I had a Chase credit that I stopped using about year ago. I travel to Detriot and New York City frequently for business - at minium, four or five trips a year to NYC and about twice that many to Detriot. I also visit Chicago and one or two other cities. I have been traveling like this for the past five years or more. However, every time I used my personal Chase credit card out side the LA area they would turn my card off because of their fraud alert system. I would understand if it only occurred when I went to odd location, but purchases in NYC or Detriot are not a unique thing for me.
Now I appreciate their deligance preventing fraud, but after more than five years of using my card in NY and Detriot you would think they would get used to the idea that I travel on business. One weekend after a Detriot trip, I went on an erran run. First stop; Home Depot. I can't remember what I was buying but I didn't bring my wallet, just my money clip so I only had the one credit card with me and sure enough - no can use becuase of the fraud allert. I had to get out of line and spend 10 minutes on the phone verifying my two purhases in Detriot and then get back in line again to try to buy them a second time.
Okay, I can deal with that - they do this every time so I am used to it. Next stop, the drug store. Well sure enough, the card doesn't work again. I have to get back on the phone to verify the same purchases one more time. This time, I am a little upset so I let them know that I just verified these purchases and my next stop is at the grocery store and I don't want to have to go through this process for a third in a half hour. "Of course not, sir. Your card will definately work." I don't think I have to tell you what happens at Von's: card no worky again! :( Now I am seriously pissed. I have never used the card again.
Okay, I told you that old story so I can tell you this new one.
My bank, Washington Mutual was purchased by Chase. They haven't closed any location in Conajo Valley, just swichted them over to Chase so it didn't seem like any big deal and it wasn't, until...
I typically only use my ATM card for cash. While I can use my ATM at most stores, I use my credit cards instead to rack up the points. Well, the credit cards have been creeping up so I decided to use my ATM card more to prevent the credit cards from getting out of hand. I just used it one weekend at a couple of stores. A few weekend laters when I needed some cash I went to use my card and got an "unable to access your account" message. What the !?!?!?
I had go inside the bank to talk to a teller. She can't help me, I have to call the fraud allert hotline. That's when it dawned on me - this is the same Chase Bank that owns my credit card that has been hiding unused at the back of my wallet. After a short phone call, I verifed the purchases I made and was able to then get some cash out the of the ATM machine.
That was over three months ago. Yesterday, I needed cash again and low and behold... same message - no cash for you fool. The fraud allert was on agian! For the same purchases I made in May! Even the lady on the phone was surprised it was on hold for purchases made so long ago. I guess this is Chase's way of making sure you don't actually use their card for any useful purpose.
Damn, I hate those guys. Does anyone have a bank they would recommend?
Sunday, July 19, 2009
4th of July Vacation
I was slow to post this story because the whole family was there which make up the majority of my readers, but I decided to post now to give you all an update.
Every year my family tries to get everyone together to go camping somewhere. This year we camped near Slide Rock just North of Sedona, AZ. It is a day trip away from the Grand Canyon and is up in the Mountain near Flagstaff so you don't have the desert heat. Unfortunately, we couldn't get into the main camp ground so we didn't have flush toilets nor showers.
Both of my girls are taking summer classes this year so they couldn't come along. Lucky for me Beth and Nathon were able to drive up with us so I didn't have to put my back to the test with a long drive. I made Beth drive while I watched movies with Nathon in the back.
The first day of vaction was spent driving - all day. The second day was spent shopping for food and supplies for the rest of the week and searching around for a Honda dealer to replace a lost gas cap. So the vacation really didn't start until day three. While one group went to the Grand Canyon, Tania and I decided to check out the town of Sedona.
I forgot to mention that the camp ground was located in a canyon so there was not phone survice available. Well, after a few hours of shopping in Sedona I pulled out the phone to call Sherri only to notice that I had five messages waiting for me. Dan (Tania's dad) had a heart attack that morning and was recovering in the hospital.
