Ordinarily Bob

Is this thing ON?

2009-03-05T11:00:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted a blog entry in two years? Maybe I should change that...

I do taste like chicken.

2007-06-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

A few months back I found a growth in my throat. I went to a doctor who agreed there was something, so he sent me to a Nose/Throat Specialist. That doc didn't even see it when he looked in my mouth. I showed him where it was and he said "Oh, that's just your tonsil." I had my tonsils removed when I was a kid. So he examined it futher by palpatation and by sticking a scope up my nose to see it from the top. That was an odd experience. He says it's just my tonsil grown back, which rarely happens, but does. He's 99% sure that it's nothing else, certainly nothing malignant. To be 100% sure, he said I could get it biopsied. Yes please.

So yesterday morning I went to his offices and got some tissue removed from my throat. It was a bit more invasive than I thought, though not bad, really. They took out four little samples for biopsy and the doctor reasserted that he thought it was tonsil tissue.

Since yesterday I've been on Vicodin for the pain. It's made me dowsey, dizzy, and nauseous. The pain is all but gone. I took half a dose this morning and I don't know that I'm going to take any more, possibly one more later. I should be fine. I'm supposed to get the biopsy results in a week or two.

The most interesting part of the procedure is that when they cauterized the extraction points in my throat I could smell/taste my own burning flesh, and you know what? I do taste like chicken.

DLR Pirate's Lair

2007-06-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Shane, Kellie, Sandy & I went to DLR to check out the new Pirate's Lair attraction. John-George & Devon met us for half the day. We turned in our last VMK Quests (as DLR VMK Central closes for good today), and got to see the new Subs ("Resurfacing June 11") in action as Cast Members sneak a peak. The Pirate's Lair had neat effects and was lots of fun. They have integrated the Pirate's the Caribbean mythos with Tom Sawyer's Island and given Jack Sparrow a new home in Disneyland.

After the island, Shane and I ride the Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes. This was his first time ever on the boats. The evening closes with a Monorail trip out to Downtown Disney's ESPN Sport Zone for dinner to watch the Ducks in a Stanely Cup game. Not only was the restaurant busy for the game, but there was a prom going on. In fact, we only got seated "so quickly" (waited an hour) because someone left and gave us their buzzer. The name was Soap. Heh. Shane, Kellie, Sandy & I had a great time eating and chatting. It was good to shoot the bull with friends.

Star Wars author Karen Traviss

2007-05-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

Jeff's favorite Star Wars author, Karen Traviss, was in town for a book signing. Jeff has chatted with Karen virtually over Yahoo and they've become a sort of friends. Since Jeff is off in Germany (and soon to be Iraq again), Sandy & I went down to get her latest book signed for him. The event took place at Mysterious Galaxy Books in San Diego. The staff at the bookstore were all very friendly and helpful, passing on well-wishes for me to give to my brother. The store was populated by fans and members of the 501st Legion.

Karen had a Q&A segment followed by the signing line-up. When it was our book's turn to get autographed, she happily remembered her Sgt. Clemins and was glad to meet him "by proxy," graciously posing for a couple personal pictures. She expressed her hope for his safe return from deployment and to one day meet Jeff over a pint.

May '07 - Update

2007-05-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks since my last blog, so I'll dive right in. Earlier this month, way back on Friday the 11th Sandy and I attended a special Padres game. PetCo gave Sandy's Department access to their Suite at the ballpark. She got tickets for herself, her dad and I. The game was great, and good times were had all 'round. The Padres won over the Cards 7-0 on Retro Night. It was a shutout game that included 11 strike-outs by Padres pitcher Jake Peavy (1st Padre to get 10+ Ks in 4 consecutive starts), a "Star" caliber catch by Giles, and 3 Padre HRs. About 2/3rds through the game, Sandy & her dad were able to sit in the PetCo Dugout section seats for a couple innings.

On Saturday, May 19, 2007 Sandy & I went to Kirt & Karen's daughter Sarah's 2nd Birthday Party. Steve, Fran, Karen's parents, and others were there. Sarah's actual b-day is March 2nd, but life gets in the way sometimes. Heh. Ladybugs were the theme, hence the red and black colors. Pizza, cake, & ice cream were eaten along with personalized M&M candies. Very posh. The kids played games and enjoyed frame making crafts and coloring. Also Kirt & Karen's new van was debuted.

Sandy & I purchased DLR 1Day Parkhoppers for Mom & Dad for Mother's & Father's Day. The announced closing of DLR's VMK Central on June 3rd prompted the early trip without Sandy (who wanted Mom & Dad to get their final Quests) on Dad's day off. So last Tuesday (05/22/07) we three went on up to Disneyland. We had a fantastic time completing the quests and trippin' the park. Some highlights included the Jedi Academy show (1st time I'd ever sat through the full thing, it's cute, and would be cuter still if I knew any of the kids in it), Billy Hill & the Hillbillies, got pictures with Jack Sparrow and I had a "Dreams event" when I was given a pair of Tinkerbell Dreams pins (that I gave to Mom & Dad, of course).

Thanks to Memorial Day I got a four day weekend. It was nice and relaxing. On Sunday (05/27/07) Amy, Sandy, & I went up to Disney's El Capitan Theatre on DLR Annual Passholder Day to see Pirates of the Caribbean III - At World's End. While waiting in line at the El Cap, I took pictures of the theatre and the cast of Pirates that were there to entertain the crowd. Once inside we had time to visit the Prop Room. Prior to the movie we were entertained by a restored 1920s Wurlitzer organ - Amazing! The theatre was decorated and lit to set a Piratey Mood. What a great movie! Lot's of fun, and full of fan-service in-jokes. Sure the story had some unneeded threads, but who cares?! It was a great ride. After El Cap, we cruised on down to DLR on the way home so Amy & Sandy could pick up their final VMK Quests. I scored a 2nd set myself, along with 4 cast-only lanyard pins. We took some time to ride a few rides, and got the VIP Gimp treatment since Amy was in a wheelchair due to her recent foot surgery. The highlight of which was going Up the Haunted Mansion's Stretching Room, watching all the pictures restore their subjects to life. Creepy. Thanks Amy!

I learned last week that my brother Jeff (still stationed in Germany) is being re-deployed to Iraq in August for fourteen months. That was muy no bueno news to be sure. On the upside, I found on Monday (05/28/07) that he and his family are coming here to visit in July! That was grand to hear!!

Finally, a couple links for you surfing pleasure. I had time this last weekend to process and post some pictures from last year including the 4th of July and Halloween '06. Shane posted pictures of his recent Galapagos Trip (Wow!). Lastly, here's a Lost Season 3 Recap that Sandy sent to me, funny stuff.

Red Vine Gone Wild

2007-05-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sandy posted to her blog the other day the following:

Can't say I never shared anything educational

For those of you who might be curious about this kind of thing....

