Day Two Hundred Twenty

Dear Readers,
     Happy Birthday to my old man of a brother in law, Brandon.  Okay, he is only 33 years old, but at least he will always be older than me.  He he.  I had a great time celebrating his birthday with him at Dodger Stadium today.  Even though the Dodgers couldn't get some decent hitting to save their lives.  It seemed like everyone just wanted to try and save the day by hitting a home run, but they all had warning track power, giving Colorado the easy fly ball outs.  They really know how to tick me off sometimes.  Just get a freaking base hit and string something together.  Quit trying to win the game on one big swing.  I digress.
      Back to Brandon's birthday.  It was not just getting to go to the game that was awesome, it was getting a bobble head for probably my favorite Dodger player.  Sandy Koufax.  That guy was amazing and it doesn't hurt that he had the same number that I had during high school football.  So, I got a bobble head to add to the collection, I got a program, and I got a new Dodger hat.  Which I had been wanting for a long time now.  I finally found one that fit right.  I wasn't the only one to get some new Dodger gear.  Brandon picked up a new hat, a shirt and a sweater.  Have to love getting some new Dodger gear.  I am pretty sure Brooke got some new Dodger gear as well.  I am pretty sure it is a good sign she had just bought the shirt she had on because of the tag that was clearly showing.  Maybe she had intended to take it back if the Dodgers ticked her off, which they did to me.  Maybe she got it at the stadium store, sneaking it out by putting it on like she had had it on all along.  What a thief.  She takes after her husband who did the same exact thing when we went out for Brenna's birthday back in May.  He is starting to rub off on her.
      After the disappointing game, when headed over to the Apple Pan in Culver City.  Raina and I had seen it when we were out there for the prescreening of The Dark Knight Rises a few weeks back.  I had remembered hearing about it on a show called California's Gold many years ago and had always wanted to go there.  They apparently have the best pie, including a famous banana cream pie.  So we made a plan to head on over after the game to get a little pie.  It took us longer than expected since there was major traffic on the freeway due to major construction.  We almost didn't make it.  It was 11:45PM when we got there and they close at midnight.  Just in time to get a little desert.  Unfortunately they ran out of banana cream pie and we had to settle for chocolate cream pie.  Which happened to be very good, so we can only imagine how good the banana cream pie must be.  Just means that we have to go back again.  Just a little diner with only counter top seating that serves burgers and pies.  Well worth the drive.
      By the way, Brooke made a major speech mistake in front of me.  Resorting to her old ways of saying "woof" instead of "wolf", she called Brandon the "boy who cried woof".  It was pretty stinking funny and she immediately realized her mistake of saying it and saying it in front of me, which expounded the embarrassment, because you know I was going to tell everybody via blog.  Sorry Brooke, I just had to do it. 

This Day In History: 1861
During the U.S. Civil War, Thaddeus Lowe becomes the first man to fly professionally for the American military as he performs reconnaissance over Confederate forces in a balloon.

Born This Day: 1876
Mata Hari - Dutch dancer, courtesan, and double agent during World War II, working for both France and Germany.
1979 - Brandon Piliavin - My fantastic brother in law who doesn't know how to spell Clayton Kershaw.

"If you want to get across an idea, wrap it up in a person."

-Ralph Bunche

Pictures of the Dodger game and desert at the Apple Pan.

The whole fam at Dodger Stadium.

Delicious Chocolate Creme Pie

Same plate about five seconds later.

Can you tell how excited she is?

Happy Birthday Brandon.

The famous Apple Pan

Brandon's left on tag.