Well needless to say, that was the end ot the vaction. Tania and I quickly packed up and drove back home. Dan is doing fine now. We woke up with moderate pain in his chest. By bed time it was still there and bothersome enough so he couldn't get to sleep so they went to the hosiptal. His EKG didn't show anything but lucky for him the doctor decided to keep him overnight for observation. Everyone would later learn that the decision to keep him over night ended up being a life saving decision. Dan had a major heart attack at 5 AM. The vein they call the widow maker (I don't know the offical name) was 99% blocked. The doctor said that if he wasn't in the hospital it is unlikely he would have survived.
Modern medicine is a wonderous thing. They blow up the vien with a baloon, support it with a shunt and sent him home the next day. It's been nearly two weeks and he is already back to work (and likely working too much and too hard) and is exercising agian. Dan has always been good about excerising but he has to slowing work up to good long walks on the treadmill. He is 72 years young and this is the first issue he has had with his heart so we are all hoping he will have a good, long lasting recovery.
Every year my family tries to get everyone together to go camping somewhere. This year we camped near Slide Rock just North of Sedona, AZ. It is a day trip away from the Grand Canyon and is up in the Mountain near Flagstaff so you don't have the desert heat. Unfortunately, we couldn't get into the main camp ground so we didn't have flush toilets nor showers.
Both of my girls are taking summer classes this year so they couldn't come along. Lucky for me Beth and Nathon were able to drive up with us so I didn't have to put my back to the test with a long drive. I made Beth drive while I watched movies with Nathon in the back.
The first day of vaction was spent driving - all day. The second day was spent shopping for food and supplies for the rest of the week and searching around for a Honda dealer to replace a lost gas cap. So the vacation really didn't start until day three. While one group went to the Grand Canyon, Tania and I decided to check out the town of Sedona.
I forgot to mention that the camp ground was located in a canyon so there was not phone survice available. Well, after a few hours of shopping in Sedona I pulled out the phone to call Sherri only to notice that I had five messages waiting for me. Dan (Tania's dad) had a heart attack that morning and was recovering in the hospital.
Well needless to say, that was the end ot the vaction. Tania and I quickly packed up and drove back home. Dan is doing fine now. We woke up with moderate pain in his chest. By bed time it was still there and bothersome enough so he couldn't get to sleep so they went to the hosiptal. His EKG didn't show anything but lucky for him the doctor decided to keep him overnight for observation. Everyone would later learn that the decision to keep him over night ended up being a life saving decision. Dan had a major heart attack at 5 AM. The vein they call the widow maker (I don't know the offical name) was 99% blocked. The doctor said that if he wasn't in the hospital it is unlikely he would have survived.
Modern medicine is a wonderous thing. They blow up the vien with a baloon, support it with a shunt and sent him home the next day. It's been nearly two weeks and he is already back to work (and likely working too much and too hard) and is exercising agian. Dan has always been good about excerising but he has to slowing work up to good long walks on the treadmill. He is 72 years young and this is the first issue he has had with his heart so we are all hoping he will have a good, long lasting recovery.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Father's Day
No pictures for this post. We didn't do a lot for fathers day this year. Amber had to work and summer school started on Monday so she couldn't come down. This year Crystal proved that the best presents don't require a lot of money, just thoughtfulness. She burned me a music CD. That doesn't sound like much does it? Especially if you consider that I already have most of the songs she burned on the disk. However, I think you will change your mind after you read the letter that came with the CD.
To Dad
From Crystal
This is a mix CD of songs that remind me of you. Many of them are songs that you would sing to in the car. Take Me to the River, Money for Nothing, Lullaby, Jewel, etc. Then, of course, there is Diamond on the Soles of Her Shoes.
Some of them are songs that have men with deep voices singing, which makes me think of you for some reason. What a Wonderful World is one of those. Also, I remember it played on the radio one day and after the song was over you said very seriously that you thought that that song is one of the best songs of all time. I always think of you saying that when I hear the song.
