Old Town Sunday Brunch

Sometimes it's okay to go where the tourists go. When you want a filling breakfast but not a buffet and it's a sunny day, then Old Town San Diego has plenty of choices. Of course parking is not fun and the lines are long so choices 1 and 2 are out but Cafe Coyote has parking and tons of seating. So you end up there.

 A Foursquare check-in netted a free quesadilla appetizer. Score!

Huevos Estrada. I should have loved it. Cheese enchiladas topped with scrambled eggs and sour cream. Too bad it was so covered in sauce it was like eating soup. Such is Cafe Coyote but again, parking is free and easy and seating is only a few minute wait. Still the tortillas are good and I left plenty full.

Old Town is an easy place to stroll around and let the breakfast settle. We wandered around the outside Whaley House but not ghosts came by to greet us. Adios!

Coaster Fun

It never gets old. This coaster madness was inspired by Deadmau5 at the Grammy's. Other than that, a normal beer night at Karl Strauss with an Oatmeal Stout for me.

 An a Red Trolley Ale for AussieMac. (less than amused that I made her do this)



February 14

 Sometimes it's okay just to reflect on life and enjoy the moment.



The Phantom Menace 3D

The faded ticket stub reads 27 May 77 $1.50. That was the day that changed the lives of my group of friends forever. We were part of the original Star Wars fans who sat in line for hours, multiple time, memorizing scenes (still quoted today) and having a great time. I have almost every theater ticket stub from over the years for all the movies from various states where I've seen Star Wars. From parody plays to concerts, conventions and the like. Even though today with the new movies it's a love-hate relationship there was no doubt in my mind that I'd be seeing Phantom Menace 3D.

And so I did. What can I say? It's still a disappointment in that it could have been so much better. Did 3D enhance anything? Not in the way I thought it would. The underwater scenes, lightsaber duel (still the best ever) and the pod-racing weren't better with 3D. Where it shown was in small details, the glowing lights on Queen Amidala's dress, the random scenes of Tatooine, the senate and the background races all had elements that could be observed in 3D that don't seem to stand out on the regular screen. It was nice seeing Qui-Gon for a couple of hours and a young Obi-Wan.

The theater was fairly full and a good portion of the audience was under 10 years of age and had probably never seen Phantom Menace on the screen.  While this movie was not for me, it was for them and it's good to see a new generation of fans being born.

Diehards - just go see it. Support the franchise, remember the fun. Everyone else, it's probably okay to skip. After all - John Carter of Mars is just around the corner!

And yes, my ticket stub from this screening is now in my Star Wars scrapbook!

Temecula Wine Tasting

What a fun wine day in Temecula Wine Country! The red wines were the winners of the day. This top photo came from Monte De Oro winery with outdoor seating, award winning wines, and a decent selection for everyone.

First stop was at Keyways. We tried new wines that we'd never had before. At this stop, it was best to go with tried and true varietals but we took the adventure tasting risk. Temecula is an easy day trip from LA,  San Diego, and compared to Napa, a total bargain. Tastings ran from $5 (with coupon) to $17. We ended up sharing tastings and that worked out well. If there were six tastes, we each chose 3 and still got to use and keep our own glass.

 Nothing like a glass ceiling/floor to look down at the drinkers below.

 Cheers!

House Fun Continues

Once the "all clear" is given by the bug company, the gas company has to come out and turn back on the gas, relight all the pilots, and do a general safety check of the house. All good and it's nice to have a neutral person look around who doesn't want to sell you anything. So the words "your hot water heater is toast" were not what I was prepared to hear and at the same time, I knew it was bad. Not, you might want to replace that soon but replace asap. Ugh.

A call to the local plumber and $941 and 3 hours later a new hot water heater was in and ready to go. Monday brings a new garage door opener. The adventure never ends.

Termite Treatment Details

The termite treatment contract has tons of small print. I read and re-read and was still finding new stuff the day before the tenting. Important details that people should know:

1) If your house is not fully free-standing, you have to have your neighbor's consent for the worker's to enter adjoining yards. My garage wall is next to my neighbor's driveway. We share a common fence that had to be broken for the tent to wrap around my house. I'll see the damage later this week. It's a good thing I told the  what was going on.

2) Water and plants. If you want to not kill plants, you have to soak the yard around the house to a depth of 6 inches otherwise the poison kills the plants. This is a lot of a water and takes up to 4-6 hours of soaking. I'm pretty sure my plants will die. I'll let you know.

3) More water. This is used to fill up the basin of the tent to act a weight to keep it in place. They dig up your yard for the water to drain.

4) Electricity. Fans are running the whole time and your power is used for the process.

5) You have to double bag all food and medication. If you have a lot of food, start throwing parties because it is a lot easier to eat than to pack. Anything not protected gets thrown away.

6) Costs. I'm not sure yet. My house is almost 2300 sq. feet and the base cost of the tenting was $2100. This goes up or down depending on the size of a house. It's like buying a car. The tent can cost X but if you buy the warranty and get annual treatment the next cost is Y.

7) Terminix has a check for $2439 from me.  Of course I signed up for the annual treatment. I'll post my water and electric bill increases next month.

8) This is all for drywood termites. Prices change if you have the subterranean termites or worse, both.

9) Gas is turned off during the process. You have to have the gas company return when the "all clear" is posted and relight all the pilot lights.