Day Two Hundred Nineteen

Dear Readers,
      This was a very lazy day for me.  I took the day off in advance of going out to Havasu for the weekend.  I had a pretty good idea that I would be pretty tired after that weekend.  It probably helps that my boss forced me to take the day off in advance, thinking I might call in on Monday anyways.  So, I slept in and watched some TV from our DVR.  Worked on some blogging.  Watched some more TV.  Then laid around for a bit, before finally going out to run a few errands.  Picking up Raina's wedding dress that we finally had cleaned and boxed up.  Which I didn't actually pick up because it ended up not being ready.  Then to Best Buy to see about possibly finding something to spend my gift cards that I had gotten for my birthday.  Which the only thing I found was a movie that I have been wanting for a while and finally went on sale.  Miracle, a movie about the amazing American hockey team that beat the Russian team in the Winter Olympics in 1980.  Have to love a feel good sports movie.
      We also celebrated my dad's birthday as a family tonight.  I went to pick up some carne asada and pastor to grill up for dinner.  That stuff isn't cheap, but it is worth every penny.  I know I talk about food quite a bit in my blogs, but I really do love good food.  I grilled up the meat, along with some corn and hot links, and we stuffed our tummies with good eating.  It is just the kind of thing that my dad loves for his birthday.  Having the entire family around with lots of food.  My dad doesn't like anyone to go hungry.  He would rather have more than enough food than to even come close to not having enough.  We topped it all off with a super sugary and sweet cake that my sister made.  It was a cake that I had seen in one of her magazines and asked her to make, which she did because she loves me.  It was really good, just a little too sweet for me.  Okay, it was a lot too sweet for me.  It doesn't help that I can't handle sweets too well.  It just looked so good in the magazine with all the caramel and chocolate shavings on it.  What I could handle, was delicious.  Much thanks to my sister the pastry chef.

This Day In History: 1890
The first execution by electrocution is carried out at Auburn Prison in New York on William Kemmler, who had been convicted of murdering this lover with an ax.  Electrocution as a means of execution was first suggested in 1881 by Dr. Albert Southwick.

Born This Day: 1911
Lucille Ball - American comedienne and actress.

"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age."

-Lucille Ball

Patience is a virtue.

Day Two Hundred Eighteen

Dear Readers,
      I have made it home safe and sound.  It was a long day though.  We left Scott's house at about 9:30AM and drove straight home except for a quick stop for gas and a bite to eat at Burger King.  It was a straight shot, having to pass up a ton of slow cars and trucks on the two lane highway in the middle of the desert.  Not a bad drive other then the traffic we hit once we got on the 91 freeway.  It all worked out and we made good time home.  I dropped the other guys off and headed over to the park.  Raina was watching Micah, so we decided it would be a good day to have another park day.  Brandon, Brooke, Chris, Liz, Raina, Micah and I went over to Rossmoor Park, which has become out go to park for hanging out.  There is so much more room for activities.  Even with a huge group there along with us, there was enough room to make it still feel uncrowded.
      I think we found out that we are ready for another soft ball league.  Brandon was out there hitting balls with us and he was taking the cover off the ball.  Chris has played for years and can play defense and hit, while I have a season under my belt and am ready for more.  Maybe we can convince the girls to play with us.  Wouldn't that be something.  As long as Liz doesn't nail Raina in the shin with another softball while batting, like she did a couple weeks ago.  Liz tagged the ball hard enough to actually leave an impression of the stitching from the ball on Raina's shin.  Poor Raina was in pain, but it was pretty funny.
      Playing with Micah at the park was a blast, even as tired as I was.  He makes me laugh whenever he copies whatever I might be saying, or even when he tries to copy the sounds I make.  He was copying my whistle that I was doing while pushing him on the swing.  I now have him saying in a cookie monster voice, "Hungry!".  Maybe it isn't cookie monster, but I couldn't think of a better way of describing it.  It was also funny to see Micah become afraid of a younger kid.  He couldn't stop staring at this other kid who was half his age and probably half his size.  He got so scared of him that when the younger kid started to get close, he ran to me and held tight to my leg.  It was pretty funny, considering he can be a bully to his older cousins.  Just shy I guess.
      Even though I was completely tired after the weekend out of town, it was great to be back and a fun day at the park.  Plus I got a fantastic dinner of spaghetti with Italian sausage.  Yum.

This Day In History: 1884
The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid at Bedloe's Island (now known as Liberty Island), New York.  On October 28, 1886, U.S. president Grover S. Cleveland accepted the actual statue as a gift to the United States from the people of France.

Born This Day: 1930
Neil Armstrong - American astronaut, first man to set foot on the moon.

"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left."

-Oscar Levant

Just Do It!