Some just have lyrics that remind me of you. Dancing on Daddies Shoes is one of those because of how you’ll often just randomly dance with me. The Killers songs Daddy’s Eyes wouldn’t make me think of you if it weren’t for the line “You know you got your daddy’s eyes.” I have blue eyes like you. The Pink Floyd song Nobody Home makes me think of you because of a memory I have of you pointing out the lyric “I’ve got a strong urge to fly, but I got nowhere to fly to” and saying what a great line that is. I remember I didn’t notice the line when listening to the song, but thinking it was a beautiful lyric after you pointed it out. Now I can’t hear that part of the song without noticing it. The Paul Simon song Father and Daughter makes me think of you because for one, pretty much all Paul Simon songs do, and secondly because of the content of the song. It’s a song about how much a father loves his daughter and how he’ll do anything to protect her. I’m so lucky to have the sort of dad that I can think of when I listen to that song. I don’t even have the words to say how much I appreciate and love you for that.
I should have just handed the letter to Tania so she could read it herself. I tried to read it out loud but could only get about half way throught it.
To Dad
From Crystal
This is a mix CD of songs that remind me of you. Many of them are songs that you would sing to in the car. Take Me to the River, Money for Nothing, Lullaby, Jewel, etc. Then, of course, there is Diamond on the Soles of Her Shoes.
Some of them are songs that have men with deep voices singing, which makes me think of you for some reason. What a Wonderful World is one of those. Also, I remember it played on the radio one day and after the song was over you said very seriously that you thought that that song is one of the best songs of all time. I always think of you saying that when I hear the song.
Some just have lyrics that remind me of you. Dancing on Daddies Shoes is one of those because of how you’ll often just randomly dance with me. The Killers songs Daddy’s Eyes wouldn’t make me think of you if it weren’t for the line “You know you got your daddy’s eyes.” I have blue eyes like you. The Pink Floyd song Nobody Home makes me think of you because of a memory I have of you pointing out the lyric “I’ve got a strong urge to fly, but I got nowhere to fly to” and saying what a great line that is. I remember I didn’t notice the line when listening to the song, but thinking it was a beautiful lyric after you pointed it out. Now I can’t hear that part of the song without noticing it. The Paul Simon song Father and Daughter makes me think of you because for one, pretty much all Paul Simon songs do, and secondly because of the content of the song. It’s a song about how much a father loves his daughter and how he’ll do anything to protect her. I’m so lucky to have the sort of dad that I can think of when I listen to that song. I don’t even have the words to say how much I appreciate and love you for that.
I should have just handed the letter to Tania so she could read it herself. I tried to read it out loud but could only get about half way throught it.
Dan's Birthday Present
As usual, it took me a few weeks to getting around to writing this post. For Dan’s birthday Jenna decided that Alex and their boys would take Dan to an Angel game. They asked if I wanted to tag along, so how could I say no?
I’m not sure why she thought baseball would be fun. Neither Dan, Alex, nor either of her boys likes baseball. Of all the professional sports to choose from, I think baseball is the most boring. I would even pick soccer over a baseball game, but it is always fun to hang out with the boys so why not? It won't be long before they are too old to want to hang out with their uncle. The Angeles were playing the San Diego Padres which are always good games to attend becuase a lot of Padres fans come up to watch the game. Having a lot of fans from the opposing team at the staduim makes the home team fans cheer even more.
The seats were great. I’ve sat in many different locations at a ball game; high, low and in between. But every time I have been close to the grass I have always been near the in-field. We sat in row K just inside the foul pole in left field. A lot of balls are hit out in left field, so while you are not close in to the pitches and base running it was fun to watch the balls flying in the air towards us and see the left fielder run them down.
It also didn’t hurt that the Angeles rocked them 9 to 2. A lot of action and lot of home runs... I just got a new phone and played around with the vedio camera. I was kind of tricky to figure it out so the this video isn't very good but I thought I would add it any way. I want to try to have more videos on the blog in the future.
I’m not sure why she thought baseball would be fun. Neither Dan, Alex, nor either of her boys likes baseball. Of all the professional sports to choose from, I think baseball is the most boring. I would even pick soccer over a baseball game, but it is always fun to hang out with the boys so why not? It won't be long before they are too old to want to hang out with their uncle. The Angeles were playing the San Diego Padres which are always good games to attend becuase a lot of Padres fans come up to watch the game. Having a lot of fans from the opposing team at the staduim makes the home team fans cheer even more. The seats were great. I’ve sat in many different locations at a ball game; high, low and in between. But every time I have been close to the grass I have always been near the in-field. We sat in row K just inside the foul pole in left field. A lot of balls are hit out in left field, so while you are not close in to the pitches and base running it was fun to watch the balls flying in the air towards us and see the left fielder run them down.It also didn’t hurt that the Angeles rocked them 9 to 2. A lot of action and lot of home runs... I just got a new phone and played around with the vedio camera. I was kind of tricky to figure it out so the this video isn't very good but I thought I would add it any way. I want to try to have more videos on the blog in the future.
