somehow I got roped into doing a 5k "fun run" at Yahoo yesterday. I signed up weeks ago, so have spent a little time -- very little -- getting ready to run over three miles without stopping.

I am in decent shape overall, but nothing like the pre-kid days of a couple of years ago when any week would consist of playing soccer twice, doing spinning classes and hitting the gym 4x a week, plus surfing, hiking, etc. on weekends. Now I just cling to any exercise I can get, whenever I can get it: A couple days in the gym during lunchtime per week plus some weekend warrior activity (surfing, golf, biking, etc).

I have never been a runner. I hate running, despite playing many running-based sports over the years (football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse). I  don't find the singular act of running fun at all. I'd rather do any other exercise than run any distance more than a mile or two. I find it totally boring, it hurts my body, and generally just don't get the point. Mix running in with something else (like kicking a ball) and then you've got something I'm interested in.

Did I mention that I hate running?

So there were over 180 Yahoos signed up for this run yesterday, and I ended up running with a couple guys, Carlos and Ryan. Carlos is a runner -- he spends time doing it and is running the San Francisco (half) Marathon this weekend. That is hardcore. We started out jogging, and about 2/3 of the way through Ryan decided to take off, so he did. Me and Carlos built up some speed along the way and finished together (strong, I might add).

Carlos also had a Garmin GPS watch, which output our stats. That was cool to see:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/452886

• Total distance: 3.39 mi
• Time 32:35
• Avg pace: 9:36 min/mi
• Fastest pace: 7:02 min/mi (we turned it on for the last half mile or so)

Seeing our stats and graphs is neat, and I can imagine having access to this data being addictive to runners. Yesterday's run was actually pretty fun, in that it was an accomplishment (albeit a small one). And, I got a commemorative t-shirt and snacks.

Still, I am not a runner, and probably never will be. See you on the stairmaster.

Posted by senders at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I went to the 10th anniversary/reunion party for TechTV, in San Francisco at CNET's HQ. TechTV has been defunct for about four years (it's now part of Comcast as G4TV). I left for Yahoo News in 2004, right after the acquisition with Comcast was announced. And from time to time, I've seen ex-TechTVers around town, at conferences and mixers, on TV, on their own web shows, etc. 

But I also see a lot of them on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, etc. So last night when I walked into the party and saw quite a few faces I hadn't seen in a few years, despite not having seen them in a few years, I knew exactly what they had been up to.

Sure, there were some blanks to fill in, but for those I've kept in touch with via social networking, there were few surprises. There were others I hadn't seen or heard from in a while, all the conversation was good and the party was fun. But the "catching up" part of any normal conversation you'd have after not having seen a person for a few years had already been done online. I knew where people worked, where they lived, how many kids (or dogs and cats) they've had, and where they've been on vacation.

Anyway, it was all a bit weird. The same has happened with colleagues I work with in Santa Monica, but there's always plenty of work conversation to fill any void. Still, as I drove home last night I wondered if we'll come to a point in time where people won't get together anymore -- they'll just hang out at home and tweet to each other. I guess we're already doing just that.

Posted by senders at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The other day I was all set to install 2GB of new RAM in my (old but still good) 17" PowerBook G4. I was excited about this, so after getting the RAM shipment in the mail I quickly flipped my Mac over, popped the battery out, and discovered that I needed a really small screwdriver that I didn't own. So, I clicked the battery back in, plugged in the computer and started it... up.  Wait a second... it didn't start. I get a blue screen with a cursor, but it won't do anything. It never boots. It's like the dreaded blue screen of death normally associated with PCs. Nothing. Not even a sad Mac face or a question mark looking for the system folder.

WTF?

After a lot of forum-reading with my dad who was in town, we couldn't get the thing going. We tried just about every diagnostic/repair trick in the book (short of sticking it in the freezer). Apparently this blue screen is somewhat notorious to PowerBooks, and I'm not the first person to encounter this sorry state. I don't have Apple Care, the computer is not under warranty, and I'm faced with taking it into an Apple store for advice, which no doubt will be packed with iPhone shoppers (or angry iPhone shoppers looking for support).

I'm afraid this problem, in the end, is going to cost me money. In short, I'm hosed.