Day Two Hundred Seventeen

Dear Readers,
    Day two of being out on the lake.  You could definitely tell that Saturday is a much busier day for being out on the water.  All you had to do was sit and watch the movement of the water.  There was a ton of more wake from all the boats in the water.  Not to mention all the boats in the channel by London Bridge.  Just a completely unending row of boats going back and forth through the channel.  We took the boat out to the river that feeds into the lake today.  Scott then proceeded to try to fool me into jumping into the water before anybody else.  Trying to make me jump into freezing water in the river.  The water is much colder in the river then in the lake because it is continuously moving.  Fortunately, Ryan jumped in first revealing how much colder it actually was.  I jumped in anyways, it was invigorating.  After being in the freezing water at the beach last week, the water in the river was refreshing.  Especially considering that the water in the lake is like bath water.
      Later in the day, while riding through the channel, we saw one of those hydro jet propulsion jet packs.  One of those packs that sucks the water and spits it out super fast to shoot a guy strapped to the pack into the air.  I have always wanted to fly one of those things around.  It seemed totally awesome, but probably way too expensive.  It was cool to actually see one live after seeing pictures for years.
      After another long day with too much sun, we were way too tired to be out the way we were the previous night.  And yes, I did get a little sunburned, but just a little.  So we finished our last night out by gorging ourselves with as much food as we could.  We went to the Golden Corral, which I have seen a ton of commercials for but never actually seen one near where we live.  Turns out, there isn't.  So why is there so many commercials for it?  I will never understand that.  We finally got to try it out.  I think it is a better version of Hometown Buffet.  The food was surprisingly good and there was a ton of deserts, including cotton candy and a chocolate fountain with strawberries and other assortments to dip.
      After an evening of gorging, we went back to Scott's house where Josh immediately fell asleep while the rest of us watched some Olympic television.  I promptly fell asleep on the comfortable couch while trying to stay up watching.  I didn't wake up until about 3:30AM to head to bed for a real nights sleep.  After a weekend like that, it almost makes me want to get a boat.  House first though, then boat.

This Day In History: 1922
Every telephone in the United States and Canad goes dead as switchboards and switching stations are shut down for one minute in memory of the device's inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, who had died two days before.

Born This Day: 1901
Louis Armstrong - American jazz musician.

"The more we study the more we discover our ignorance."

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

More lake photos.

Way lots more boats today.

Beard flopping.

You can barely see the jet pack guy.

Heading back to the house after last day.

Scott's huge garage.  Pretty cool.

Day Two Hundred Sixteen

Dear Readers,
      We made it out to Lake Havasu safe and sound.  It was a breeze of a drive without any traffic.  I guess you wouldn't expect much when you are driving in the middle of the night.  It only took us about four hours or so.  We got here and went right to bed.  Had to get up early enough to hurry up and get out on the lake.
      We woke up around 9:00AM and shoved off.  Stopping on the way to get some ice for the coolers and picking up a sandwich for being out on the water.  The sandwich shop actually made a pretty good stinking chicken salad sandwich.
      The guy who owns the boat we went out on is named Scott.  I work with him and the two other guys who went along, Ryan and Josh.  Scott has been going to Havasu for years before he bought a house out there.  He knows the lake and it's ins and outs.  Showing us all the cool things to see and some that most don't know about or can't find.  Showing us the tourist spots like London Bridge.  Which is the actual original London Bridge from England.  When they were planning on building the newest bridge, they sold the old one to the city in Havasu and had it transported overseas.  They brought it over in pieces and rebuilt it.  It seems like it would cost more to have it shipped then to just build a new one.  Either way, it is a piece of history that is pretty interesting.  It includes some bullet holes that came from England along with it.
      Scott also took us to a little cove that he has been going to for years.  A pretty nice little spot that would be perfect for a small group of friends to head to for a barbeque on the little beach there and a decent rock to jump off of.  Probably only about fifteen feet up.  Perfect for me.  I am too old to be jumping off the higher rocks from my youth.  The fear of heights is just too much for me.  Including the famous higher rock that I was trying to be convinced of jumping off of.  This one was great for jumping or diving.  It was still a little scary.  I think the worst part is the feeling of how long the falling is.  When you are watching someone jump it seems real short, but when you are the one falling it seems to last forever.  Those one or two seconds seems like one or two minutes.  At this point, I can't imagine how long it would seem while sky diving.  Either way I jumped off that rock a couple of times and had a blast swimming around and checking out the natural sights.  Including having the wind slap my face and flap my beard around as Scott took off across the lake at 64 MPH, which when it is your first time can be a little nerve racking.
      We finished off the night cooking up some hot links on the barbeque and heading to some place called McKees for some shuffleboard, pool and darts.  I don't think we got back to the house until after 2:30AM.  Just enough time to catch a little sleep and head out on the lake again the next day.