What do you know, baseball isn’t always a bore. Here's Alex explaining the in's and out's of the game to Bren.
So what did the girls do while the boys where at the ball game? What else? They took Barbara out for a pedicure for her birthday.
Look at those relaxed, beautiful feet.
A fun day for all.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Weekend Up Date
Tania and I went to the Dance Camera West Dance Film Festival on Saturday night in downtown LA. They have events occurring all month. Friday was the opening night and Saturday night they had a viewing of short movies (4 – 10 minutes). People submitted shorts that were suppose to be outstanding examples of dance on screen. There were two showings, one at 6:00 PM and one at 8:00 PM. It was only $10 so we went to both.
It took place at the REDCAT which is connected the Disney Theater in downtown LA. We decided to get there a little early and walk around, enjoy the architecture and get something to eat before the show.
The Disney Theatre is one of the coolest buildings in LA.
They are trying to revive down town LA. I don’t how you revive a place that was never vived in the first place, but down town LA sucks compared to New York, Chicago or San Francisco. It was early Saturday night and the place was completely dead. Half of the restaurants and most of the shops were closed. The first restaurant we found had appetizers starting at $22. I didn’t even bother looking at the rest of the menu. The second place featured an 8 course meal for $185 – we kept right on walking. We eventually found a California Pizza Kitchen a few blocks away. There were only about four or five other parties there besides us when we showed up, but it started filling up a little by the time we left.
These types of things (Dance Film Festival) always attract the cool, hip crowd – guys with hats, most of which matched their jackets which didn’t match their pants and were always jeans with holes in them. I think I was the only guy there wearing socks. Everyone was overly excited to see one another – greetings were done with a lot of screams and hugs. (omygod! Look who’s here! EECKKKK!)
The fun part of the event was that you got to vote for your favorite film. The bad part was that half of them were completely lame. Someone needed to inform the committee that chose the films that just because a film is weird, and has quirky shots put to music does not make it a dance film. A lot of the films had no dancing at all but the ones I hated the most were the ones with no absolutely no plot or purpose -- trying too hard to be artsy usually ends up being just stupid. However, with film festivals you gotta expect a certain amount of junk, that’s what you signed up for. For that matter, half of the “real” movies I go to these days are junk so why would this any different? At least they were only a few minutes long and not 2 ½ hours of junk.
A handful of films were very enjoyable. But the best part of going to this event is that after wanting to go for years and years (but able to because she worked weekends) Tania finally got to go this film festival and now realizes that this was not something that should have been on her list in the first place… I won’t have to go again.
Then just to keep theme going, on Sunday we went to the Thousand Oaks Art Walk. I happened to notice this was happening on my way to the gym in the morning. (yep I am able to do some short swim sessions). Artist from all around bring in their wares for view and sale. Paintings of all type, ceramics, glass blown art, jewelry and a few music booths for entertainment. The weather was perfect; cloudy with a slight breeze, not too hot, not too cold.
Tania’s primary goal was to find someone who offered classes on glass blowing. She wants to learn how to make glass beads. Her latest hobby is jewelry making and she also wants to learn how to make glass beads because they are expensive. She found a few people who provided lessons and was able to find someone who had just the type of class she was looking for.
Art shows like this are always fun because the artists are usually there and after sitting all day long dealing with looky-lou’s they are bored out of their minds and don’t mind talking to you about their work. Tania’s favorite question to the jewelry artist was “How did you do this?” Some were reluctant to divulge their secrets but most were very nice.
All-in-all, a pretty nice weekend.
