Day Three Hundred Seventeen

Dear Readers,
      Here we are at the Hollywood Bowl getting ready to see one of our favorite bands right now, Mumford and Sons. We have already sat through the two opening acts. The first one was actually good. Nice music and good singing. The second band on the other hand, not so much. Weird and loud. And not very good singers. It was interesting to say the least. Thankfully they are done and the stage is being reset. It's cold out here tonight, but we are dressed warmly and just thankful it isn't raining on us. Another one of the perks of living in Southern California, great weather can last into the later part of the year. It allows us to see a concert at such a great outdoor venue as this. How cool is the Hollywood Bowl? You are outdoors, the music sounds great and there is this nostalgia of seeing an event at such a well known and old place as this. It is iconically Hollywood. You can even bring food in and enjoy the outdoor picnic area. The only downside is the mostly bench seating. Raina and I came to see the Star Wars in concert here last year, which was totally awesome, and sat on a bench squished in with a whole row of people that should have been spread out into at least a row and a half. I got smart when buying these tickets. They have a small section in the center called "super seats", which are actual chairs like you would find at most baseball stadiums. So that way we didn't have to worry about sitting next to someone who wanted to stretch out a little more and force us to be crushed. Although it might have been nice with how cold it is. We can stretch out ourselves a little bit. Our own actual seats. It worked out that we are on the end right on the aisle. So we don't have to squeeze across a row of people to get in and out. We have to get up to let people out, but I would rather do that then squeeze by someone hoping I don't step on their toes or trip and fall into someone's lap. We are ready for a great concert and it will be a nice cap to our day, which began with a large family breakfast. We chipped in with my parents this morning, helping out with cooking a feast for the whole family. My sisters came over with their families and we had a Thanksgiving version of breakfast. Chorizo and eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, waffles, fruit, whipped cream. It was awesome. It was a great start to a great Veterans Day. I don't want to forget about all those troops who have fought to protect our freedom. I am very thankful for all their sacrifices. So if you're a veteran of any kind, Thank You.

This Day In History: 1990
English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee circulates a draft proposal for a hypertext system, which he calls the World Wide Web.

Born This Day: 1945
Al Michaels - American sportscaster.

"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."

-Auguste Rodin

Breakfast time!

A Feast!

Day Three Hundred Sixteen

Dear Readers,
      Raina and I saw the new James Bond movie today.  So, if you don't want any spoilers, quit reading until you've seen it.  It was a really good movie and it had an even better ending to it.  If you are a fan of the old Bond movies, I think you will be in agreement with me.  When they started making the more modern Bond movies with Pierce Brosnan, they changed up some of the key components of what Bond is.  They made the leader of MI-6 a woman and took away Moneypenny, who was a key supporting character in the original Bond movies.  The newest movie had some slow parts to it, but like I said, it made me very excited for future movies.  Especially with the return of Q, who was taken out of the previous two movies.  Q stands for quartermaster by the way.  He is the one who issues all of Bonds cool gadgets to him.  Well, he's back jack!  They also gracefully killed off M, replacing her with a male role, just like it used to be.  Moneypenny was introduced back into the storyline and given a beginning.  They even paid homage to when Bond walks into M's office and there is a coat rack right next to the door.  I was just waiting for him to throw his hat onto it from the other side of the room.  I like where these movies are headed and am looking forward to many more with Daniel Craig as the lead.  Besides, James Bond movies are reminiscent of some of the greatest wishes I had growing up.  What young boy didn't want to grow up to be a super cool super spy with a license to kill?  Who didn't want to be "Bond, James Bond"?  All I wanted to do was grow up and go undercover and order a vodka martini, shaken not stirred.  It really did seem like the coolest thing ever to be a secret agent.  Between Star Wars, Indiana Jones and James Bond, I could have lived out my childhood dream as a secret agent archeologist who has the power of the force at his command.  How cool would that be? 
      After our movie, Raina and I had to rush to dinner for our niece, McKenna's, birthday dinner.  Her birthday isn't until next week, but we celebrated with dinner this week so that I could go.  I go back onto stand by for work on Wednesday, so I wouldn't be able to go next week.  So we had a nice dinner all together at Tokyo Hibachi in Lakewood.  If you have never been there, it is in the same style as Benihana where everybody sits around the grill while the cook makes your dinner and does things to entertain the crowd.  Making onion volcanoes and a beating heart out of a pile of rice.  Even tossing pieces of shrimp into peoples mouths.  Well, at least some of us were trying to catch it.  First McKenna got a try, and it hit her forehead.  Then Brandon got a try, and it hit is big schnoz.  His nose if you catch my drift.  Then I got a try, and the beard did not allow me to fail.  I got it just right.  Kind of like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears, it was the third one that was just right.  Just a little part of a fun night out to dinner with the family.