With the right amount of force, a Red Vine licorice WILL, in fact, leave a red welt on a person's thigh for about a day and a half.

No thanks are needed. I'm here to help.

Here's the picture of the welt that I left in her leg and the offending confectionary. I especially like the pattern left...

This presentation of When Candy Attacks has been brought to you by the letters O and W. And by the number 8.

New York Trip Blog

2007-04-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

In July I will be taking a trip with Sandy to New York City, meeting Kirt & Karen (and family) in Cooperstown a few days later. I've started a blog:

http://nytrip07.blogspot.com/

Click the link on the left of that page - "About this Blog" - for more info.

Star Wars Exhibit

2007-04-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday (04/22/07) Amy, Tony, Michelle, Steve, Sandy & I drove up to the California ScienCenter in LA for the Star Wars - Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit.

Click for full Gallery

I'd never been to the ScienCenter, frankly I'd never even heard of the place, but a few months ago Sandy found out about this show and we all thought it would be fun. It sounded similar to the exposition Sandy & I saw back in '98 at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

This presentation was quite different. It wasn't near as big as the Smithsonian version and it had a lower "production value." But the Center made relations between modern technology and SW tech. For example, next to the medical droids was a display on real life cybernetics and implants. And next to the Land Speeder there was a display about mag-lev trains and other uses for magnetism. This included an interactive demonstration with magnets attached to Legos and a train track so you too could build your own bullet train. Unfortunately the Legos were all busted and/or missing.

All of the similar "hands-on" demos that I looked at were similar busted. The place was packed and I saw few, if any, staff to keep an eye on things... Plus this is near the end of the exhibit's run, so there you go, disappointing.

Still, I had a good time seeing the props and models. There was a Millennium Falcon cock-pit "simulator" that we sat in. It didn't move, but ran a mini-movie narrated by Anthony "C-3PO" Daniels and R2-D2 about the exploration of our solar system and galaxy. Movie was ok, but it was most nifty to sit in a replica Falcon pilot seat. We weren't supposed to take pictures inside, but I snuck one... Heh.

There were a couple dozen people wandering around in various Stormtrooper and Rebel Pilot costumes. I don't think they were officially associated with the Center, but they appeared to be welcomed and given VIP status. Hmmm... Perhaps they were volunteers. I didn't think to ask. They were quite accomodating when asked for pictures.

After we'd had our fill of the SW Exhibit we found they had a Rose Garden outside. It was beautiful. We spent quite some time wandering around. And after Steve's story about how honey bees are disappearing it was pleasing to see them doing their jobs.

The day finished with a stop on the way home in San Marcos at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I ate the usual (Manager's Favorite with Meat Sauce and "ala Homer"). A perfectly satisfying end to a fun day.

CJ's Blog, R2-D2, and Picasa.

2007-03-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

First let me welcome CJ to the wonderful world of Blogging which you can visit here. Welcome CJ! At first I too felt pressure to supply regular content, now I do as my time/motivation allows and realize that it's all good. I'm happy you've found the same to be universal. Heh.

Speaking of the universe, 30 long years ago in a galaxy far far away, St. Lucas created Star Wars. The US Postal Service is honoring Star Wars with its own stamp series. USPS Jedi Master.com has the details. The promo features postal boxes decorated as R2-D2:

Which brings me to Picasa. The above photo album is hosted there and you can check out my full gallery here. I've just started adding pictures and have only 11 albums online as of this writing (with many more to come, so check back often). I've found that Kellie has a gallery in which she shows off her new house. Go Kellie!

Unlike other photo hosting services that I've tried and/or seen others use - this one allows the viewer to download a full-sized/resolution photo entirely free and anonymously.

Again - You do not have to pay, sign up, or give any information to view or download the photos at the full rez uploaded by the author. To download a picture, go into the album, click on the picture and then click the "download" link on the right. I prefer to upload an "Optimized 1600" format of my pictures. These are at a high enough resolution to use for most wall papers and printouts and yet compact enough to be web friendly.

If you choose you can sign up, have your own free (or pay) account for posting and hosting photos, you can buy prints, etc. But this is all optional. Let me know your gallery link so I can add you to my favorites as I did with Kellie.

Besides the service there is a Picasa program that you can install on your computer to get all sorts of nifty features. For starters, when looking at an album you can download all the pictures, instead of each picture individually.

The program will organize, edit, and generally process the photo collection on your PC. It has caption editing, search screens, red eye removal, printing and blogging features, etc. I'm still learning how best to use it and working the bugs out. Some things I like, others I don't like, but overall I'm glad to have it. The red eye fix for instance can be picky on what it will and won't clean up. Some eyes are done perfectly. Others, not so much. And then there are the "original" poops. The program backs up a copy of the pre-edited photo in a hidden folder. This is nice if you ever want to go back to the original version, but once you're sure you want that red eye gone you have to go in and manually clear this bloat out of the way. There are some other "features" that seem quirky that I'm still working out, perhaps I'll write a full review someday.

I'd liked to, but I really don't think I should...

2007-03-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

I've been researching an upgrade to my computer so I can play SupCom. To be honest that's the prime reason for wanting to upgrade now, but certainly there are other reasons. Other programs I have that have updated (iTunes, Sound Forge, etc) can run sluggish and/or don't allow certain feature use on my existing computer. And editing video, while possible, is dreadfully slow. Upgrading, as can be expected in computers, is a must.

So I've been doing a lot of reading. I got a lot of useful info from Tom's Hardware and NewEgg. Both sites I recommend. Anyway, this is the system I've come up that I'd like to buy:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz ($222)
Mobo: Asus P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ($130)
RAM: Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 2x1GB ($192)
Vid Card: EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB, 500Mhz ($260)
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-520HX 520W ($110)

My upgrade is looking to cost $913. That's more money than I should spend right now... So I don't think I'll be upgrading/playing SupCom for a while. We'll see, but I really shouldn't.

Then there's the idea that I really don't want to tear down my existing system. It's working fine for what it is. It might take a few days during which time it would be best to have a separate, working system, from which to download drivers, etc. for the new computer. Then when I'm done Sandy can have her own computer too. To do that the $913 upgrade goes up because I have to add at least a case, HD, DVD burner, etc.

On the upside, the longer I wait the cheaper the parts are likely to become. It's really not a good time to upgrade anyway, what with all the new equipment being released right now... Yeah, that's what I'm trying to tell myself.

Arg. lol

Look before you Leap.

2007-03-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to play Supreme Commander, but my existing video card won't support it. I thought at first I was doomed as my 3 year-old computer wouldn't support the new PCI-E cards that are out there.

But the other day I found an AGP card I thought would do the trick. I bought Wednesday it for a great price even after paying for Two-Day Shipping. Last night I bought SupCom and installed it (I was curious what would happen if I ran it on my old card - it simply didn't pass verification, and wouldn't run).