They are trying to revive down town LA. I don’t how you revive a place that was never vived in the first place, but down town LA sucks compared to New York, Chicago or San Francisco. It was early Saturday night and the place was completely dead. Half of the restaurants and most of the shops were closed. The first restaurant we found had appetizers starting at $22. I didn’t even bother looking at the rest of the menu. The second place featured an 8 course meal for $185 – we kept right on walking. We eventually found a California Pizza Kitchen a few blocks away. There were only about four or five other parties there besides us when we showed up, but it started filling up a little by the time we left.
These types of things (Dance Film Festival) always attract the cool, hip crowd – guys with hats, most of which matched their jackets which didn’t match their pants and were always jeans with holes in them. I think I was the only guy there wearing socks. Everyone was overly excited to see one another – greetings were done with a lot of screams and hugs. (omygod! Look who’s here! EECKKKK!)
The fun part of the event was that you got to vote for your favorite film. The bad part was that half of them were completely lame. Someone needed to inform the committee that chose the films that just because a film is weird, and has quirky shots put to music does not make it a dance film. A lot of the films had no dancing at all but the ones I hated the most were the ones with no absolutely no plot or purpose -- trying too hard to be artsy usually ends up being just stupid. However, with film festivals you gotta expect a certain amount of junk, that’s what you signed up for. For that matter, half of the “real” movies I go to these days are junk so why would this any different? At least they were only a few minutes long and not 2 ½ hours of junk.
A handful of films were very enjoyable. But the best part of going to this event is that after wanting to go for years and years (but able to because she worked weekends) Tania finally got to go this film festival and now realizes that this was not something that should have been on her list in the first place… I won’t have to go again.
Then just to keep theme going, on Sunday we went to the Thousand Oaks Art Walk. I happened to notice this was happening on my way to the gym in the morning. (yep I am able to do some short swim sessions). Artist from all around bring in their wares for view and sale. Paintings of all type, ceramics, glass blown art, jewelry and a few music booths for entertainment. The weather was perfect; cloudy with a slight breeze, not too hot, not too cold.
Tania’s primary goal was to find someone who offered classes on glass blowing. She wants to learn how to make glass beads. Her latest hobby is jewelry making and she also wants to learn how to make glass beads because they are expensive. She found a few people who provided lessons and was able to find someone who had just the type of class she was looking for.
Art shows like this are always fun because the artists are usually there and after sitting all day long dealing with looky-lou’s they are bored out of their minds and don’t mind talking to you about their work. Tania’s favorite question to the jewelry artist was “How did you do this?” Some were reluctant to divulge their secrets but most were very nice.All-in-all, a pretty nice weekend.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Beach Day
It’s been a while since I’ve put up a post, but hey, it’s play off season. It’s hard to watch hockey, basketball and type all at the same time. This is the second post of the day so make sure to keep reading after this one.
Last weekend was Memorial Day so in what is starting to become a Witten tradition we spend the Monday at Huntington Beach. , Drew & family, Adam & kids, Beth & Ruth’s kids?, and Aaron & Rachel showed up along with Tania and I. Some friends of Drew and Sherri also tagged along.
It’s was a long two hour drive there and another two hour drive home just to spend three hours hanging out with everyone, but I gotta say, it was worth it. Its fun hanging with the family and besides, what better thing did have to do? Nothing. Unfortunately it was windy which made it quite chilly. And of course I left by hoodie sitting on the couch at home right next to my ipod. I spent most of the day wrapped in the blanket and towel I brought.
Ruth and Scott were down under (you'll have to visit Ruth's blog to get the details) while Charles was visiting the old country to see the results of mission (you'll have to visit Beth's blog on this one)
I knew it was going to be a fun day as soon at we got on the sand – there were about 200 or so Hawaiians having get together – the men were playing drums and guitars while 30 or women were dancing. The best part of the day? Feeding string cheese to Harper and having me return the favor and feed me. (My food had the added favor of sand)
Begging for more...
Beth picked up a shovel on the way to the beach, which of course the day for the kids. After looking at the high prices of the “play shovels” Beth went the tool section and noticed that small real shovels were only $2 more than the plastic ones.
Harper was the the keeper of the hole, while the girls made sure the keep it full of fresh water.
