Here and There Blog

Clouds still hovered around Saturday morning and the beach was nicely empty of people. Days like this are the best for a good work-out.  Surf was choppy and a bit rough. Even the water was nearly empty of surfers.

I sit here verifying my Quart to Litre conversions and checking my facts, pondering why sometimes the dry weight conversion matches and sometimes the liquid when everything in the end state becomes a liquid. This makes no sense at all to me but the measuring cups show differently.  When I don't blog it doesn't mean I'm out having fun, it means I am involved deep in the burger sauce.  This week my appointed task was to prepare specialty sauces and confirm the final volume of the mix. Is it 5:00 pm yet?

Saturday was rainy but all was sunny inside LJ's house with her new dog Arrow.  Spot had to get herself in the picture too but of course, couldn't look at the camera. Arrow's cone head was due to his recent snip-snip!  Then it was off to Riviera Club for a great dinner and conversation.  Cheers! Yes, that's a diet coke in my hands. It was raining and I was the driver for the night. Gotta stay safe!

I work from home which in most cases is a wonderful thing with minimal distractions. As Carlsbad once again braces for a storm the palms outside are taking full advantage of the winds to brush and thump at the  window. This is how the tree really looks right now. The trees look so innocent. No one would believe how loud a palm can be until you hear it for yourself. It rivals the sound of the basketballs that routinely smack the other side of the house. At any rate, days like this make for a lot of distractions from work. Only a few hours of work left and let the storm stay away until after rush hour for all the road warriors out there. This is tree in my mind's eye.

I have to give some love to the Coinstar Machine. You put in coins and stuff comes out. I used to save all my coins and cash them in for a fun restaurant visit or concert ticket. Over time the 12% fee made it less fun. Until now.  Coinstar lets you redeem full value for business partners such as Amazon, iTunes, Stabucks and others. So I stuck the jar in my purse and went off to cash in my coins. I ended up with a $46 Amazon credit and $40 in iTunes credit. Plus due to the Coinstar / iTunes special, I'll get an additional $10 credit in a few weeks. Not only I didn't lose any money in fees, I gained money. Now that's a great day. Guess Coinstar is my valentine this year!

What a perfect weekend. Sunny, warm, no work intruding on the agenda. First up, a brief exercise out at Tamarack.  The fun was over it was time to return to yesterday's project of weed-whacking. One yard waste bin full time to start on the second.  A couple hours later, two yard waste bins full and plenty of leftover for when these are emptied out on Thursday.  Except for two new gopher holes, this section is almost back under control.

When I have visitors here for work, I normally take them for a few hours of sightseeing to get away from hotel life. Since Sunday was the Super Bowl, I knew traffic would be light so off we went. First up, the mandatory stop at Hollywood & Highland.  Time to find the stars! My choice today - Jackie Chan  Ramez went with the King of Pop Then it was off to Santa Monica Pier. Even though I drive by this all the time and tell guests "that's the pier" I had never set foot on it until this day.  And looking out at the ocean the fog is already rolling back in.

Mondo and I went to Anthology in Little Italy last night to see Al Stewart. As always I enjoyed the show and liked the venue but next time will splurge for better seats. Way in the back of the bar it was empty which was good but we had the barrier of the bar and bartenders between us and the stage.

Ever since Oggi's opened up in Garden Grove, the work trips are a lot better.  The service isn't the best but the beer is faithfully good to the San Diego operations. Torrey Pines IPA, I salute you!  Ramez gets to try his first US microbrew. Sunset Amber Ale. It was approved.

Last night was the 22nd Anniversary party at the Karl Strauss Brewery and who could pass at the opportunity to taste new beer? Not me! First up (figured in case I was a light weight, I'd start strong) was the first and only pouring of the 23 Anniversary Ale that is getting locked in the barrel today to be unseen until next year. I was surprised how tasteless a "new" beer is and am looking forward to the final aged version. You can't drink good beer alone, so Homer joined me. Turns out I even ran into a friend and made some new ones. Drinking in a brewery can do that.  They even gave us a little beer book. I ended the night with a Full Suit Belgium Brown Ale.