So today I got my new card. A PNY GeForce 7600GS 512MB AGP Video Card, and it was pretty and smelled fresh and silicony. My nips were hard. We went out to dinner and I got home, cracked open my case, installed, turned on, and no workie workie. My motherboard is kind enough to have useful voice error messages, and it tells me it failed VGA test.

And here's where I blew it. I bust out the motherboard book and RTFM. Now. I should have done it before I bought the new card. It turns out my Motherboard doesn't support AGP 3.3v cards, only the 1.5v AGP cards. I can't have a new powered card on my motherboard.

I'm not sure what the return policy is on my video card. I'll look into that. Or I can buy a new computer, which isn't something I really wanted to do (though it would be nice, heh).

I'm just sad, very frustrated, disappointed and angry with myself. I should have known better. I should have researched further. I was just so excited and now I've gone and made a series of bonehead mistakes.

I suppose it could have been worse. At least I was able to put my old card back and everything is working fine the way it was. So that's good at least.

Bah.

Update - Wednesday, March 7, 2007 at 9:45a
I'm currently researching which parts I want to use to build a new system. I decided to send the AGP card back. Though it was a nice one, I found a similar card that's cheaper and PCI-E, and if I'm upgrading I may as well make sure to get the latest architecture.

So Amazon let me print out a pre-paid UPS retun label and I sent the PNY card back for a refund. That's nice.

In the meantime I get to read in Jay's Blog how totally awesome is SupCom.

Update - Thursday, March 15, 2007 at 4:41p
Yesterday I got an e-mail that Amazon received my RMA and gave me full credit, including what I originally paid in shipping. So that's all worked out. Thanks Amazon!

As for what else I'm doing with my PC, check out this.

Tempus Fugit.

2007-02-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

Time Flies.

I read that somewhere once. It's amazing how true it is. I honestly feel like the holidays are only just over. Actually, I hardly feel like they've already come and past! And here we are a month and a half into the New Year.

Time Flies. No kidding. Early last year for the first time I looked in the mirror and was Old. To my own eyes I looked old. To my own consciousness I, in every possible definition of the word, I felt old. I've always been young - physically, mentally, at heart, etc. But that day I was old. I haven't felt that way every day since. Far from it. But since that day I occassionally get that way again. It's not pleasant.

Time Flies. I'm 34 now, which makes me officially in my mid-thirties. That never mattered to me before. Lately it has. The world is zipping by and often I feel stuck here. I'm a rock in a flowing stream. I want and need to go down river, but I don't know how. I have no momentum and I'm not able to find/make the motivation to change my inertia.

I have no plans. I have no dreams. I'm ignorant of my future, potential or otherwise. I understand intellectually that any person has the ability to accomplish whatever they desire with enough effort. I know that I can do anything. I don't feel that though. Tomorrow is just another day, and it looks like the same day I'm having now, and the same I had yesterday.

Time Flies. Before I know it, I'm going to be 50 or 70 or Dead and what will I have done? How will my finite life have been spent? How does one begin a Legacy?

Time Flies.

Retro Post - DLR Halloween Time, Treat, & VMK

2006-11-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

On Halloween Sandy & I stayed in the Red Roof Inn in Anaheim, a Friend of Disney. This was our VMK Stitch Travel Package stay and the first year that Disneyland has truly decorated DLR during "HalloweenTime" including a special DCA event: Disney's Halloween Treat. At the event Sandy & I met some VMK friends, Pumpkin, Little Pumpkin, & Zooks. Sandy & I came back to the park yesterday for Goofy's Kitchen to find the Halloween theme gone and Christmas decorations fast in place.

Hey, I'm still alive!

2006-10-17T00:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry folx, just been livin' Virtually for too long. Contrary to popular and justified believe (HA!) I'm not dead. Yet. (And no I won't be stone dead in a moment... In fact think I'll go for a walk now... I feel happy... I feell Ha-ppie!)

Decided I should poke my head up and see what's happenin' in the Real World. Hi!

That is all. End Trans.

Retro Post - One Boat, One Day Rafting

2006-07-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just as August last year, Dad, Sandy, Amy, & I drove up to the Lower Kern on Friday 07/28/06, stopping in Riverside at the Spagetti Factory. We stayed the night in Ridgecrest traveling the remaining distance to the River yesterday (Saturday 07/29/06) morning. But this year we met Nol and Chris at Frandy Park. The six of us went down the Lower Kern on the 1-Day Big Water Run. This was Nol & Chris' first rafting trip, my fifth.

Retro Post - 2006 Riversidian Rafting Trip

2006-06-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Over the last two days I took my fourth rafting trip, third with the Riversidians. Once again we took the Whitewater Voyages, 2-Day Southern Sierra Escape down the Lower Kern River. Our party was a full flotilla of 30 guests, 5 guides on 5 boats. Shane was my River Buddy with Mel, Jay, Rich, & Matt rounding our boat.

Retro Post - Ride the Tide

2006-06-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

I first met Jodie's beau Harry when they came down to join us for a day at the San Diego County Fair, themed a watery Ride the Tide to Fun. Besides Jodie, Harry & Sammy there was Mom & Dad Lee, Amy, Mom & Dad, Sandy, Kirt, Karen, Trevor, & Sarah. A whole posse there to have a grand time eating food, riding rides, eating food, petting ameenals, eat food, looking at exhibits, eating food, etc.

SD County Fair Pix

This Week In Bob - Episode IV

2006-06-09T17:34:00.001-07:00

On Saturday 06/03/06 I saw X-Men: The Last Stand (IMDb) with Sandy, Amy, and Dad. It was good. I didn't like it as much as the first two, there was just something lacking in the story and too many inconsistencies between certain scenes that bugged me, but over all I enjoyed it. I was happy to have seen it on the Big Screen and would pay to see it again. It's like those certain comic issues where not much happens to move along the plot, but there sure is a lot of action.

I would love for them to continue the series, but I doubt they will. Maybe we'll get a "New Mutants" type thing with Ice Man, Kitty, Colossus and the other "kids" from the school. And of course there's much buzz about a Wolverine movie. I sure hope it becomes a reality. I've always liked the Wolverine character and I think Hugh does a fantastic job at it.

Disneyland was the destination for Sunday 06/04/06. Mom, Dad, Amy, Sandy and I went up to the Happiest Place on Earth so the first three could be Born in the Park.

The New Borns completed all In Park Quests (with some help, hehe) and Sandy and I completed the High School Musical Quest. We got to ride many of the rides as it wasn't too busy. We tried to make up poses for the pictures. Here we are doing Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, and See No Evil on Space Mountain.

Another fun thing to do at Disneyland is posing with the characters. Here's a shot of myself with one of the rarely seen Face Characters, the Evil Queen from Snow White.

Early in the evening our party was joined by my Riversidian friends Shane and Kellie (yes, I know Kellie doesn't actually live in Riverside - HA). And we all got our picture taken with the Mouse Himself.