It was a good thing for me that the weather was cold and the waves were weak - I wasn’t temped to go in the water despite that fact that I brought my boogie board, wet suite and fins (just in case someone needed to borrow them). But everyone else had fun in the water. I noticed that Daniel did really good riding the waves. Adam’s a good dad. He spent a lot a time with her in and out of the water.
Sunday I smoked some ribs – nice and slow, four hours at 230 degrees. Ralph’s had back ribs on sale. These are not as good as baby back ribs or St. Louis style ribs but they were on sale. Word of advice, no matter how well you cook them, the cheaper cut of ribs will never come out as good as the premium cuts. The ribs were good, but a learned again one more time that the best BBQ always starts with the best meat. Next time I’ll avoid the cheap cuts even if they are on sale. Next weekend I am going to slow smoke a pork shoulder roast for 15 hours to make some pulled pork. I’ve never tried this before. It will be a fun experiment.
Last weekend was Memorial Day so in what is starting to become a Witten tradition we spend the Monday at Huntington Beach. , Drew & family, Adam & kids, Beth & Ruth’s kids?, and Aaron & Rachel showed up along with Tania and I. Some friends of Drew and Sherri also tagged along.
It’s was a long two hour drive there and another two hour drive home just to spend three hours hanging out with everyone, but I gotta say, it was worth it. Its fun hanging with the family and besides, what better thing did have to do? Nothing. Unfortunately it was windy which made it quite chilly. And of course I left by hoodie sitting on the couch at home right next to my ipod. I spent most of the day wrapped in the blanket and towel I brought.
Ruth and Scott were down under (you'll have to visit Ruth's blog to get the details) while Charles was visiting the old country to see the results of mission (you'll have to visit Beth's blog on this one)
I knew it was going to be a fun day as soon at we got on the sand – there were about 200 or so Hawaiians having get together – the men were playing drums and guitars while 30 or women were dancing. The best part of the day? Feeding string cheese to Harper and having me return the favor and feed me. (My food had the added favor of sand)
Begging for more...
Beth picked up a shovel on the way to the beach, which of course the day for the kids. After looking at the high prices of the “play shovels” Beth went the tool section and noticed that small real shovels were only $2 more than the plastic ones.
Harper was the the keeper of the hole, while the girls made sure the keep it full of fresh water.
It was a good thing for me that the weather was cold and the waves were weak - I wasn’t temped to go in the water despite that fact that I brought my boogie board, wet suite and fins (just in case someone needed to borrow them). But everyone else had fun in the water. I noticed that Daniel did really good riding the waves. Adam’s a good dad. He spent a lot a time with her in and out of the water.
Sunday I smoked some ribs – nice and slow, four hours at 230 degrees. Ralph’s had back ribs on sale. These are not as good as baby back ribs or St. Louis style ribs but they were on sale. Word of advice, no matter how well you cook them, the cheaper cut of ribs will never come out as good as the premium cuts. The ribs were good, but a learned again one more time that the best BBQ always starts with the best meat. Next time I’ll avoid the cheap cuts even if they are on sale. Next weekend I am going to slow smoke a pork shoulder roast for 15 hours to make some pulled pork. I’ve never tried this before. It will be a fun experiment.
We'll need a better showing at the beach on Labor Day and if you all are willing to drive up to Zuma Beach I'll bring the hot pulled pork BBQ sandwhiches.
Amber's Dance Performance
Amber took a dance class this semester to help her stay in shape. Santa Cruz has a dance performance where the students not only perform but also do the chorography. Between college and her job, Amber doesn’t have a lot of free time for dance practice, so she was only able to participate in one dance. This was her first dance performance since moving to Santa Cruz so there was no way Tania and I were going to miss it.
Since I haven’t seen Terri’s and Jim’s new house yet we decided to stay there. Cathy, Terri and Dale also went to the dance performance with us. Actually, Jim also wanted to go, but we only bought five tickets a head of time we had to call the day of the event to see if there were any more tickets available but unfortunately they were sold out.
