Here and There Blog

One week from tomorrow I'll be on a plane to NY and embarking on this year's cruise to Bermuda! Too bad there's so much work to do between now and then. I've over scheduled myself and now have to figure out when I will pack, when I can get to the store to buy sanitizer and back-up vitamins, and then manage to line-up the next two trips without screwing something up. Well it always seems to get done so I won't think or even plan. All I really need to do is remember a passport, credit card, and some cash. One more day of work this week. Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing happens with crazy talk about closing borders!

It's my birthday and this is the drink!

At Houston's - yum!

You know you stay at one place too much when they greet you by name. It's also too much when that greeting goes "You really need a vacation. You are here all the time!" True. I am here all the time. It's a good think I like this hotel. So we discussed the Ren Times Square today and I was assured that I was going to love that hotel. And since the front desk clerk was from the Caribbean, he equally assured me that I would love Bermuda! Vacation - under two weeks to go!

Same photo but with the negative option engaged. I found this by accident when I was trying to zoom in.

What a great morning!

Oggi's - Yum! New menu and more beer on tap than just the Oggi's brew. Choice for all!

Whoo - hoo ! After lasik in January of 2003, my eyes are still at 20/25 and I can see! Each year I worry about the eye exam and if the dreaded glasses are back in my future but once again I passed the eye test! Life is always better when not looked through eye frames. As Homer would say 4/5 days done with the work week. Tomorrow I'm cooking burritos again and then Saturday it's time for a well deserved beer after a good week of work.

LAX to Beverly Hills to the OC to Th a Hood (and not the HollyHood) and then back to Beverly Hills with a return to LAX. Typing this is almost re-living the drive! Started at 9:00 am and back at 4:30 pm. I passed on dinner in Santa Monica and am looking forward to simple drinks and appetizers with a friend in a few minutes. Especially since I skipped dinner last night! What was up with that? Oh yeah, hotel boredom. It was easier to be hungry! Tonight I eat.

I still haven't figured out how I have more time to blog when ultra-busy and on the road but that's how it goes. I'm in a hotel room now and having stared at work long enough, forgotten a book, and TV sucks, here I am blogging. As you can see from the photos, I went to Fabulous Fords Forever! My favorite was the Cobra that had a big long story about how hard and how wonderful it is to be a Cobra owner. The car was crowded so no photo. Oh well. I had fun but after a few hours in the heat, all the cars started looking the same so I bailed out to the Knott's shops. This week is one of the LA weeks where I'm driving people around so not much will happen. I am so on the cruise countdown now! Less than 3 weeks to go!

At the Ford show

Few things are worse than getting your mind set on a food and beer item that you're about to have only to find the restaurant of choice gone! OGGI's at North County Fair had been the only bright spot in the world of mall dining and a go-to for almost 4 years. No more.

Someone is after my Stone IPA!

Guinness at BJ's. This has been a great beer week!

Stamp collecting isn't something that I think of and didn't believe a whole play could revolve around stamps but Mauritius does that. The back story is the Mauritius One Penny & Two Penny rare stamps that resurface after a death and impair any reunion between two half sisters. What follows is a tale of stamp collectors, obsession , and the violent extremes that some people resort to in order to obtain the coveted prize. Who gets the stamps and how is the suspense of Mauritius . The Cygnet Theater Company's production on the Rolando Stage was extremely well cast and each actor brought believability of the character to life. The plot was easy to follow and the only drawback I had was that I didn't like anyone in this world of stamps. Maybe that's why I don't collect - too much boredom as one hunts for the trophy. The sets were well done and made a nice transition between a home and a collectible shop and the theater had great sound. I was entertained for the ...

Not the normal 3 or 2 piece fish portion but one giant fish. The cut is where I started to let the steam out before I remembered to take a picture. I must have moved the camera for the blurred effect.

The fireplace being inside the Princess Pub in Little Italy.

I avoid Universal because as far as theme parks go, it's expensive and only good for 3 hours of entertainment. After a 7 or 8 year break, I gave it a go again. At least the attractions have been redressed so there's something new to look at in that 3 hours. Homer - the gift shop would get you for sure at Krustyland! We passed on the rides but this did look like fun! Shaggy and Scooby strike a pose for the bus Mango Lemonade at Bubba Gumps after the day Sohail, my guest from Pakistan

After being put to blogging shame by reading how actively my fellow bloggers have been this week, it's time for an update. Basically when I'm quiet here means that work has been - work. I'm semi-looking forward to the weekend but the trees in the park have bloomed again and sneezy is my name. I'm sure I can hold it together for tonight's event - Mauritius at the Rolando Theater. Tomorrow I have an unexpected host a tourist day in LA with one of the work guys from Pakistan . Last time it was Long Beach and the Queen Mary, my best guess is that we'll end up at Universal Studios this time (pending weather). Then Sunday it looks to be a repeat of beer and chips at the Princess Pub in Little Italy, after Homer & I view a fried chicken training video for my work. It's always strange when others have to get sucked into the randomness of my job. Here's wishing you all Happy Easter, Chocolate Bunnies, Peeps, and so on. Enjoy the weekend!

Cruise Trek has a web site again and I've reposted the link to the left of the blog. This year's cruise is to Bermuda. For those not viewing from the blog go to www.cruisetrek.com

Sunday was all about getting caught up on fun projects so I met up with Scrappin Bernie and LJ in the desert. The goal was to relax, have fun, and craft away and the goal was met. Above, Bernadette is organizing kid's photos and below, LJ is pondering away on her new card design. Me, well no photo but I got the Bahamas pictures all in the album and am now caught up until I return from Bermuda. I leave 4 weeks from today!

Spring has arrived, bringing the Flower Fields along for the season. About 1/2 the lot is in bloom and the crowds are still manageable. The entire field should peak over the next couple of weeks.

In no possible way should corn and George Clooney ever be linked except in my brain. Dreams like this are a sure sign that too much is going on in my head. Normally I dream about work, online activity, and the usual nonsense dreams. This week I've been writing corn cob cooking and holding procedures. This should be easy but when it has to be technical and easy with visual training materials, corn can be quite time consuming. So when Mondo called the other night, I was deep into day one of corn. Mondo's call had to do with Cesar Chavez Day which I didn't realize existed in holiday form. It's not on my work calendar so in my mind, it doesn't exist. I guess the creators of the work calendar don't include holidays that we don't get as days off so we don't get ideas. Anyhow, the call (before Mondo explained I thought she was in a random world of her own) set off the conversation about theater and Mondo's new exploration. This later brought in the Cl...