Not much else happened the rest of the week. Sandy and I had dinner at her parent's house on Wednesday. I played a ton of VMK throughout the week and on Friday I won a Space Mountain Guest Room in one of the Arcade Games. I was very happy about that. I was also a trading maniac and got lots of nifty stuff that way. I'm thrilled to see that the Newsletter is showing pictures of a Pirate Piano (Organ?) and Jack Sparrow costume. Oh, I can't wait! You can't either? Check out Disney's Pirates page.

I really need to make the time to do this on Mondays or Tuesdays, instead of telling about the previous weekend three or four days later on Thursday or Friday. Heh. This up coming Sunday the plan is to hit the San Diego County Fair which opens this weekend. Mmm Yummy food! HA! Until then, thanks for tuning in, and I'll catch ya next time. Happy Journeys!

This Week in Bob - Episode III

2006-06-02T17:07:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day Weekend I had four days off (05/27/06-05/30/06). It was wonderful! A splendid mini-vacation. I really didn't mind coming back to work on Wednesday, if you can believe it. I spent a lot of time with Sandy playing VMK (see below) and hung out with Kirt, Karen and Family. I helped Kirt finish his patio, a project he's been working on for a few weeks. He did most of the work, but I helped now and again with the brick hauling and laying (something I'd never done before and found easier than I expected in many ways) and "painting" wood oil onto his table and chairs.

Throughout the weekend VMK had several Baseball Quests that started Friday night. Each day a new piece of the Purple Baseball costume was offered. I'd never participated in this sort of event before, and neither had Sandy (who, as you'll remember, was only just "Born" the weekend prior). We spent many many (read: too many - lol) hours playing VMK taking these Quests. I greatly enjoyed this with her. Shane and Kellie join us online for the adventure and that was a hoot too. The four of us would help each other get the answers and capture ghosts or play Pirates, and so forth. Then Sunday (05/28/06) Sandy also completed a number of other in-game Quests to get her Diver Pin, Pink Car and License, and Inner-Space Pin. She's taking the Hidden Mickey II Quest now. She really enjoyed doing the Quests, said it was Good Times.

June 2006 is Pirate month for Disney fans! The new Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (IMDb) movie is scheduled to be released at the end of the month. Also the newly refurbished Pirate ride at Disenyland will be opening. I can't wait! Al Lutz over at MiceAge had this to say about the changes. I am especially happy to hear they are removing the lame changes from '97. I really can't wait to see/hear the new lighting/sound effects! Shiver me timbers! VMK is also getting in the act, offering various new items (most of which haven't been released yet, so I don't know what, but it's exciting!).

Links of the Week:
I have created a GoofyBob VMK Site. There is only a little on there now and I do plan to expand on it, but I have already put some useful information in the Blog section.

In the tradition of Ted's Website, his mother Gracie now has one too.

Plans for this weekend include going to see X-Men: The Last Stand (IMDb) tomorrow and then Mom, Dad, Sandy and I (and possibly Amy) are going to Disneyland on Sunday. Mom & Dad (and Amy if she comes) are getting Born in the Park in VMK. We'll be taking the High School Musical Quest, wish us luck!

Well, that's it for this week. Thanks for tuning in, and I'll catch ya next time. Happy Journeys!

This Week in Bob - Episode II

2006-05-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

On Friday 05/19/06 I went to Best Buy and purchased a new digital camera. This is *my* first digital camera (any other that I've used was either Sandy's or one from another friend or family member). I bought a Sony DSC-T9. I also bought a 2GB Pro memory card and a spare battery. Awesome camera! I can't believe how small it is (as pictured). It's smaller than a deck of cards! Besides some practice shots, I used it extensively at Disneyland on Sunday and it produced some lovely pictures.

Saturday 05/20/06 was a nice and relaxing day. I enjoyed some time futzing around on my computer while I waited for someone to come and fix our toilet (it had stopped working Friday night - all fixed now). I added The Cars, OMD, Dead Can Dance, and most of my Enya to my iTunes Library. Oh, but wait, I haven't talked about this in TWiB yet. I have over 800 CDs and I am working to rip the songs from those CDs and put in them on my PC and iBob. I am keeping a spreadsheet that includes the number CDs remaining and so forth. Right now I am at 30.5 omplete. Still a long way to go. At some point I'll put a list of my Library online for all to view and envy over. LOL

In the evening I hung out over at Kirt's house. We chatted and shot the bull. Ate Cold Stone ice cream. Played Trivial Pursuit, heads up. And we both sucked. We know nothing.

I also got an e-mail from CJ about this site. Had me laughing my ass off! CJ if you're watching, here's a Shout-Out to you!

As mentioned above, on Sunday 05/21/06 Sandy and I went to Disneyland. The day was cloudy and cool and the park was busy, but only in a medium way - not so crowded really. Sandy joined VMK and I won a couple of rounds of an impromptu VMK Scavenger Hunt. She completed the Tomorrowland and 50th Anniversary Quests (which I did when born back in April with Shane and Kellie) and we both did the Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Frontierland Quests. We got mucho codes!

With the upcoming Pirate movie not too far off, DLR is loaded with all sorts of new merchandise. There were lots of new pirate pins, including several with Goofy which made me happy! Here you can see Sandy and I sporting in our new Pirate Mickey Ears. Very spiffy, these new ears, complete with hoop earring and red scarf. I can't wait for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to reopen!

And speaking of new rides, there is a new feature in the Haunted Mansion. It's still mostly the same old great ride, but they've completely renovated the attic scene. The new Bride is amazing! You'll have to see it for yourself!

On Monday 05/22/06 I received an e-mail from my brother with another picture of him and Colin:

Tuesday 05/23/06 was a lazy day. I played VMK, of course. I also I updated and added some content to my VMK page including some useful codes. Sandy added a cute story on Ted's Website. Yes, my dog has a website. - sigh - - LOL

Last night (Wednesday 05/24/06) Sandy and I went out with Amy, Michelle and Chris to PF Chang's. It was a good time, food was ok (I'm not really into Chinese, but when it comes to Chinese, Chang's is very good), company was better. This was the first time I'd ever really hung out with Amy's friend Chris. He's a cool guy!

One last little tid-bit, check out this Superman Returns Trailer. The end shot especially is so Money! Thanks for tuning in, see you next week! Until then, Happy Journeys!

This Week in Bob - Episode I

2006-05-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is Episode I of This Week in Bob. Since I am often too busy and/or too lazy to blog every day, I will try to update about once a week from now on to keep you in the know about happenings in my life. In this first edition I'm going to go back a little further than 7 days to catch up with recent developments. I figure it's worth repeating, that Jeff's wife Steffi had their second child on Saturday 05/06/06. Colin Patrick Clemins was born at 7lbs, 7oz. and almost 21". Here my new nephew is pictured with his older brother Julian (who's just over 2 years old).