Jim and Terri have got themselves a nice place. Tania told me it had a huge back yard but when I look at the window the back fence was twenty or so feet from the house – what’s the big deal about that I thought to myself. But when you go out and take of look, the back yard space on the North side of the house is just as big as the part behind the house and the South side is about three or four times larger than that. They have nice garden started on the North side. They are growing a little bit of everything. They had a fresh crop of radishes in and boy where they hot – they must have been Mexican radishes.
We wanted to spend some time with Amber so we left Terri’s house around 11:00 AM to have lunch with Amber and hang out a little. It was one of those rare days in Santa Cruz with no breeze, no clouds or haze and temps in the 80’s. It sounds nice but the only problem is that when weekends like that come around the San Joser’s come to Santa Cruz in droves. We stayed away from the downtown area to avoid the crowds. Amber took us to Café Brazil which is close to house. Everyone enjoyed there food, but the star of the menu was a parfait made with Acai berry smoothie mix with granola and a mix of berries on top. We had two orders as appetizers for the table.
After lunch Amber took us on a tour of the campus and then we kicked back at Ambers. This a peice of art work on campus that is a fav hang-out/meeting place of the students.
One thing I have noticed about places where the weather is always cool – they are never prepared for the occasional heat wave. The theater that the dance performance was is was hot. Everyone was fanning themselves with the program. I felt sorry for the performers up on stage dancing. They must have really been hot.
Most of the dance numbers were very good, good dancing and fun to watch performances. Some were more like mini plays with dancing than a traditional dance performance. Amber was in the last number. When it was time for what I thought was the last number, I was looking all over the stage for Amber but couldn’t find here. Then all of sudden, Amber pops out of trash can. Yep, that’s right, a trash can (you gotta love modern dance). It was fun to watch up on stage again.
PS: As I am writing this the Lakers are finally making a run in the 4th (game 5) – it’s about time guys – this isn’t supposed to be another close game – read the memo
Since I haven’t seen Terri’s and Jim’s new house yet we decided to stay there. Cathy, Terri and Dale also went to the dance performance with us. Actually, Jim also wanted to go, but we only bought five tickets a head of time we had to call the day of the event to see if there were any more tickets available but unfortunately they were sold out.
Jim and Terri have got themselves a nice place. Tania told me it had a huge back yard but when I look at the window the back fence was twenty or so feet from the house – what’s the big deal about that I thought to myself. But when you go out and take of look, the back yard space on the North side of the house is just as big as the part behind the house and the South side is about three or four times larger than that. They have nice garden started on the North side. They are growing a little bit of everything. They had a fresh crop of radishes in and boy where they hot – they must have been Mexican radishes.We wanted to spend some time with Amber so we left Terri’s house around 11:00 AM to have lunch with Amber and hang out a little. It was one of those rare days in Santa Cruz with no breeze, no clouds or haze and temps in the 80’s. It sounds nice but the only problem is that when weekends like that come around the San Joser’s come to Santa Cruz in droves. We stayed away from the downtown area to avoid the crowds. Amber took us to Café Brazil which is close to house. Everyone enjoyed there food, but the star of the menu was a parfait made with Acai berry smoothie mix with granola and a mix of berries on top. We had two orders as appetizers for the table.
After lunch Amber took us on a tour of the campus and then we kicked back at Ambers. This a peice of art work on campus that is a fav hang-out/meeting place of the students.
One thing I have noticed about places where the weather is always cool – they are never prepared for the occasional heat wave. The theater that the dance performance was is was hot. Everyone was fanning themselves with the program. I felt sorry for the performers up on stage dancing. They must have really been hot.
Most of the dance numbers were very good, good dancing and fun to watch performances. Some were more like mini plays with dancing than a traditional dance performance. Amber was in the last number. When it was time for what I thought was the last number, I was looking all over the stage for Amber but couldn’t find here. Then all of sudden, Amber pops out of trash can. Yep, that’s right, a trash can (you gotta love modern dance). It was fun to watch up on stage again.
We had late night desert at the Saturn Café in Santa Cruz before heading back to Terri’s house. The next morning Tania and I drove back home. The back held up well for the long drive – good news for the vacation this summer – but Tania did do most of the driving.
PS: As I am writing this the Lakers are finally making a run in the 4th (game 5) – it’s about time guys – this isn’t supposed to be another close game – read the memo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