This Day In History: 1971
In the United States, English rock musician and former Beatle Paul McCartney forms a new band called Wings.

Born This Day: 1940
Martin Sheen - American actor

"The greatest mystery of all is the human heart, and that is the mystery with which all good novelists are concerned."

-P. D. James

Out on the lake.

Scott  showing us the sights

London Bridge

The hidden cove with are jumping rock.

Ryan trying to fish.

Just a small taste of all the boats on the water.

Day Two Hundred Fifteen

Dear Readers,
      I am about to take my first Final in about ten or so years.  Just like any other test I guess.  Just need to go in and do what I have been doing all semester.  Thankfully I can go out and celebrate afterwards, with a drive to Lake Havasu.  Okay, the drive isn't what I am looking forward too.  It's being out on the lake.  I'm ready to catch some rays.  I will be driving through the night to get there.  Hopefully I don't fall asleep while I am driving.  Just kidding.  That has never happened to me.  I am pretty good at knowing my limits and when to let somebody else drive.  Hopefully I can make it the whole way so that the guys I am going with can catch some sleep on the way.  Just give me a five hour energy drink and some good music and I am good to go.  Ready for a little road trip.  Too bad it will be pitch black once we hit the desert area and it won't leave me any scenery to take in.  Not that there is much in the way of scenery while driving through the desert.  Maybe there is a good chance that at least one of the other guys will stay up with me and keep up a conversation to keep me awake.  That always helps.  The cost of having a truck big enough for people and gear all at once.  Oh well, at least I won't have to pay for the gas.  At least I hope I won't.  Well, it is a short blog tonight since I still have to pack and head on out to my Final and then head on out to the lake after that.  Pray for my memory.

This Day In History: 1865
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by English author Lewis Carroll (the pen name of Charles Dodgson) is published, but is quickly withdrawn due to bad printing.  Only 21 copies of the first edition survive.

Born This Day: 1932
Peter O'Toole - Irish actor
???? - David Taylor (A very good friend of mine who happens to be in Costa Rica right now and I am very jealous of him at this moment.  Happy Birthday DT!)

"Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming."

-Myrna Loy

Are you the guy he is talking about?

Day Two Hundred Fourteen

Dear Readers.
      Now I have a dilemma with what time I was supposed to leave tomorrow night for Lake Havasu.  Originally my professor was supposed to let us take our Final as soon as we got to class and then leave as soon as we were finished.  That would most likely allow me to head on out around 8PM or so.  Now my professor is telling me that we won't even start the Final until 8PM.  Which means that I won't be able to take off as early as I had planned.  Meaning a long night of driving and little sleep before heading out onto the lake on Friday morning.  The reason he is giving for waiting so long to administer the test is that there are multiple students that haven't finished all the assignments and he is setting aside that beginning portion of the class for them to finish any uncompleted assignments they may have.  That just means it is a big waste of time for people like me who have finished all our assignments.  He said there is a small possibility of being able to start the test a little sooner.  My hope is that I can go into class early and explain that I have nothing to do, since my assignments are all finished.  Hopefully he will allow me to take the test right away and then leave.  Keeping my fingers crossed for some leniency.
      I had a practice run for my Final tomorrow, sort of.  I went into Cerritos College early today so that I could take my assessment test, which gives me placement as far as what classes I can start on and skip.  The test took longer than I thought it was and boy am I a long ways away from when I graduated high school.  I was having problems remembering how to solve some algebraic questions, when I finished high school taking AP Calculus.  Ten years is a long time between math classes and it is showing.  I need to have it all refreshed.  I at least did well enough so that I don't have to start from the bottom and I am able to able to skip the Reading class that is required.  English on the other hand, I have never been really good at, so I need to take a basic English class to get back into the swing of things.  Oh well, a refresher of things learned over ten years ago should be fairly easy finish.  Besides, it will get me some college credits and hopefully I will do well enough to improve on my dismal GPA.

This Day In History: 1944
Thirteen-year-old German Jew Anne Frank makes the last entry in her diary, which she kept for two years while hiding with her family to escape the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

Born This Day: 1779
Francis Scott Key - American attorney and poet who composed the lyrics for the "Star-Spangled Banner".

"Life's a voyage that's homeward bound."

-Herman Melville

Hehe.