Near Death Experience ...

Wow! I had one of those near accidents that scared the $h!t out of me. I was driving to my sub assignment this morning when it happened. I was driving north on Thunderbird near 7th Street. I noticed on the right a boat like car, a Caddie I think, was waiting to make a left. I did not anticipate it coming right out, because the street was busy. Well, I guess one never knows what the other is seeing or thinking. I swerve to the right to miss the Caddie, and the Caddie stopped just enough to avoid sideswiping me. I really hate to think what might've happen to me. Thank the lucky star, nothing happened.

Random Shots
I was called upon to serve my civic duty last Monday. You know, jury duty. Well, I was dismissed from the morning assembly, and then the afternoon. Shoot, I was kind of looking forward to serving as a jury. Does that sound very counter to popular sentimental?

Beer Update
My two beer entries received enough points to score a silver (saison) and a bronze (helles). I am hoping to score a gold one of these days.

Movie Recommendation
I am highly recommending a movie called, "Corpse Bride." Tim Burton's stop motion picture is short and sweet. It is delightfully dark and quirky. It is about a nervous groom accidently marrying a dead bride.

Postcard From My Sister ...

I got this postcard last week, which is postmarked San Francisco. I am pretty sure it is from my sister, who lives in San Francisco. I find this postcard quite interesting looking.

I am going to borrow a page from David Letterman. Here is my Top 5 reasons why my sister picked this postcard.

5. My brother should drink more Mexican beer.

4. My brother could use a sombrero.

3. My brother should become a mariachi.

2. My brother could really use that sexy mustache.

1. ¿dónde está el cuarto de baño?

Marathon Update
I am not so lazy about my training runs anymore although I can still be more enthusiastic. I just finished my 13-mile training run. I am tired.

Week 8: 25 miles, total 130 miles

Movie Recommendation
I just watched "The 40 Year-Old Virgin." The first half of the movie is funnier than any movies I've seen in quite sometime, and that includes "Wedding Crashers." The second half is not as funny but more sensitive and sentimental. Of course, I prefer the funnier half. Check out this movie if you could use some laughs.

Dinner With Anne ...

I received e-mails from Sinziana about our friend Anne visiting Phoenix for a conference. Lucky for us, Sinziana took charge of setting up the dinner arrangement. We were to meet at a restaurant called Carlsbad Tavern. It is a New Mexican style restaurant in Scottsdale, and one of Anne's favorites. I was looking forward to seeing Anne since I have not seen her in about two years and getting New Mexican food is not bad either.

I wanted to beat the traffic so I got an early start. Of course, the best plan never works. I managed to get delayed by construction and missed a turn, which led to a detour. I still got to the restaurant about a quarter hour early.

I ordered a beer at the bar while waiting for the others. I think ACC tourney was on tele. It was not too long before the gang showed up. I was waving to them and the barkeep started yelling. I told him that was quite all right, but he said he did not mind. Well, I did.

We were seated out in the patio area. It was a nice day for dining al fresco. Of course, all the girls said it was chilly. Pretty soon others joined us. There were Anne, Sinziana, Mark, Danielle, Scott, Jennifer, Dhumal, Carolyn, four of Anne's co-workers, and me. We conversed, drank, ate, and had a good time. I really enjoyed the Adovada pork burrito. It was so very chilly hot!!!

Anne and I rode up to Esteban's house. It's been sometime since I've seen Esteban and his family. I did not realize Esteban's mother was visiting the states. Anyhoo! It is always nice to catch up with your friends.

Photos from Carlsbad Tavern

Hate Cleaning Carpet Stains ...

My doggie, Cenya, has been a naughty lately. Instead of going outside to relieve herself like I taught her, she found a convenient place in the house. I found more than twenty spots like the picture on the left in what used to be my movie room. I tried to clean manually by blotting and blotting some more, but it was not very effective. I also got tired of cleaning really fast. I became aware of a machine called Spotbot by Bissell. It is a carpet cleaner, which automatically cleans after pushing a button. According to a local news program, it works well.

I decided to get me one, since I was tired of manual cleaning. My experience has been very positive. I just have to get some more cleaner solution. It is quite loud, but one would expect that from a carpet cleaner.





Marathon Update
I am still having all kinds of motivational problem. I was not looking forward to the last long run. Happy to report, I managed to finish a twelve-miles training run two days ago. It has given me more confidence, but it is still not fun for me. I hope my motivation comes back.

Week 7: 18 miles, total 105 miles
Week 6: 18 miles, total 87 miles

Beer Update
I just transferred Octoberfest beer to secondary. I am going to give it two or three days of diacetyl rest. I hope it turns out well.

Movie Recommendation
I have been watching documentaries lately. The one I am recommending is called, "Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill." It is about a flock of parrots living in San Francisco and a bum like guy taking care of them. It is quite fascinating.