On Tuesday 05/07/06 Kirt and I went to Magic Mountain. We were there the whole day the park was open (10a-6p) and boy howdy did the Roller Coaster Gods Smile upon us! The park was empty. I swear there were more employees in the park than guests. We rode every open ride at least once, and most we rode several times. For example we rode Viper and Super Man three times each and Goliath was ridden eight times (pictured here on our fifth go)! The only down side to the day was that Déjà vu, Psyclone, and Revolution were closed.

But the highlight of the day was the new Tatsu roller coaster. It wasn't scheduled to open until Saturday 05/13/06, but they were filming a commercial the day we were there so we got to ride the new beast three times in a row. Wow, what an amazing ride! It is tied as my favorite all time ride with Goliath. It is a flying roller coaster and it's an amazing flight! I can't wait to go again!!

Saturday 05/13/06 morning Sandy, Amy, Ted, Riley, Xander, and I participated in the 12th Annual San Diego Humane Society and SPCA fundraiser Walk for Animals. I got $200 to support the cause - Thanks to all who sponsored me! It was a nice day and we saw many animals including hundreds of dogs, a few cats, a pair of miniature donkeys, and some snakes, lizards, and birds. A regular menagerie.

On Mother's Day (05/14/06) Sandy, Amy & I threw a Tea Party for our Dear ol' Mums. Sandy & I hosted it on our patio which we had spruced up for the event. We had decorated with flowers and fine china and so forth. We had finger sandwiches, fruit, cheese, scones, cookies, cakes, and little gift bags. And tea. Though no one drank any, heh, preferring-strawberry lemonade or Pepsi. The weather was warm and clear, but thanks to the umbrella loaned to us by Kirt & Karen, the hot sun was kept at bay. The over doted Ladies greatly enjoy themselves as you might imagine.

Thanks for tuning in, Happy Journeys!

My New Nephew!

2006-05-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here's my proud brother Jeff and my new nephew, Colin Patrick Clemins, born a little over four hours ago after only 4.5hrs of labor. Steffi's very lucky! Colin weighs 3,370g (7.43lbs), is 53cm (20.86") long. Baby and Mommie are both happy and healthy!

Update - Friday, March 30, 2007
More pictures now available here.

Walk for Animals

2006-04-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

I will be doing a Walk for Animals and I'll keep it simple:

Please Donate Here.

Thanks!

If you're going or want more info:
Click Here To View Event.

Seremuppety

2006-03-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

Storm Watch 2006

2006-03-11T23:02:00.000-08:00

So the storm hit and it was pretty harsh. Here is a picture that illustrates the excessive damage caused to a home nearby. It really makes you cherish what you have, and reminds us not to take life for granted!!!

General Blog Entry

2006-03-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

The gang was supposed to go to Disneyland tomorrow, but that got cancelled. SoCal is in the midst of a big storm. And we San Diegians can't handle this strange wet stuff that falls from the sky. Maybe we'll go next weekend.

I've recently been in a creative mode and have been tinkering with my webpage. I've been trying to come up with a new color scheme. So far, no luck, but don't be surprised if you see some changes. Or not...

I've done some updates to Jeff's Page and finally bought him a domain name, jeffclemins.com.

Sandy, Amy, and Mom & Dad have also recently been set up with domain names (charleyd2.com, aeris75.com, and danandpat.com respectively). I also finally bought fjiejo.com. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure I'll Spread the Word and Keep it Sacred. Heh. I'm hoping one other domain becomes available. It's currently in a "RedeptionPeriod." Maybe the previous owners will let it die?

I hope... I hope...

This year's river trips are planned and I'm quite excited about that. I'll be going on a two day trip with the Riversidians at the end of June, and a one day trip at the end of July with Sandy, Amy, Dad, Nol, and Chris. I can't wait!

Last weekend Sandy & I cruised on up to Riverside for an Oscar party Shane was hoasting complete with BBQ, fruit, cookies, chips, dips, whips... The usual. We had a great time and it was good to see my Northern Friends Shane, Kellie, Ron, and Jay, and to meet some new ones. Sandy won the "Who's Going To Win" Contest, beating out Shane on the final award for Best Picture. Good times. Good times.

A New Religion

2006-02-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

I was surfing around, as I am want to do, when I came across this article by Lore Sjöberg (of the now defunct Brunching Shuttlecocks). I found it most humorous and enlightening.

I was watching Saving Private Ryan yesterday when I noticed for the first time that Nathan Fillion is in the movie as Private James F. Ryan from Minnesota.

Two Firefly references in two days? Coinky-dink? A blot in the Matrix? I think not. I say that Firefly works in mysterious ways. We shouldn't question The Divine Plan!

Verily I Say Praise Be To Unto Firefly and All It's Heavenly Host!!! From Which The Sky Can Not Be Taken!

Amen.

MySpace Pictures Added

2006-01-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

I've added pictures to MySpace. Check them out here.

Hello and Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

New Year, New Blog! I'll start it off with an End of 2005 summary: I had a fine holiday season which began with our annual trip to Disneyland. Which was a great time, of course! Christmas Day was fun, Santa was quite good to me, and Sandy & I hosted brunch for our parents (and Amy). New Year's Eve was nice, spent the day with the Lees and Midnight was brought in quietly with Sandy and Ted.

Mom Rides Space Mountain!

2005-09-13T23:03:00.000-07:00

Mom and I went to Disneyland today.

We actually drove up the last night. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and checked out Downtown Disney. We stayed at a local hotel and were there for the park opening this morning, something Mom had never done.

Mom rode Space Mountain for the first time in her life! We spent the whole day there, ate at the Blue Bayou (right on the water's edge), rode every ride we wanted to, shopped around, and just had a splendid time!

Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

You've all heard about the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. They can use your help. Here are some links:

How to Help/Donate:
FEMA: Help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The Red Cross Give Blood.
New Orleans: How to Help
Best Buy is matching donations to The Red Cross made at their stores.

Government Links:
FirstGov: Hurricane Katrina Recovery.
Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Other Information:
Survival of New Orleans blog, you can start here: August 27, 2005. Here's where he's at: 650 Poydras St.

New Orleans: Hall of Shame.
New Orleans: How to Help (includes Hall of Shame Updates).

Katrina Help.

New Orleans Times-Picayune Newspaper and their Breaking News Weblog.

WWLTV.com Local News Blog.CNN: Hurricane Katrina.

Photos:
Weather.com Slideshows:
Florida 1 Florida 2 Louisiana Mississippi Alabama.

Space Imaging.

Retro Post - One Day Rafting

2005-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day '05 and Amy's 30th B-Day Sandy & I took Dad & Amy river rafting with Whitewater Voyages on the Lower Kern River's 1-Day Big Water Run. We drove up to stay the night in Ridgecrest Friday evening, stopping at the Riverside Spagetti Factory for dinner. Yesterday morning we continued on to Kernsville and took our trip down river. This was Dad & Amy's first rafting trip. Coincidentally our guide was Rob (the same Sandy & I had just a few months earlier). It was a fantastic trip!