Meanwhile, my HP laptop for work is dying -- it freezes and crashes, won't start sometimes, and is generally totally unstable. I cleared out a lot of temp folders and defragged the hard drive last night. That seems to have helped today, but who knows. Yahoo says they're out of replacement computers, so I'm stuck.

If you own a PC, probably best to stay away from me for awhile. I'm a walking blue screen of death.

Posted by senders at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night I flew up the coast from LAX to SJC. On these flights I like to sit on the ocean-side of the plane so I can try to spot all my favorite landmarks on the way: Santa Barbara, SLO, Morro Bay, Big Sur, Monterey and Santa Cruz. I couldn't see much yesterday because the coast south of Pt. Conception was shrouded in fog, while north of the point was covered in smoke and haze.

When we started our descent, I could make out the Monterey Bay to the northwest, and then just out to the west was Big Sur. Once I was able to focus through the hazy sky, I could see the smoke bellowing up from the Santa Lucia Mountains below. It appeared the whole range was on fire -- smoke was coming up from seemingly everywhere. I was shocked by how expansive the fires were.

Here's what it looks like from space today: 

We normally visit Big Sur over the July 4th holiday. This year we opted to go in the Fall instead. That turned out to be a good choice, since the whole area was evacuated and shut down during the holiday. I just hope there's something to go back to in September. Cooler air is supposed to come back this weekend, so hopefully it'll help. I understand that burning is often good for nature, but seeing the all that smoke hurt. I can't imagine what life is like for those who've been evacuated from Big Sur, not to mention all the other fires burning in the state.

Last night, I threw together a collection of my favorite photos of Big Sur from flickr -- better and happier times from my favorite place on earth. 

Posted by senders at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Campfires are in the air again today. It's super hazy outside.

A friend sent me a link to the image I was looking for that really tells the story of how the fire smoke is blanketing our region. Amazing.

Posted by senders at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

People always ask me: "Why are you vegetarian?"  Here's a story that sums up yet another reason why I don't eat things with legs.

Friday evening, my doorbell rang. I opened the door to find an old, frail Mexican man standing there. We both said hello, and I looked over the man's shoulder. I could see a beat-up, white Toyota pickup idling out in the middle of the street. I thought he had some kind of trouble and needed help.

Leaning on his cane, he asked, "You want tamales?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, surprised.

"I sell tamales," he said, in broken English.

My Spanish is terrible, so I tried to answer back as best I could: "Ahh, excellente! Vegetariano?"

"Si, si," he responded, waving me out to his truck.

So I followed, and he opened up a huge, foil-lined cooler packed with hot tamales.

"My wife made..." They were very fresh. He sold me four for $5 -- they smelled great.

Inside, we were already cooking dinner, but I took a peak inside the corn-wrapped tamales. Couldn't see any meat. Great. I wrapped them up in foil and stuck them in the fridge hoping to eat them the next day.

The next day, I peeked inside, and they were filled with what looked like steak. So I wrapped them back up and have since given them away to friends who enjoy carne. Or pollo. Or whatever it was. (Puerco?)

On Saturday, I played golf with my brother-in-law's father, who was raised in New Mexico. After telling my tamale story, he told us the story of a boy who was famous for selling the best-tasting tamales he's ever had. Week after week he and friends bought tamales from this boy, who pushed his cart around town, selling food.

After a while, the town's cats started disappearing, and nobody could figure out why. One day, someone found out what the secret source material was for the tamales: cats.

I never asked what happened to the boy, but needless to say: I don't eat things with legs.

Posted by senders at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Through the powers and wonders of MySpace and Facebook, I was recently reconnected with an old college classmate and Mustang Daily colleague. Back in the day, Eric Schwartz used to do some standup in the Cal Poly quad, and in the campus pizza joint.

Tonight, he's appearing at the Improv comedy club in downtown San Jose. Pretty cool. I'm going to see him - looking forward to it.

Posted by senders at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We visited the Portland, Oregon area a couple weeks ago, like we do a couple times each year. My family lives in the 'burbs, but we usually try and escape to the city for a couple days of fun and games downtown.

