My San Diego Trip Debrief

Some of you know that I went on a one-day San Diego trip two weeks ago. It was my cousin Jay's wedding and I flew in and out for a day trip-slash-mini family reunion. It was fun. Here's the debrief:

6:42 AM
I depart from San Ramon to drive to SFO (that's San Francisco International Airport, for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym. Please don't ask what the "O" stands for. No one knows. Let's say it stands for "October", the month in which I made this trip.)

The Moon and Venus shine brightly in the early morning sky. Today, October 6th, is the day before Venus shines brightest for Earthlings. (You have to click for the enlarged version so you can see Venus. My camera phone doesn't do it justice.)



7:38 AM
It only took me about 30 minutes to get to SFO and another 20 or so to park and stroll through security. I didn't bring a single piece of luggage because I wasn't spending the night. All I brought were my boarding passes and a card for Jay and Jenny. I had enough time to get my scuffy shoes "spit" shined. I don't know what the difference between "shoe shine" - $5, and "spit shine" - $7, but this guy did a good enough job, I guess. My shoes looked pretty much like new.

This was my first shoe shine ever.



9:30-ish AM
I arrive in San Diego with little fanfare.

But a lot of shuttle fare.

I was initially going to get a ride from my brother who was already in San Diego, but the timing of my arrival at the airport and his drive to the wedding was just off enough to warrant a taxi or shuttle ride to the Bali Hai Restaurant where the wedding and reception were to take place. First I asked a taxi driver how much it would be to make the 3-mile drive from San Diego Airport (let's call it SD"O", for short since I don't know the actual FAA acronym) to Bali Hai and I got a ridiculous quote of $14. In the grand scheme of things that doesn't sound like much, but really? More than $4 per mile? I can go like 25 miles with $4 of gas. (Yes, I have a lead foot.) So, instead, I ask a shuttle driver how much he would want for the job.

He said $13.

10-ish AM
The wedding was charming and quaint.

The Chinese aunties and uncles were also "charming" and "quaint." Especially when a half dozen of them crowded the aisle to snap away with their Cybershots, preventing the paid professional from being able to do his job. Way dropped the ring box. The officiant forgot to tell people to sit. (And then forgot to ask the bride and groom to exchange rings.) But it was still very pleasant and winsome.

Below are some pictures from the reception:

Dave looking ravishing in his mom's sunglasses.


Chris and Chiaty

Dave and Andrey


Jay's dad gave a very nice and moving toast. He teared up and cried while reminiscing about Jay's inhuman Taco Bell ingesting skills. It's true. He did. Too bad there wasn't a professional wedding videographer around to document it! :-

Way, Jay's brother and best man, also gave a nice toast. Oh wait! There WAS a professional videographer in the house! ME! Good thing I had my trusty Cingular 8525 on hand. You can see the toast below.



After the ceremony and reception, all the Huang side of the family (that's my mom's side, fyi) went over to Auntie Debbie's house for dinner and hanging out. But before that, I tagged along with my brother to the Apple Store so he could get the iPod Nano that Annie and I bought for my mom's birthday. My brother works at the Apple Store in Los Gatos - the closest store to what some Mac Evangelists call Mecca, a.k.a. Apple Headquarters, Cupertino. He says that Steve Jobs stops in sometimes so the staff there is always on pins and needles.

Anyway, while at Auntie Debbie's house we had a good time just talking and remembering old times. We also made an effort to take the famous Cousins Photo that we always take when we're there. The last time we took it, it was in the 80's. When I track down the old photo, I'll post it side by side with this one so you can see how dorky we are/were.

My brother sacrificed some cousin-bonding time to chauffeur me back to SDO. It was a good thing he dropped me off with plenty of time to spare because when I stepped out of the car, the curb was the shore to a sea of frustrated, delayed air-travellers. There was a siren sounding and flashing lights in the airport and everyone had been evacuated.





"Cool!", I thought to myself. Perhaps no I can be an integral part of a terror plot overthrow! Maybe I can tackle an escaping hijacker or trip an unknowing hostage taker. No such luck. There were firemen on hand and they ran into the Southwest terminal, hose in hand, but I couldn't figure out what was going on.



Shortly after the firemen went in, they came back out and besides the reassuring "no one will miss their flights" announcement over the PA, there wasn't a peep about what was going on. I made it back home only about an hour late coming home if even that late. It was a fun trip and my only regret was that we couldn't shrug pragmatics aside and bring the whole family for a multi-day trip.
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A few more pictures:

Jay and his lovely bride, Jenny.

Way

Chris and Lainey


Say "Cheeze"!

Moses, Chosen by Tinkerbell

Copy/pasted from NewsBusters.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

By Kristen Fyfe

Radio Disney is bleeping "God" from ad copy for the upcoming movie "The Ten Commandments."

Seriously.

The folks at Liberty Counsel sent out notices on Monday and Tuesday of this week letting people know about a copy of an email they had in which a Radio Disney representative was advising a media buyer to delete the words "chosen by God" in ad copy for the movie "The Ten Commandments" which opens on October 19. To see the email, and also the petition that Liberty Counsel has to get Radio Disney to reconsider this decision you can click here. [this link was broken the last time I checked. - AH]

The apparently offensive words are used to describe Moses, you know, kind of a key player in the whole Ten Commandments story. Which comes from the Jewish and Christian scriptures, also known as THE BIBLE.