This Day In History: 1921
Exactly three years after the end of World War I, the Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia by President Warren G. Harding.

Born This Day: 1885
George Patton - Four star U.S. Army general who was one of the great military leaders of World War II.

"You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake."

-Bob Hope

Dinner at Tokyo Hibachi.

McKenna is the little one on the far end.

Add caption

Day Three Hundred Fifteen

Dear Readers,
      Another busy day today.  Completely different then yesterday.  After such a lazy day yesterday, it really made today hectic.  Starting out with a morning run, which was actually pretty rough because of how cold it was.  I was having a hard time breathing in and out of my nose, trying to control my breathing.  Eventually I got used to it, but it definitely through off the run for a little bit.  After our run, I took off to pick us up some breakfast.  Just a little breakfast burrito from Nick's in Los Alamitos.  If you have never had one, you are missing out.  Chorizo, eggs, potatoes, cheese, bacon and salsa inside a tortilla grilled on both sides.  Add some avocado and you are ready to be stuffed.  You won't want to stop eating once you start.  Raina took a bite from my burrito today and my instinct was to feel a little upset that she was taking what was probably the best bite of my burrito.  In the grand scheme of things, it really wasn't anything big, but at that moment, I was feeling a bit of jealousy.  It just means I need to go back and get us some more burritos to make up for that one.
     The rest of our day mostly consisted of family time.  Considering it was a birthday party for my nephew, Joseph.  A superhero birthday party to be precise.  A jumper with the Justice League banner on it.  Spiderman and Batman plates and napkins.  Thor hammers and Captain America shields.  Every young boys little dream.  Not to mention, he pretty much got nothing but superhero toys for his birthday.  We got him something along the same lines.  Star Wars toys.  If you remember a couple of weeks ago I talked about picked up some Star Wars action figures up for a great price, I got so many of them that I will have gifts for a long time.  We gave him two Jedi Knights and Darth Maul, so that he can work out a battle scene.  Then we added in a pilot character who comes with a blaster.  Four action figures from over fourteen years ago.  Someday when he is older, he may be able to appreciate the vintageness of the gifts he got, but in the mean time I just hope he enjoys playing with them.
      One of the other things the boys got today, was a special candy sucker.  Special in the way that it was a sucker with a scorpion in the center of it.  I didn't think the boys were going to eat it, but they went for it.  They thought it was the coolest thing to be eating a candy with a bug inside of it.  Unfortunately, they didn't last long enough to get to the scorpion, so they didn't eat it.  But my niece Kailee did.  My sister, Melissa, offered fifty bucks towards Kailee's trip to Peru next summer if she ate the scorpion.  I have to give her some credit, because I don't think I would do it, but she did.  Chewing up and swallowing the crunchy scorpion in the candy.  She didn't look like she was enjoying it, but she is going to enjoy the prize she gets for doing it.  Now we just have to make sure that Melissa fulfills her end of the bargain and pays up.  It is amazing to think of all the things people might do for a little money in this world.

This Day In History: 1888
Jack the Ripper commits the last known murder in a series of seven in the East End of London, England.  he was never caught or identified.

Born This Day: 1543
Martin Luther - German religious reformer whose disagreements with the practices of the Catholic Church helped ignite the Protestant Reformation and led to the establishment of the Lutheran Church.

"The fewer the words, the better the prayer."

-Martin Luther

Some pictures of the day and the party.

Scorpion Candy!

Yum.

It's really in there.

Happy to get money for his birthday.

Raina and I got him some Star Wars action figures.

Already trying to get it open.