Posted by senders at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just seemed like a good week to share this:

Posted by senders at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'll spare all the gory details, but DSL is still not available at my house. I haven't had a Net connection for about three weeks. It won't be on until Monday at 8pm.

AT&T tells me that there's not a possible way to expedite my order, and I don't believe that. However, they have eased the pain by reducing my bill from December, when I had no service. I'm also getting a couple of rebates. So, I'll actually be making money for my troubles, which is good considering I deserve it for all the time I've spent on the phone with them over the past few weeks.

In other news, Comcast has poured salt in my wounds. I knew that Sunnyvale was getting a big service upgrade in HD service, bringing the city into the modern age of television/cable harmony. Still, I was upset I was paying so much for so little, so I cancelled Comcast and signed up for DirecTV. I'm largely happy with my new satellite service. But as I was leaving the house this morning (after wrapping up another 30 minute hell-call with AT&T, natch) I noticed an armada of Comcast and sub-contracting cable trucks in my neighborhood. Surely they're installing the long-awaited upgrade.

Had I only known this would happen sooner, I would have quit AT&T and gone with a bundled TV, phone and Net service from Comcast. Instead, I'm still wallowing in purgatory.

Life goes on...

Posted by senders at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We left our technology troubles behind on Saturday for a long day of good, old-fashioned wine tasting in the Dry Creek Valley area, near Healdsburg. Actually, we started a little south of there, in the Russian River Valley. Here's a list of places we hit (with notes). It actually was not a good weekend to have been there due to their annual Winter Wineland event. Still, fun (and way too much wine) was had by all.

• Foppiano (great Petite Sirah)
  
• Rodney Strong (Alexander's Crown cabernet was a rare treat)
  
• Fritz (Nice buttery chard and good zin)
  
• Preston (Great  06 Barbera, not to mention killer organic olive oil made on site)
  
• Talty (very good zins)
  
• Seghesio (Sangiovese... single vineyard "Venom" was excellent, not to mention a great name for a bottle of wine.)
  
• Longboard (the vintage surfboard-lined tasting room had me in heaven, as did a great 03 Syrah)

After all that nonsense, we stumbled into Cyrus restaurant in downtown Healdsburg, at the recommendation of an article that ran in the San Jose Mercury News last week. The piece said that you won't get a better $12 cocktail anywhere, and after having experienced it, I believe it. We had a blast in this place, and the cocktails were unlike anything I've ever had before -- they're fine art. They're mostly made seasonally with all locally grown organic ingredients and locally made spirits. We were able to chat for a long time with bar manager Scott Beattie about his craft, not something you get to do at the average bar or restaurant. This experience really deserves its own post. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me.

We ended with dinner at the Bear Republic Brewing Co. with a pint before heading home. Somehow.

Posted by senders at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was going to write a nice Happy New Year post, but instead I need to rant about AT&T. Pardon me for a moment while I do.

For the year and a half that we've lived in Sunnyvale, we've dealt with problems to our phone line. Whenever it rains, our line gets crossed up with our next door neighbor's line. Our phone rings when she gets a call, and she gets lots of them. It's really annoying. Sometimes we can hear her talking, on our phone. During storms, our phone line often doesn't work at all. We had AT&T out last year to fix the problem, which they didn't do. So this year when the rains came and our phone stopped working entirely, we asked them back to fix the problem once and for all. Apparently, they're unable to do so. We also have DSL service from AT&T, which has been really reliable for us over the years and at the new house. The rains don't seem to have affected our web service.

After not having phone service for about three weeks now, we decided that we don't need our stinkin' phone line anyway, so we decided to turn it off and try AT&T's new "dry loop" or "naked" DSL service, offering DSL without the landline. We looked into keeping a bare-bones phone line with their "measured" service, but AT&T applies a bunch of fees to switch to that. We don't want fees, so we chose to cancel it altogether.

When we called to set this up on Jan. 3, AT&T told us they'd cancel the phone service on the 8th, and flip the new DSL switch on the 9th -- we'd be without web access for a day. That seemed reasonable. Instead, they turned off the telephone service and DSL the next day -- we haven't had any Net connection since the 4th. It won't be turned on until the 9th.