Just who does Radio Disney think is going to be offended by advertising copy that says Moses was chosen by God? Has political correctness so polluted thinking that the word "God" needs to be censored from copy advertising what amounts to a bible story?

In what may be one of the greatest one-liners ever uttered by a CEO, Frank Yablans who heads up Promenade Pictures, the studio releasing the movie, said, "Who does Disney think chose Moses - Tinkerbell?"

Well, maybe Mr. Yablans. Or maybe media-darling and everyone's favorite atheist Christopher Hitchens is making advertising decisions for Radio Disney now.

Random Video of the Day

Here is my first Random Video of the Day.
On the way home after picking up Hannah...

House Update (yet another)

The last time we went to the house, it was to accompany the window-dressing people. We are getting some shutters and blinds installed by some folks at a Livermore-based company called Mimi's.

While we were there, we saw some contractors working pouring the driveway cement and another remarkable things. Marble tiles were ready for installation and the contractors made quick work of the fireplace stonework.

Here are some photos.
(These photos were taken 10/4/07)

The marble tiles for our master bath:


Master shower enclosure:


Hannah being patient and good while the shutters people measured our windows:



Some contractors working on our fireplace. They worked very fast. In less than two hours, they finished the fireplace stonework:

Go-Ped

Annie just ordered a GoPed for me from their website.

I've wanted one five years ago when I was working at Radica and a co-worker had one. It's basically just a souped up Razor Scooter (or a stripped down version of those obnoxious motorized scooters that were all the craze with pubescent tweens in 2005.)

The GoPed (KnowPed Model) is durable and has a wide platform for adult-sized feet. There are rear brakes like those on a Razor but it also has a bicycle style hand brake for the front tire. The tire isn't an inflatable rubber tire with an innertube, but it is big and rubber so bumps and sidewalk cracks are much more muted than on a Razor.

Best of all, it's made in the USA.

It's wicked awesome. Here's a short video clip from the driver's seat.

Jones Soda

Those of you that know me fairly well or have hung out with me at my house - say, during a Saturday morning furniture-moving extravaganza - know or have an inkling that I often drink energy drinks like Rockstar or Jones Soda Energy.

I prefer Jones over Rockstar because it tastes better, but I have to admit that Rockstar will jack you up if you're not ready for it. (Like if you drink a can at 11pm, you won't be able to sleep until 4am.) Incidentally, Jones Soda Green Apple is the best tasting soda on the planet (you can find it at Target.)

I just read that Jones is releasing some new flavors for their Energy line of drinks.

Get a load of this:

Clare Bowles, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based company, said the four literally named flavors -- Dirt, Sports Cream, Perspiration and Natural Field Turf -- are "pretty lifelike."
"Perspiration Soda is kind of salty tasting," she said, with a slightly higher sodium content than the average soda, with a smooth, "stinky football sock" finish.

A sip of Sports Cream Soda conjures up the experience of rubbing ointment into an aching muscle, while Natural Field Turf Soda is like "playing tackle football, and you get tackled really hard, you're down on the ground and you get a little bit of the grass in your teeth," Bowles said.

The only sweet soda of the bunch, Sweet Victory, has a berry flavor.

See more at CNN Money or at the Jones Soda Website.

Lowering Expectations

Not too long ago, I was driving through the windy roads of backwoods Sebastopol and nearby Occidental. Naturally, I was driving... shall we say, "with gusto" or "enthusiasm" because, doggonit; is there another way to do it?

I was eventually told by someone that I shouldn't drive so enthusiastically because kids (specifically, my kids) will emulate that behavior and they may not have the same skillset for outstanding Formula One-caliber racecar driving techniques as I obviously have. In other words, don't drive fast (read: excellently) because the kids might not be able to.

To me that sounds like lowering expectations for my children.

It sound like "don't be so good at basketball in front of the kids because they might hurt themselves when they try to do the same things you do."
or
"Don't be a doctor because your kids might not be able to cut it in med school."
or
"Don't show so much interest in the culinary arts because if the kids play in the kitchen, they might get burned."

I would rather raise the kids' expectations and aspirations and help them achieve those goals.

Wireframe Toyota Corolla

It would have been much easier to make this wireframe model with a 3D rendering application in virtual space. But then, you wouldn't be able to call your buddies over to pick it up and load it in a truck.

Check it out:

This sculpture was made by artist Benedict Radcliffe.

Bush Katydid

Nope. This isn't another political thread. This is a post about a strange bug that Annie found on the steps of our apartment. It is a katydid. A bush katydid. It's a kind of grasshopper whose wings look like a leaf. Better photos can be seen at this Google link.


Annie found it one night and I caught it to get a better look in the light. I let it go. The next day, it was still on our stoop so I caught it again and kept it in a little terrarium that I had previous built for our temporary pet lizard.


When the kids got home, I took Zach's suggestion and fed the poor katydid to our turtle, Pax.

Here are some pictures of the poor creature and a sort of insect snuff film of it getting eaten by Pax.

Paris Versus Dave

Dave comes off a little like a bully in this interview and you almost (emphasis on almost) feel sorry for Paris, but this is pretty funny nevertheless.