penstonville

On Saturday we drove up the coast to visit Hearst Castle. First, we had a picnic at the beach right across the street. The almost empty pier -

After the bus ride up the hill, we took a tour. No camera flashes were allowed inside the buildings. The Neptune pool –

I did try to get her phone number -

In the billiards room, a five-year ceiling-cleaning project was underway. It looked to me a bit like an art installation -

The indoor pool was the last stop on the tour -

Last night the Death Wish computer did, in fact, boot up again. I kept it up long enough (ha) to re-backup all the new files since the last backup. There was even enough time to work on a remix, check email, and print out Miss M’s book report on Ronald Reagan. She explained to me how she found it so sad that he had Alzheimer’s and forgot that he had been the President. For dinner we had what we call taco bar. All the components of beef tacos are served buffet style. Using large flour tortillas, everyone builds their own version. Not burritos. Not taquitos. Not tacos. Burracos. Please note: this is not an endorsement of any presidential candidate. While walking Robbie the other night, Mr. Man told us all about the human development education film that was recently shown at school. His “puberty film” is what he likes to call it. He’s very nonplussed (in both the classic and more recent neologistic sense of the word) by the whole thing. Back in the day this type of information was disseminated on the playground sans film. Kind of a pre-internet word-of-mouth Wikipedia. I just started taking some new vitamins. They’re specially made for old geezers like me. On the back label is the statement, “Plus, it contains Ginkgo to promote memory and concentration.” You have been warned.

All right! So, what has been happening since Mrs. p’s birthday? Well, I had me a birthday. I’m old now. We also got a dog (actually, the week before Mrs. p’s birthday). He looks quite like Santa’s Little Helper, except that he’s black. His name is Robbie. After some early accidents in carpeted areas of the house, he’s been very successful in relieving himself outdoors. I want to post a picture of him, but the home computer is acting up again. In fact, during reboot # 23 (the Strawberry Letter reboot) last night, the hard drive made the usual whirling noises and then emitted a noise similar to a car door being slammed. This may finally be the end. We went to Santa Boredom for lunch on my birthday, feasting at Carlitos, one of our favorite patio places up there. I’ve been watching a lot of NBA games, but who hasn’t? As far as upcoming things, this weekend I’m meeting Control Agents 86 and 99 for some brunch. Unfortunately, we’ve chosen one of the most bruncherrific days of the year to do it on. Maybe we can get there early, before all the drunks wake up. And then at the end of the month, the clan is going out on one of those whale-watching boats to see if the kidlets get seasick or not. There, you’re all updated. In less than 250 words.

It’s almost eleven o’clock and nobody’s made fun of my new haircut yet.

Today is the birthday of a remarkable human. Happy birthday, Mrs. p. We plan to celebrate with a romantic dinner tonight with our son’s scout pack.

Today is also the one-year anniversary of the passing of another remarkable human. We miss you, Ian Wallace. Hope you got the comfy chair and caught the Lakers-Suns game the other night.

We spent our last night in Scotland in Edinburgh. Here’s a look down London Road.

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It rained. It snowed. It even rainbowed.

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Since there were no NFL games between January 21 and February 2, we packed up the clan and went to Scotland for two weeks. Here’s the sunrise the morning after we arrived.

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Last week was upgrade week at work. It was publicly announced that I have a new boss. Same job, just hopefully a bit more support. And immediately (and I mean immediately) after the announcement I relocated from my tiny cubiclette to a full size cubicle on the first floor. I got the LAN and phone working and everything has been moved. Today I’m just enjoying all the room. And the relative quiet. This is a great location for if and when I decide to really apply myself. Yesterday I visited Dr. Pain II and had one of those gold crowns that I’m collecting installed. When I entered the office, I heard him talking about some work limitations that sounded related to an injury. I asked him about it and he said he’s getting ready for his hip replacement surgery in March. Seems his arthritis is no longer bearable. My mind flashed to the time I watched a hip replacement surgery on The Learning Channel. The tools used looked more appropriate for logging activities. After that, I tried not to complain at all about any tooth pain.

Yesterday we left the tornadic conditions at home to go visit COTU and view the Rose Parade floats. The float viewing has become more like a mosh pit, so I chose to take the small camera for snapdragon snapping. So, where are the pics? Well, before leaving the house, I powered up the PowerShot and was greeted by an LCD screen showing nothing but blurry black, broken up by pink trails. I pronounced the camera dead and left it at home. At the end of float viewing, we were treated to a magnificent sunset, the fiery sky and clouds perfectly posed. Like they just knew I was cameraless. Anywho, once home, I fiddled some more with the camera, but the condition remained unchanged. I remembered reading something about a faulty sensor somewhere, so I searched the Internet for information. Bingo! A Service Notice: CCD Image Sensor Advisory. If this is the issue with mine, the manufacturer has agreed to repair the malfunction free of charge, regardless of warranty status. And they’re even including shipping and handling. Before I call that 800 number, I do want to check out a few more things to increase my confidence that this is the correct diagnosis. Maybe there is a future for my faithful friend of five years. Or has it been six? Or seven even?