I'm pretty irate at this point, and was ready to cancel AT&T completely. Unfortunately, "naked" DSL is expensive from providers like Speakeasy or Covad -- I don't want to pay $80 a month for web access. I also don't want to give any more money to Comcast -- in fact I'm cancelling their cable service completely and going with DirecTV instead so I can actually get some HDTV channels. So, I'm stuck with AT&T.

During our downtime, I discovered that we have free wi-fi in our neighborhood, thanks to MetroFi. Actually, I always knew it was there but didn't use it because it seemed really slow. This weekend, I found out that the transmitter is perched high atop a streetlight across the street, and if I sit in my living room with the transmitter in sight, the wifi works quite well. It's not as fast as my home network, of course, but it's better than dial-up or having nothing at all. You have to deal with the occasional ad or webpage not working quite right, but for scanning news headlines and checking email, it actually works pretty well.

So, I can deal with that until AT&T finally gets me sorted out. I wish I could cut the cord completely with AT&T for giving me such lousy service and no incentives to stay. But, they've got me (and, probably, you) by the balls, and they know it.

Posted by senders at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

When Labor Day came and went back in September, I remember being borderline depressed and saying to my wife: "You know, summer just passed us by and we didn't do s*&t!"

The only thing keeping me really sane was that we had a couple of trips planned for Fall, which is by far my favorite time of year in California. The weather is typically great everywhere, the surf is usually good to great and the water isn't freezing yet, and I like the idea that one week you can wear shorts and a t-shirt, while the next you might need to put on a sweater and pants or a rain jacket.

Two weeks ago we were in Big Sur for our annual trip there. Usually we try and go around July 4th, but this year the timing with our friends and reservations at Ripplewood didn't work out. Being there is enough of a treat. This year, Nathan was old enough to actually experience and enjoy the surroundings, which was fun. We threw rocks into the Big Sur River, looked up at the trees and down at the ocean, we hiked a few short trails, and he was generally excited to be there. We did get skunked, trying to get down to Pfeiffer Beach. The road was closed at the top of the beach access road, with no indication as to why it was closed. I proposed to Jo on that beach, and really wanted to take Nathan down, so we cursed at the sign blocking our way. Later and over sunset cocktails at Nepenthe, our waitress told us that they shut down a few of the well-traveled roads because of the high fire danger and that all the Big Sur fire volunteers were in Southern California helping the crews there. So, we apologized and tipped a glass to the fire fighters. We'll be back next year and can go to the beach.

Fast forward (or rewind?) to last weekend, for my other annual trip to El Capitan State Beach, in Santa Barbara County. On Saturday, me, Justin and Scott surfed fun but small, waist-high Tajuigas alone and in pea-soup fog. We actually got to ride the break affectionately known to us as Three-Times, because we've been told the reef only breaks three times a year. We surfed for about two hours at low tide, trading waves and having a blast until around 12:30pm. We dried out and warmed up on the beach with lunch and a couple of beers, then headed back to our camp around 3pm.

At about 4pm as the sun started to set, and with each of us toting stiff rum-and-Cokes, we took the short walk down to the point at El Cap just to look. Over the 12 years I've been driving and surfing and camping along this stretch of coastline, I've never seen the legendary wave at El Cap break. As we rounded the point almost three sheets to the wind, we saw four guys bobbing in the water. What? It was breaking! At almost high tide, the waves were peeling like they were being pumped out of a machine -- perfect rights zipping down the point, most going unridden. The main takeoff point was in dangerously shallow water over big cobblestones, but the wave headed out to deeper water at about waist to belly high. Perfect. It was unreal. We were kicking ourselves for being too tipsy to paddle out; this is what we have been waiting for... why we make the trek to this place every year!

As the sun went down, we caught the eye of an older guy who was bagging every wave he wanted, having his run of the place and loving it. We raised our glasses to him, which he acknowledged with a smile and a wave. We could only laugh, satisfied we had surfed earlier in the day and were lucky enough to get wet at what we like to think as our own personal spot, about two miles north at Tajuigas Beach.

And, well, there's always next Fall. Bottoms up.