Almost spun out ...

It finally rained in Phoenix two days ago. It was a welcome change I must say. I had to put up my convertible top in order to go to my photo class. I don't usually drive fast or take a fast turn, but I felt a little devilish this day. It was at 16th street and Osborn. I made a right turn that I will remember for sometime. I put the car in second gear as I made the turn and started accelerating a little too fast. Next thing I know, I am turning the steering wheel every which way trying to regain control of the car. The car slid between two lanes. There were only one truck in sight which was quite far off. I was full of adreline and I can laugh about it NOW. I was thinking no harm no foul. It was exhilarating.

This is the first time I did not have any control of the car, because rear wheel driven car is easier to lose control I think. THANK GOODNESS THE STREET WAS NEARLY EMPTY.

Pictures from B&W Photo Class

Fish

Untitled


















Fountain






















Untitled






















Hole


















Untitled






















Bathroom















Mural


















Untitled

Birds on Wires


















Self Portrait






















Self Portrait

Day 5 of the Snowboarding Trip

I woke up around 6:30 for a run. I did not sleep well, but I felt I was neglecting my running too much. It was very cold outside. I thought I would warm up like I normally do after running for a short while. Not so this morning. It got colder and colder. Speically my groin area was in sharp needle pain. I still managed to finish my run. I don't know how.

I got a phone call from Jim and Beth about eightish so we can leave. I was ready by then. We breakfasted once again at the donut shop. It was still good the second time. Beth drove first to Gallup, where Jim took over until Flagstaff. It was uneventful except for the one time when I asked for a bathroom break in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. Thank God for those gas station/convenience store located through out vast land of ours.

We had a late lunch at a Subway in Flagstaff. I drove from Flag to Phoenix. I wrote Jim a check for a little more than what he asked. I mean $64 is way too little for what he done for little ole moi.

I am glad I went on this snowboarding trip with Jim and Beth. I had a great time learning a new sport, experienced a new town, and general fun road trip with good friends. Priceless (Sorry, Mastercard.)

More Photos

Day 4 of the Snowboarding Trip

"I am finally sore from snowboarding and not from falling."
Beth, 2/13/06

I woke up a little later than usual. That is not to say I was not the first to wake up, because I was. I took a little walk and took some photos. It was cold. It was so cold. After the walk, I went to breakfast. I once again had another waffle. Mm, waffles!

When I got back, Jim was watching curling on television. Beth was taking a bath. I watched curling with Jim for sometime before we started to pack up, because we were checking out of the inn. When we've checked out, it was time for Jim and Beth's first meal. Jim wanted to get some Taco Bell. I have to say 10:30 is the earliest Taco Bell experience of my life.

We were staying in Pagosa Spring that night, and Jim and Beth already had an arrangement. I needed to make an arrangement still. On the way back up to the ski resort, we stopped at the new place Jim and Beth would be staying that night. I walked over to Best Western and got a room for that night.

We drove up to the ski resort for the last half day of snowboarding. We all were in much better spirit, because we were not so sore. We all thought hot tubbing helped. Just before we started snowboarding, I told Jim and Beth, "We should just have fun today." Jim and I took photos and video footages. I had much fun just traversing down a few times, but I still wanted to try c-turns. Once I stop freaking out every time I made attempts to turn, I had more success at c-turning. We were having more success getting off the lift. Beth seemed much happier that she stopped falling while getting off the lift. Beth did not traverse much while snowboarding down the hill, which meant she went downhill very fast. I tried the other side of the hill. It was more fun snowboarding a new slope. We fell down much less and just plain had more fun.

When we got back down from the ski resort, I went to my room while Jim and Beth went to their's. We were to meet up after cleaning ourselves. I took a shower, which felt so very nice. It was getting cold outside when I met up with Jim and Beth around 6 pm. We went to a local malt shop. We ate well.

We went to the hot spring around 8 pm. Of course, we disguised our alcoholic beverage and took it with us. The hot spring smelled of sulfur, but that is the nature of hot springs. Soaking our tired and sore bodies in hot springs was just what the doctor ordered in my opinion. I went back to my room around 9 pm.



Photos

Day 3 of the Snowboarding Trip

All of us were relaxed about waking up next day. Gabe and Mitch told us the ski resort does not open in the morning on Sundays. This turned out to be false, but we took our time getting ready. I still woke up early enough to get a waffle. Mm, waffles. Unlike the previous morning, the waffle machine was working. Others slept still.

When I got back from breakfast, I found out Mitch and Gabe decided to leave without snowboarding in the afternoon. Bummer. I was hoping to snowboard some more before heading back. This made my decision about leaving early or staying with Jim and Beth for another couple of days.