Serenity!

2005-08-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed that I've created an Index page featuring a promo for the new Firefly movie, Serenity.

Yup, that's right. In about 50 days (as of this post) the movie will be in theaters, and I can't wait! Hope to see you there!

Lower Kern Rafting

2005-06-15T14:53:00.001-07:00

Sandy & I went rafting over the last two days (06/13/05 - 06/14/05) with White Water Voyages on the Lower Kern. We went with a large group of friends as you can see if you click on the picture. We had an awesome time! When I get more pictures, I'll post them.

Update - Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Pictures now available here.

Wisdom Teeth

2005-05-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

On Friday May 13, 2005 I had oral surgery to remove all four of my wisdom teeth. The surgery started at about 1:30p and I was home by 4:30p. I was given nitrous-oxide by a nose mask, an IV injection that practically knocked me out (though, technically I wasn't completely put under), and full mouth/jaw nerve block via needle injection. They did it in that order and by the time the IV was in, I didn't feel or care about much else. I have only a vague (and in my opinion humorous) memory of the event:

During the procedure I remember becoming aware of a scrapping or scratching noise in my mouth. I began to lift my arm towards the nitrous mask hearing a voice say something to the affect of "Ah, here comes the inevitable nose itch" and they removed the mask presumably to let me scratch my nose. What I actually wanted was for them to up the dosage, and after some hand movements and assorted grunts (I couldn't talk - stuff was in my mouth), they got the message and returned the mask. My guess is that they acquiesced, because the next thing I remember I was lying in the car's passenger seat and Dad was driving me home.

I don't remember anything more coherent from the surgery. I have some odd images, but nothing I could describe, and nothing bad. I don't remember setting in the recovery chair, and I don't remember how I got in the car.

Dad got me home and helped me ice my mouth. I took a full dose of the Vicodin that had been prescribed to me days prior to the surgery. My jaw and tongue stayed numb and tingly until the next morning, and I slept most of the rest of Friday (though I did eat some Jell-O and pudding at various waking points). By Saturday morning I was feeling pretty well, and by the evening I felt pretty good and was taking only minimal doses of the pain-killers.

It's now Monday afternoon and I've been off the Vicodin for over 24 hours. My mouth doesn't feel perfect, there is still some tenderness where the teeth used to be, and I have to be careful not to get food caught back there, but it feels good all in all. I can actually feel relief. For the last year or so there has been pressure and irritation in the back of my mouth and in between my jaw. That's all gone!

I have a few more days of healing to go, and a follow-up appointment on the 24th. I have plenty of soup, Cream of Wheat, Jell-O, and pudding to eat. I'm feeling great and am happy to have finally done this! Thank you to Dr. Seul for the excellent work, and to my parents and Sandy for all of your help and support.

First Amendment News

2005-02-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Daily Illuminator - What's All This Liberty Stuff?

Survey Finds First Amendment
Is Being Left Behind in U.S. High Schools

Future of the First Amendment - Key Findings

Tune In to Day Glo

2004-11-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

If you love 80's music like I do, you'll enjoy this! Take a listen to the coolest internet radio station around: DayGloRadio (Tune in).

Update: Friday, March 30, 2007
DayGloRadio.com shut down a few years ago and was replaced with RadioNigel.

Retro Post - Disneyland for Amy's Birthday

2004-09-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Amy, Michelle, Sandy & I go to the Disneyland Resort to celebrate Amy's 29th Birthday.

Amy's B-Day at
Disneyland

New Employer: National Stores - Fallas Paredes

2004-09-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

I started my first day of work for Fallas Paredes (the company that purchased my former employer Factory 2-U). I am working at my old desk in the same building as before, though I am no longer responsible to answer the F2U Helpdesk Line, nor to handle any of their Support. During the next 30-90 days I'll be working to facilitate the merging of the two companies. No details have been figured out, yet. So for the next few days, at least, I've got nothing to do but show up and get paid. When "They" decide on a plan of action, I'll be here to Make It Happen. Of course, then I expect it to get quite busy.

And once the transition is complete, and Fallas fully takes over, I'll be back in charge of their POS Helpdesk and working out of their new Support Center which will exist down in Otay Mesa.

Larry started work today too, in the same capacity as myself. Sandy and Amy are still employed with F2U, and it's still uncertain for how long.

As the world turns...

2004-09-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. I am no longer employed for Factory 2-U. I have been laid off. F2U has been in Chapter 11 since January and was just purchased by a collection of interests lead by National Stores (who operates Fallas Paredes). Though technically it still exists to finish up all the paying off of creditors, etc. and to assist in the transition of assets to Fallas. Larry was also given his leave today too.

You can read about the news in this San Diego UnionTribune article.

On the up side, Sandy and Amy are still employed with F2U, though for how much longer is still unknown. Probably at least for another month, maybe more. Also, my bosses (Mark and Maris) both really like Larry and I as employees. Those two have been given offers by Fallas and they in turn are expecting to re-hire Larry and I soon. So basically, if all goes well we'll be employed again doing the same job with the same people, just for a different company. I should have a better idea of what's going to happen on Tuesday.

In other news, I took my bad DIMM back to ChipsandMemory. The DIMM is under warranty with the manufacturer and I was told if I brought it in they would send it off for me. However, they just did a straight out exchange. How cool is that? Now I just got to install it, I hope I can find the time... HA!

And finally, it looks like GoDaddy got their shit together and propagated my domain forwarding. So, bobclemins.com is working now after my registrar transfer.

GoDaddy Domain Transfer

2004-09-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of transferring my domain name (bobclemins.com) from my old registrar (Buy Domains) to a new one (GoDaddy). I'm making the change because GoDaddy offers (nearly) all of the same services, but at half the cost. Otherwise, Buy Domains has done a fine job for the last three years.

Larry had used GoDaddy before and had recommended them to me. I tried them out when I recently registered clemins.com and liked their service fine. It was time to renew bobclemins.com so I went for the lower rate.

Unfortunately, during this process, bobclemins.com may not work. It should all be back up within 48 hours (though I expect it to be much sooner). Until then, you can still visit my website by browsing directly to http://members.cox.net/bobclemins.

About my Weekend

2004-08-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Sandy and I saw the movie Garden State and tried a new place in El Cajon called Ali Baba's Family Restaurant. The movie was just ok. I thought it was well made (everyone was believable as who they were playing, etc.), but it was a downer movie and overall just ho-hum. Didn't really do it for me. Our lunch was great as the food at this Mediterranean eatery was yummy. I highly recommend it.

On Sunday I got together with Josh and Kirt. We three played Magic and then went to see the movie Hero. Kirt had bought some of his own cards and used them for the first time. It was also his first time playing a game with three people. The movie was great. I thought the martial arts were beautifully done and the store quite entertaining. The movie was reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, though a bit more artsy.