Posted by senders at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I managed to escape for a few hours yesterday afternoon and evening to surf in Capitola. The waves were small but fun, 2-4 foot and glassy at low tide as the fog gently rolled ashore. Somehow, I managed to nab more than my fair share of waves despite about 25 people in the water with me. I was lucky, able to pick off some of the better ones that came through the main peak.

What I love about this particular spot, besides what's usually a mellow crowd in the water, is on the right swell (yesterday's had a little southwest in it) you can go left into a little cove. This is rare anywhere around Santa Cruz (and California, for that matter) because most of the decent reef or rock breaks are point break-like setups. Most of these break from north to south, I guess thanks to to geology and weather and wave patterns. Anyway, for a goofy footer like me, going left is a relatively rare treat.  Yesterday, I went left more than once.

The point of this whole post is that lately I've been so busy with work and life, that my favorite Fall surf season has nearly passed me by without ever getting my hair wet. That would be a crime. I'm heading south in a couple of weeks for my annual camping/hope-for-surf trip to Santa Barbara County. So, besides wanting to taste saltwater again before I go, and remind my muscles what paddling a surfboard is like, I've just been desperate to get back in the water.

It's those intangibles that make surfing so great: the relaxation of bobbing in the water amongst the kelp, looking behind you at dry land as the evening sun hits the cliffs and the fog bounces over them, the thrill of riding a wave, even if the wave is knee-high. My shoulders and ribs are delightfully just a little sore today, but I slept better last night than I have in months. I was glad to get back out -- it's been too long. Problem is, now I'm all the more desperate to get back out there.

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It was our dumb luck/move that we bought a house in Sunnyvale, which sits under the flight path to Moffett Field. Since we lived in Mountain View previously, we knew the base was still used quite a bit by the military, NASA, and other government planes, even though it's classified by the military as "closed." We didn't know how much it was used until we moved closer. The military flies in and out of Moffett every day -- transport planes, fighter jets, helicopters... you name it. About once a month, pilots seem to be doing training runs -- literal touch-and-go in big planes that circle directly over our neighborhood. It's annoying and probably even somewhat dangerous. But that's just me.

But now it's confirmed that the Google dudes are flying their shiny new 767 over Sunnyvale, and parking it at Moffett.

As a Yahoo, it's painfully ironic that the Google "party plane" is flying over Sunnyvale, which is home to my employer. As a resident NIMBY, it upsets me a little that yet another big jet is flying in and out of town, making noise over my house and city. Truth be told, I haven't yet seen or heard the Google jet, at least that I know of.

Then again, NASA Ames and Moffett have regularly opened up their airfield to aircraft from other companies who do business with the government. And since Google and NASA are in cahoots, then I suppose it all makes sense.

I think what it all really comes down to is that I'm just jealous I'll probably never set foot on the plane. 

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It was a little unsettling Saturday morning, when driving into the next neighborhood north of our house, we found ourselves in the middle of a major police action.

Cops had done everything but block access to Iowa Ave, north of Mary. There were probably a dozen squad cars, an animal control truck, and people milling about everywhere. Yellow police tape blocked off the entire front yard of a small apartment complex on the south side of the street. As we passed, cops were everywhere, including lining the steps up to the lone top unit -- the police were going in and out of the apartment.

Immediately we started speculating and developing bizarre and funny theories about what happened. Murder-suicide. Someone jumped out the top window. A dog attack. Carbon monoxide accident.

Details are starting to trickle out: two dead bodies were found up there, and nobody noticed until neighbors started smelling a stench. Hopefully we'll find out soon. Whatever it was, it happened about a quarter-mile away. 

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This weekend we made it into downtown San Jose for the 18th annual SJ Jazz Festival, which was once billed as the "world's biggest free jazz festival." Now it costs $5 to get in, which probably makes it the world's cheapest.

It's also probably one of the most fun, especially for the money.

I've been going to shows as part of the hipper, more upscale and distinguished SF Jazz Festival for years. And the SF Jazz Festival is hardly a festival, but rather an ongoing seasonal series of jazz concerts. SF Jazz nets some of the pre-eminent players in jazz today and in jazz history. I've seen Sonny Rollins, Dianne Reeves, Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, the SF Jazz Collective, and on and on. You really can't see these legends play anywhere else in the Bay Area, at least not with any regularity.