We all went out to brunch around ten. We drove to a donut shop that also served traditional breakfast. After a very satisfying meal, we bid Mitch and Gabe good drive back home and went grocery shopping. We bought things to make spaghetti dinner and a bottle of margarita mix. I would really appreciate the margarita mix purchase later.

Jim, Beth, and I went back to Wolf Creek in the afternoon for another go at snowboarding. I wanted to try toe side traversing, because I was only doing heel side traversing the previous day. It turned out to be much harder. For one thing, it hurted one specific area of my body, calves. My exact words were, "it burns!!!"

After falling a number of times, I managed to snowboard down the bunny hill. I tried to connect heel side with toe side with c-turn. Wow, it is so very hard. I managed to turn a couple of times, but tumbled five folds. Jim and Beth quit earlier than moi. They said, "We want to save ourselves for tomorrow." I snowboarded another hour while they rested.

When we came back to the inn, we decided to go hot tubbing. I made margarita on the rocks. Although the sign said no alcoholic beverages, we took it with us to the hot tub anyway. Our sore body really needed jets of hot water and alcohol. We felt so much better. It did not matter the tub was outside or the weather was cold.

Party like it's 1999 ...

It has been quite sometime since I hung out late at night. There is a name for calling it quits early, aging. I have been doing it for quite sometime. I am glad to say I did not call it quits early last Friday. YES!

It started with checking my voicemail around 3 pm. There was this p!$ed off message from Josh P. Let me just summarize the message this way. Rather an upset voice repeated four times, "Don't return my call. No, Don't return my call." Followed by a much subdued voice saying, "Give me a call back." I guess I don't return his calls often enough. (Mental note: Give Josh P more calls back!!!!!!!)

I gave him a call back immediately! It would seem Josh would like to go for a sushi dinner before we meet up with Amy's happy hour crew. I could not think of any good reason not to do this although I usually can think of a couple. I told Josh I would meet up at his house at around 5 pm. I actually got there around 4:30. I did not want to be in the smack middle of rush hour. Luckily, Josh was home playing a house maid. Poor ole Josh. We caught up with tidbits of our lives. I was mostly admiring his plasma TV that is hung over his fireplace. LUCKY DOG! We shared two bottles of helles as one was his concoction and the other was mine. We smelled, looked, and drank while commenting on the beer. Ah, to be a beverage critic. What life that would make.

We decided to go to a little sushi place near his house called Hanna Sushi. What a find! It is affordable (relative to other sushi places) and delicious. It is a small place, which all Japanese staff was running. Does it add to authenticity? I am not sure of it, but good none the less. Of course, I had my fixing of taco (octopus for those who don't know). Mm, taco! Our meal consisted mostly of rolls such as caterpillar, California, spicy tuna, and spicy scallops. To top it all, Josh scored four boxes of empty beer bottles.

We decided to go to Amy's Happy Hour straight after dinner although we had a little time to kill. I drove us in my MX-5 to Deser Ridge. Weather was great for a convertible. Josh first showed me this place called Yards where kegs and kegs of draft beer were in open display. Wow! Since we were meeting Amy et al at Rock Bottom, I suggested we did not drink at Yards.

When we arrived at RB, I did not see any recognizable faces. It did not matter, because we needed to get alcoholic beverages in our hand. We ordered trippel, a Belgian strong beer, and waited for the party to commence. First to join us were Matt and Becky, trippel and diet Coke. Four of us then looked for Amy et al. There they were sitting out in the porch area. It is always good to see our gang together. Amy made her rounds to chat with everyone as she was the raison detat. We ate, drank, and were merry!!!!! Cindy (aka princess) and Pam (aka restroom helper) showed up later. We ate more, drank more, and were even more merry.

We decided to go to another happy hour at Malee's. Unfortunately, we missed their reverse happy hour and got there after their close time. Shucks. That would have normally stopped me from partying further. Not this night. We went over to Yards. Colby got the tour of open display of kegs. We ate more, drank more, and got more merry. Of course, watching Pam down a shot of whipped cream is always the tops!!!!!!!!! Oh what fun we had.

I like to give a shout out, "holla," to two friends who weren't there. Michelle and Gina, we flew in a missing wing formation.

Marathon Update
Training is still going very poorly. I managed to skip about one training run per week. Luckily, I have not skipped any long runs. I am still very hopeful that I can go through with this race.

Week 5: 18miles, total 69 miles

Movie Recommenation
I watched a movie called, "The Chumscrubber." It is about a hyperbole about teenage existance among unrelatable grown-ups. It reminded a little of "Donnie Darko." The movie is surreal. I am not sure I really like this movie, but I did not hate this movie.

Beer Update
My octoberfest beer is not fermenting as quick as I've expected. It is a rather slow fermentation and I am a little concerned. I will transfer it to another vessel within a week. It smells great, which eases me.