Yesterday I got a haircut and then hung out with my Mom. We went browsing at City Lights and then had lunch at Olive Garden.

Today's Site Update: Check out the new Bob & Sandy Photo Gallery.

Sandy Update, PC Issues

2004-08-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

Sandy's still having problems with the allergic reaction, but otherwise she's doing much better after her surgery (see Post 08/11). I'm sure she'd love to hear from you, drop her an e-mail.

Several days ago, I found out what was causing all of the problems on my home computer (see Post 08/05). Turns out one of my DIMMs was bad. I just don't have any luck with Memory, do I? Anywho, the other DIMM was fine and I reset up my system with only 512MB of RAM. I had to reinstall WinXP, which was a pain, but timely as SP2 has just come out so I was able to install that. I like the new version too. To those of you on WinXP, I highly recommend you update.

PC Issues, Kirt's Birthday

2004-08-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was working on my PC at home, trying to get WinXP to reinstall. The damn CD is bad. I kept getting copy errors. I've tried three different drives to no avail. Great, now I'm going to have to get another WinXP disc.

Last night, Sandy & I took Kirt out to Oggi's for his Birthday (with Karen & Trevor, of course). Then we all came back to our house to hang out and eat a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Good times, good times.

Sandy's Gall Bladder - Update

2004-08-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Sandy had an allergic reaction to something, presumably the antibiotics she received while in the hospital, so she's got a wonderful rash over most of her body. As if she wasn't uncomfortable enough! Doc gave her a Benadryl shot and a 'script for some other antihistamine. I hope she feels better soon.

Sandy's Gall Bladder

2004-08-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know Sandy went into the Emergency Room at Sharp Grossmont Hospital Sunday night. She was having sharp pain through her mid-abdomen. Turns out she had a gall stone impacted in her gall bladder that was causing a severe infection. She was admitted to the hospital and transferred to Sharp Memorial in Kearny Mesa. By Monday late afternoon she'd had a laparoscopic surgery to remove her gall bladder. The doctor later said her stone was about the size of a grape and she was acutely inflammed. She was kept overnight and after removing a "JP" drain tube from her side she checked out last night. I got her home at about 7:30p and she's there now.

As of this morning, she's uncomfortable, as to be expected, but happy to be home. Doc says it'll probably be about a week before she's better and may experience some effects for up to a month.

Bruce and Vote for Change

2004-08-06T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sandy e-mailed this Bruce Springsteen article to me. It was published in the New York Times yesterday. I agree with her that it is eloquent and well written. It puts things into an easily understood perspective. I checked out Bruce's site which includes details on Vote for Change, and a reprint of an Al Gore speech.

According to his site, the Vote for Change tour will be presented by MoveOn PAC, with all concert proceeds benefiting the work of America Coming Together (ACT).

PC Issues

2004-08-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

Friday I installed the latest MS patch and since then my home PC has been failing. WinXP sometimes won't finish booting (when the log on screen appears it just reboots). Or if it does, it immediately "encounters an error in Windows Explorer". Nice, eh? Grrr... Anyway, I tried deinstalling that update last night and now it seems even worse. C'est la vie. Looks like I'm going to have to reinstall XP (and everything else).

>sigh< :(

Parents to Germany, Disneyland Loner

2004-08-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

I took Mom & Dad to LAX early this morning. They're on their way to Germany to see Jeff, Steffi, and Julian. We got on the road at about 3:20a, arriving at the airport (after a breakfast stop) at around 6a. Their flight was scheduled for takeoff at 9:15a. It's a good thing we were there so early. The International Flights desk had just opened and we got in about third in line. By the time we got up to the desk the line stretched back over a hundred people!!! Whew! After getting their boarding pass and checking their luggage I left them at the security checkpoint on their way to the gate.

On the way home I went to the Disneyland Resort. Yup, to D-land all alone. I've never done that before and it was great! I got there as the park opened at 8a. I took the early morning time to look at some of the Main Street Shops while they were still empty. It was nice to have the stores to myself. Usually, they're so crowded! I learned about Mickey's All American Pin Festival. To play I had to answered seven Olympics-related questions on a card. I then took that card to various locations within the park, where they would check my answer (and if I didn't know, give hints until I got it right) and give me a stamp. At the final stop I got a free pin. :) Way cool!

I also experienced the joy of the Single Rider Line. Basically, as a single person you can go into the exit lane of most rides and skip the big line. You get put into any available seat on the ride. With Stand-by Line wait times between 30-60 mins I was able to ride California Screamin', the Maliboomer, and Mulholland Madness (each five times in a row) in about 90 mins. That was great fun! I also by-passed a 90 min wait for Splash Mountain and got on that in about 5 mins.

I stayed at the park for about 9 hours, and leaving at around 5p, got home at about 7:15p. A wonderfully long day indeed!

New Printer

2004-07-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

I bought a new HP PSC 2175 All-in-one printer. It's a printer, scanner, and copier. Additionally, it has a built-in multi-card reader. The card reader is handy and acts as a "removeable drive" for my PC. Oh, and it prints nicely.

New Jump Drive

2004-07-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

I received a Lexar 512MB JumpDrive Elite in the mail. I bought it off eBay for a nice savings (about 40% off retail)! Great for transmitting files from PC to PC.

San Diego County Fair

2004-06-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

Amy, Sandy, & I went to the San Diego County Fair. My favorite thing to do at the fair is to eat. And, Boy-Howdy! Did we eat! I had Australian Battered Potatoes w/Cheese & Ranch Dressing, Garlic Butter and Parmesan Cheese Indian Fry Bread, four Teriyaki Chicken Sticks, a Deep Fried Twinkie, an Italian Sausage Sandwich, Mini-Donuts, and an assortment of free samples. Oh, I shared a bit with Amy & Sandy, but I ate most of it. YUM! :D

We looked around the various vendors, rode a couple of rides (including the Mouse Trap - see picture), and played a few of the boardwalk games where I won a silly "Large" stuffed-animal lizard after beating Amy at a race - Ha! Ha! Sandy got her first "100" while playing SkiBall and won a couple of smaller stuffed-animals. We toured the Gem & Mineral Exhibit where I discovered a like/facination for the mineral Wulfenite. The cheapest selling specimen they had there was ~$150, too much for my blood. Sandy later found the mineral selling on eBay at much cheaper prices, so I'll be able to add a piece to my meager rock collection.

The finale came when I was hypnotized by Mark Yuzuik. This is actually the fourth time I've been in his show, dating back to 1991 at Magic Mountain. I'm such a ham too. Hee hee. It's fun. Among other things I was a World Class Air Guitarist, World Class Booty Shaker, and he "programmed" me to propose to Sandy, though "woke me up" before I actually went through with it. HA! Needless to say, Sandy & Amy really enjoyed the show too.