The concerts are usually held in San Francisco's finest theaters and venues, such as Nob Hill's Masonic Auditorium (a terrible place for a concert, by the way - the acoustics suck). Patrons tend to get dressed up (who wouldn't for $50 or more for a ticket), and they sit and listen attentively to the music, clapping appropriately after solos. The music is often amazing, but the shows have often left me bored because you primarily have to sit down, shut up, and watch while the musicians play. To me, that's not how jazz is meant to be heard. There's no involvement from the crowd, and I always wonder afterward if the musicians are having a good time. I've seen Joe Lovano at Birdland in Manhattan -- my only New York jazz experience. It left me with goosebumps. The musicians were five feet away, and the audience was participating with hoots and hollers. I felt like I had stepped back in time 50 years.

Flip to SJ Jazz, where shows are held over three days on multiple stages spread out around downtown San Jose. Bands often play simultaneously, so you have to be somewhat strategic about who you want to see and when. But the shows are accessible and lively. The salsa stage is like a raucous street party, with the street packed, hundreds of people dancing, and hundreds more taking it in, standing and bobbing their heads. The main/headliners stage itself caters more to a picnic-blanket crowd, but you can get up, walk around, grab a beer and some food and absorb everything however you want. Meanwhile and after-hours, there's music happening in all the clubs downtown.

This year I hung out for most of Saturday and saw David 'Fathead' Newman, a sideman and friend to Ray Charles for years tear it up on multiple instruments. Later, we saw some new incarnation of The Headhunters, Herbie Hancock's old funk/fusion band. The band leader even dissed Hancock after playing their signature track, saying it was "too bad Herbie got all the money." Classy! Still, people were dancing in the aisles and having a ball. Later on, I watched my friends play in a bar. Again, people were up dancing and having a good time.

San Jose Jazz may not get the big names, but it sure is a hell of a lot more fun.

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On the scale of sports fans, I'm probably about a 6 out of 10. I care about my local teams and their place in their various leagues. Sure, I'm a little upset about how badly the Giants suck this season, but I'm not shelling out for season tickets, either. 

I care quite a lot about the general state of sports, mostly because I benefitted personally from playing many sports, and think that society would be worse off without sports. But given the current sorry state of sporting affairs, maybe we'd be better off without sports bothering us.

Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel has a good roundup of the latest trials and tribulations from around the sportosphere. It's all downright disgusting. He even has the deets on a steroids scandal gripping the UFC. I don't get upset that the UFC is tainted -- I think there's generally something wrong with a "sport" that encourages its participants to beat the holy hell out of each other. I do get upset, however, about dogfighting and popular NFL quarterbacks, and about sacred sports records like the one Bonds is about to break.

Today's news that Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen is out of the Tour isn't really surprising. It's just sad that drugs and doping continue to plague the sport, which is actually incredibly interesting and exciting to watch. For the Tour itself, are they supposed to let it go on and claim that anti-doping measures are working? Or, should they shutter the thing and tell participants to pack up and go home?

I have a 20-month-old, and he's already finding it fun to whack a ball with a bat or golf club. What am I supposed to tell him when he sees my photos of Barry Bonds and asks me what it was like to see him hit two homeruns in a game during his record season? What am I supposed to tell him when it's probable that the best athletes in the world can only be "the best" when they're taking some kind of drug, either legal or illegal? Pretty soon designer DNA will replace drugs altogether. Then how will we know who's on the juice? Should we stop caring and assume they all are?

Now even Gary Player is alleging that 'roids have found a home in golf. John Daly? No. Tiger? It's not impossible to imagine. And that's the problem: once you've found it impossible to look up to people that should be your heroes, it's over. Time to change the channel. I'm not there yet, but I'm really close.

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We spent a few days in Portland, Oregon area last weekend -- a regular trip for us and our second this year. We landed, celebrated my sister's 30th birthday, stayed up too late, nursed our hangovers, let the kids play and get hugs from grandparents, and managed to get an afternoon/evening trip into a couple of downtown 'hoods, which we love to do.