Who needs cake when you got these sweet cupcakes?

Joseph also got a Darth Vader transformer.

Kailee actually ate the scorpion.

Doesn't she look so excited about it.

All the kids gathered around the Ipad.

Day Three Hundred Fourteen

Dear Readers,
      It was a great day to start the long weekend.  One of those lazy days.  Although, I would have preferred to be working some overtime.  It was originally scheduled, but they canceled out of fear of the rain.  It's a good thing too, because it was just pouring today.  If you don't live locally, you should know that last sentence was full of sarcasm, because it was completely dry today.  That is twice in two weeks that they canceled our overtime because they thought the weather was going to be too bad to do the work and both times the weather was great.  This time it was rain, last time it was high winds.  Neither one of them happened.  Wasting my opportunity to make some extra money along the way.  A little frustrating, but I took advantage of the extra day off in my own way.  Catching up on yesterdays blog that I missed and relaxing with Raina. 
      Relaxing with Raina today included watching a new movie.  At least new to us that is.  50/50 with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, where he gets cancer and they go through the process of what it is like to go through that. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with it on a minor level.  Not myself directly, but my sister, Yoli.  Yoli is a cancer survivor.  I believe I talked about it before, so I won't get into it all, but I just want to say that she is a fighter and very special to me.  I always believed she would beat it, which made me seem indifferent to it.  Almost to the point where it may have seemed that I didn't care.  I cared very much for sister and what she was going through, but I wasn't afraid.  I was just concerned that she had to deal with everything that goes along with the chemo and surgery.  I was right though, she is cancer free and even had my nephew, Micah, afterwards without complications.  It is nothing short of a miracle what my sister has accomplished and survived.  I love my sister, and watching that movie today reminded me of that time in our lives.  Thankfully, the movie ended on a positive note, unlike a lot of those kinds of movies these days.  I was sure they were going to let him die at the end of the movie.  Sorry to spoil it for you, but it ended good, just like it ended up with Yoli.  Sorry for the spoiler if you haven't seen the movie and were looking forward to seeing it, but it has been out for over a year now.  Bottom line, it was a good day.

This Day In History: 1989
East Germany opens the Berlin Wall, allowing free travel from East Berlin to West Berlin.  The following day, exuberant Germans began to tear down the wall.

Born This Day: 1936
Mary Travers - American folk singer (Peter, Paul, and Mary)

"A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it."

-Bob Hope

Now that is art.

Day Three Hundred Thirteen

Dear Readers,
     We finally got some rain yesterday.  Here we are in November and we are getting the first real rain of this season.  What took so long?  The weather has been strange this year.  Summer is lasting all the way until November.  Ninety degree weather hit us just a few days ago and then the temperature dropped dramatically in a matter of three days to bring us clouds and rain.  I went from sweating up a storm at work on Monday to sweaters and jeans on Thursday.  Crazy weather.  I am ready for the rainy season though.  Reading a good book while wrapped up in blankets.  I don't know why, but I really enjoy listening to the rain or watching from the window.  There is something neat to think that all this water was sitting in clouds and now it decides it's too heavy and is falling to earth.  It's crazy to think how things work. 
      Since it was raining yesterday, it cut into my running time.  So instead, Raina and I curled up under a blanket to watch Miracle.  The movie about the Americans winning the Olympic gold medal in hockey and defeating the unbeatable Russians along the way.  Raina had just watched a documentary on it and was wanting to see the movie.  So, what perfect timing for us to spend that time together before she headed off to work.  Speaking of work, we went to see her tonight.  I think this might be a weekly occurrence.  Why not though, right?  Thursdays are great there.  Thursday night football and 65 cent boneless wings.  You can't go wrong.  It probably isn't the best thing for my Spartan race coming up, but who cares.  I get to see my wife and hang out with whatever friends I drag with me over there.  Already looking forward to the next one.

This Day In History: 1960
John F. Kennedy becomes the youngest man-and the first Catholic-to be elected president of the United States, narrowly beating Republican vice president Richard M. Nixon.

Born This Day: 1847
Bram Stoker - Irish born English author (Dracula)

"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."

-John F. Kennedy

Where do I get mine at?