Journey to Atlantis

2004-06-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Sandy used her Star Freeloader Points to buy tickets for a "special" evening admission at Sea World for the new Journey to Atlantis ride. She took Amy & I and we later met up with Kirt, Karen & Trevor.

The Atlantis ride was quite a hoot and we got a "little" wet. Neat-o elevator. Trevor and I also had a good time at the Tide Pools, a personal favorite of mine since I was a very young kid.

Tomorrow it's off to the Fair!

Lower Kern Rafting - First Trip!

2004-06-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

For the first time I went River Rafting down the Lower Kern River with Whitewater Voyages. The river is off of Lake Isabella north-east of Bakersfield.

It was AWESOME! The adventure began when I went up to Riverside Saturday night with Larry & Angie. The three of us met up with other friends, and the whole group were on the road Sunday morning at 3:30a. Including a 1hr stop for breakfast the drive from Riverside to the Lake was about 4 hours. Our party consisted of 17 people: Larry, Angie, Shane, Ron, Elena, Jay, Matt, Kevin, Trish, Michelle, Paul, Randy, Alex, Ivan, a couple of others, and myself.

We arrived early and had plenty of time to load our gear into the trailer that would meet us halfway down the river for camping Sunday night. By around 11a we were on the water. I was in the Last, or Sweep, Boat with Ron & Jay in front, Shane & I in center, Lelena & Michelle in third, with our guide Justin in back. The rest of our party was divided up with Larry & Angie in the Lead Boat with the head guide, Mark. Boat 2 was piloted by Bret (with another guide-in-training, Jill).

You start out learning the various commands for paddling as given by your guide. The first day consists of gradually increasing rapids, classes I-III, with two stops for Jump Rock and lunch. The rock was about 20' off the water. We climbed up and jumped in. A real hoot! And lunch, WOW!!! They "spare no expense" - Such wonderful lunch meats, bread, fruit, veggies, cookies, chips, candy - YUM! After these stops you proceed with more rafting.

The river was fast so we got to camp early. There was plenty of time to set up tents, have "happy hour" (chips, salsa, and drinks) and rest before dinner. Also, we had time to Adventure Swim and Surf. To Swim we went up-river about 100' and jumped in the river going through a class 3 rapid with just a life jacket. Exciting! I did it three times. :) Then to Surf, the guides tied up a board (sort of like a boogie board) up-river and one would "ride" it into the river attempting to stand with the water rushing over you. I could not, though I tried three times. The only people who could stand were Jill and Elena. The women rocked! After the water play came dinner, and again it was amazing: I had steak, corn of the cob, salad, pasta, and more. We then played volleyball until it was too dark to see the ball, sat around the campfire eating smores, and partying.

Come morning the guides treated us to a wonderful breakfast (eggs, pancakes, bacon, OJ, bagles, granola, cheese, tortillas, etc.). The water level had risen overnight to the highest it'd been in four years. Another guide, Fillipe, and some other people with a fourth boat joined our expedition (though my boat remained Sweep). We got on the river around 10a, this time another guide (Wade) in a kayak went on ahead to video us. That was cool.

The second day has even better rapids, class III & IVs, even a class V (though you portage around it). Because of the water level, some of the guides were calling them class III+ & IV+. My boat also rescued Paul who got stuck standing on a rock in the middle of a Pinball, a class 4 rapid (ask me about Paul's Island sometime). It was such a rush! Again, two stops, a higher Jump Rock and another scrumptious lunch. Eventually it was over, the loaded us up, we drove back up-river to our cars, loaded those and drove home. I didn't want to leave. Hee hee...

Rafting Photo Album
Anyone who's ever interested in rafting in California should try Whitewater Voyages. Their guides are amazing and take such great care of you. They serve you the best food and are just a lot of fun. We all had such a great time we're going back next year!

New Computer

2004-05-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

My home computer has been chronically freezing now for the last few months, and progressively getting worse. I tried reinstalled W98 to no avail. I ran an assortment of diagnostic programs and found that either the RAM was bad, or the motherboard's RAM ports were bad. The computer (1GHz AMD Athlon, Via motherboard, built-in sound, 512MB RAM, 60GB IBM hard drive, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DLink 10/100 PCI NIC, GeForce2 32MB AGP card) was two years old and I didn't feel like wasting any more time. I'd been wanting to upgrade anyway, and here was a good excuse.

I had originally purchased the RAM from ChipsandMemory.com in San Diego with a Lifetime warranty. When the system went down I contacted them and the owner Alex told me that the Lifetime for that style of RAM was over, the manufactuer had stopped supporting it, as had they. However, he would give me store credit of my original costs if I bought new equipment. Excellent Customer Service!

Today I went by ChipsandMemory.Com and Best Buy to purchase hardware to assemble a new computer.

[06/15/04 Update: You can see a full list of the completed computer here.]

Disneyland - Larz & I

2004-05-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

Larry & I went up to D-Land. Good times. Good times.

Six Flags over Texas

2004-05-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Shawn, Sandy & I spent the day at Six Flags over Texas. I'd never been there before and it's not qutie Magic Mountain, but we still had a BLAST!!!

There were few people people in the park and we rode (nearly) all the rides. I especially enjoyed the Superman Tower of Power and the Texas Giant. The latter being one of the funest roller coasters I've ever been on, so much so I rode it three times. Wheeee!

Update - Friday, March 30, 2007
Pictures now available here.

More time in Texas

2004-05-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today the gang spent more time shopping and looking around the DFW area. Being a Grapevine City Planner, Cindy was very keen to show us the new Gaylord Texan resort. I must say it is quite impressive!We finished the day with a showing of Shrek II which I really enjoyed and thought was better than the first.

Update - Friday, March 30, 2007
Pictures now available here.

Off to Texas for Shawn's Graduation

2004-05-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Amy, Mr. & Mrs Lee, Sandy and I arrived yesterday at Dallas Fortworth Airport. We're here visiting Cindy, Richard, and Shawn in the small suburb of Grapevine, TX (just north of DFW) for Shawn's graduation from Colleyville Heritage High School. We spent the day shopping and looking around downtown Grapevine and tonight we start the celebrations with a BBQ Dinner Party.

Update - Friday, March 30, 2007
Pictures now available here.

Tower of Whee

2004-05-19T21:33:00.001-07:00

Sandy and I got back from the Disneyland Resort, spending the day at Disneyland and California Adventure. We rode the new Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for the first time. We were underwhelmed. It's Ok, it's Fun, but overrated. Anyway, we had our usual good time at D-Land, so that's what counts. :)

Here's a picture of us on California Screamin'.

JPL with Mr. Lee

2004-05-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

Mr. Lee and I drove up to Pasadena earlier today for the JPL Open House. They had various exhibits, the highlight of which was the Mars Tour that included life-size models of the MERs: Spirit and Opportunity.

On the way down we stopped off at Tom's Farm which is kind of like a baby Knott's Berry Farm. Neat little place. We ate at Señor Tom's and it was pretty good food!