We've fantasized living in Portland from time to time. It's an incredible city, small enough to walk and feel comfortable but big enough that there's always a lot going on. It's a cleaner, smaller San Francisco, if you will. There also isn't as much opportunity if you work in tech. Silicon Valley and the Bay Area is still where it's at. And, frankly, Portland (and Oregon) is still lacking in cultural diversity. That's changing, but we do love the ethnic mix of the Bay Area.

We had a glass of wine with one of Jo's remote co-workers, who lives in an incredible condo in the center of the trendy Pearl District. She's lived there for three years and had a lot to say about life as a Bay Area/Silicon Valley transplant to a city that doesn't revolve around high tech and the lifestyle that surrounds the industry. She pretty much affirmed our conflicted opinions of the city.

We finished with an early dinner at the BridgePort Brewing Co. (we're twice-yearly regulars), walked around the area, and stumbled upon Tanner Springs Park, which was probably one of the nicest urban/modern park designs I've ever seen. It was like stumbling into someone's uber-cool, serene backyard in the center of the busy city.

Portland is like that: pretty, welcoming, and full of discoverability and opportunity. That is, if you know where to look. 

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Last night, I flipped on the MLB All-Star game from San Francisco and caught all the pre-game festivities, including the fly-over by four jets after the national anthem. We live somewhat in the flight path of Moffett Field, and I know from previous nearby sporting events that upon fly-bys, the planes also often fly by my house. 

After the anthem, I said to Jo: "I bet in about 15 minutes they come screeching over our house."

Sure enough, in about 10 minutes, two F-16s and two F-18s made a sharp left turn directly over my backyard. I had forgotten to grab my camera, but was able to snatch it fast enough and change lenses to shoot this F-16. It's probably somewhere between 500 and 1,000 feet up -- incredibly low and noisy for a residential neighborhood. As pissed off as I was that it was so loud and so close (my kid started  screaming, and cat freaking out), it was just awesome to see.

I snapped about eight shots as it made the turn over my house with my 75-300mm telephoto lens. A gray plane against a cloudy sky doesn't make for the best shot, but you get the picture. 

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A few weeks ago, mom and dad cleared out their closets that were still filled with my old junk from childhood, and delivered it all to me, lovingly, in paper bags. Unfortunately, there were no pristine, un-touched boxes containing original Star Wars or GI Joe figures.

Instead, I am now the proud owner again of what's mostly a bunch of crap. It's now taking up space in our office, and I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of some of it. I took a few photos of it all, so I'll remember it after I get rid of it. This exercise is not as simple as just chucking it in the trash, though it probably should be about that easy.

Here's the inventory, minus the sports trophies (assorted and standard tee-ball, soccer, high school football):

• 1 San Francisco 49ers foam "We're #1" hand from Super Bowl XIX, held at Stanford Stadium
• 1 terribly ugly Oregon Ducks hat, never worn, circa 1992. Yes, even in '92 UO made ugly stuff.
  
• 1 Prospect High School football jersey (white/away) from 1991. I'm sure my kid will find this neat when he's eight.

Assorted Pennants:

• 1 Oakland A's 1988 World Series. Stewart, Eckersley... 'nuff said.
  
• 1 SF Forty Niners circa 1980.
  
• 1 Denver Broncos, about the same age. Not sure where that one came from.
  
• 1 Stanford University. Ahh, to dream...
  
• 1 University of Wisconsin. From dad and professional schooling he did there. I've never been to Madison.
  
• 1 Ohio State. Not sure where that came from either.
  
• 1 Harlem Globetrotters. I vaguely remember seeing them at the Oakland Coliseum when I was little, around the same time they made the cartoon.
  
• 1 Kennedy Space Center. We visited when I was about 10 and when the Shuttle was still awesome.
  
• 1 Chicago Sting (NASL). What, you don't remember the NASL?
  
• 1 SF Giants (1988ish). This will go on the kid's wall.
  
• 1 Portland Trailblazers. Old skool. From grandma.

I have no idea how old some of that stuff is, but could probably estimate per pennant based on various life events. Before I throw all this in the trash, I will visit eBay to see if anyone is selling similar junk, and for how much.

I'm thinking that Chicago Sting pennant has to be worth something, to someone. Do they even make pennants anymore?

Posted by senders at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)