Day Three Hundred Twelve

Dear Readers,
      This week of work started out so well.  I was happily able to do some actual work on Monday, working with a crew installing a new water line.  Then on Tuesday I got to run my own crew for a job that day.  It was great.  Actual work with my hands and making decisions that lead to a smooth job and not having to rush to finish our work for the day.  Getting to go home feeling like I accomplished something.  Getting a job to start and then finish in that one day, very fulfilling.  It was great.  It all came to an end today.  Back to the tedious work that never ends.  Endless tasks that last all day, then at the end of the day you know that you just have to come back the next day and keep working tediously away at it.  Almost like I am on an assembly line in a factory.  Same thing all day, every day.  Here is to hoping for a messed up dirty job tomorrow.  I'll take that over the tedious work any day of the week.
      Raina and I went to dinner tonight with her dad and his wife, Nancy.  A lovely Birthday dinner for Raina at Roman Cucina in Fullerton.  Delicious Italian food.  Yes, it is a little late for a birthday dinner for Raina, but why not extend it as long as possible.  So we went out, two couples, to celebrate Raina.  Even topping it off with free spumoni and singing Happy Birthday to her.  Who cares if her actual birthday was two and a half weeks ago, let the party ride on.  We had a great time hanging out tonight.  The best part for me though, had to be right at the end as we headed out the door.  Just before walking out, we heard a "Raina!?" coming from one of the tables.  It turns out that a girl that Raina knows through our friend Liz, who worked with Liz at a previous job, noticed Raina and stopped her to say hi.  That is not the actual best part though.  The best part is that she didn't actually recognize Raina, she recognized me from all my blog pictures.  I had never met her before, but I am guessing through Raina and Liz, she found out about my beard venture and my blog.  Reading along and checking out my crazy pictures of my out of control beard.  I'm minimally famous now!  Getting recognized by people I have never met before.  That is how you know you have arrived.  Okay, not really, but I thought it was pretty funny that she recognized my beard and put two and two together to realize that it was Raina with me.  It made my night. 

This Day In History: 1504
Italian-born  Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus arrives in Spain after his disappointing fourth voyage, still believing he had reached the fringes of Asia.

Born This Day: 1918
Billy Graham - American Christian evangelist and author.

"I don't want to be a genius--I have enough problems just trying to be a man."

-Albert Camus

Delicious Chicken Parmigiana and Raina's spumoni.

Day Three Hundred Eleven

Dear Readers,
      Happy Election Day! Actually, it doesn't seem like a very happy day after what our outcome is looking like. I guess we have just re-elected Obama. This is not looking good. Another four years of doing nothing but promoting Obamacare. Now, I'm not claiming to know a whole lot about politics, but I do realize that things haven't improved in the last four years. It looks like we are just going to get more of the same. I don't get why our country would want to bring back a guy who didn't improve anything. At least you would think they would decide to move on and give another guy a try at it. Treat it like a business, if a guy isn't getting it done then get him out and replace him with someone who will. It just seems like with all the people we have living in this country, I can't believe these are the two best candidates available. My only explanation for that, is that the people who are actually smart enough to be running our country are just too smart to spend their time doing it. They are better off running a Fortune 500 company or something like that. Well, at least I can say that I fulfilled my civic duty as an American and went out and voted. Although here in California, it usually doesn't make a difference. The last republican to get voted in California was Ronald Reagan. This whole electoral votes system seems to be messed up. Someone like Romney, who looks like he may get the popular vote, will end up losing out because of electoral votes. Which California has the most of. The whole system just seems totally screwed up. Why can't the people smart enough to fix our country do something about it? I just don't understand politics enough I guess. Maybe I'll learn a little more before the next election. My hope is that Obama does something to make things better. That something will change in him. For the better that is. One can hope.

This Day In History: 1860
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of United States, the first Republican to win the office.  Southern states had been threatening secession if he was elected.  On the day of his inauguration the following March, seven rebel states will have already formed the Confederate States of America.

Born This Day: 1851
Charles H. Dow - American journalist who was the first editor of the Wall Street Journal and who co-founded the Dow Jones company.

"The ignorant man always adores what he cannot understand."

-Cesare Lombroso

Why doesn't he run?