:: Troutmaster blog :: September 2003 archive

:: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 ::

There are not many TV shows that I actually go out of my way to watch on a regular basis. The ones that I do watch are Alias, 24, baseball playoffs, NFL football, and a few other assorted sports. I was disappointed when I watched the beginning of the new Alias season this past Sunday. The storyline was that the main character Sydney, had been missing for the past two years. So she wakes up and starts piecing together her life. She starts by finding out that her father is in prison, so she finds a way to get the government to set her father free. And she continues to take more steps toward finding out what happened in the two years that are missing from her memory. I wish they would go back to what it was like in the first season. She went on cool missions, got to beat people up, and blow stuff up. Keep it simple and to the point. But after being disappointed in the first episode of the new season I think I am going to stop watching that show. There is nothing good on TV anymore. It makes me wonder why I pay for cable. I remember now. It's for the sports. I almost forgot about that. Giants won 2-0. Great way to start the playoffs.
:: Tom 11:40 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I got a chance to go to Phoenix this weekend to attend a wedding party for my friend Ryan. He and his wife Sabrina were celebrating one year together. People that came to the party brought wedding gifts because they eloped when they got married and didn't give everyone a chance to give them wedding gifts. I got into Phoenix at 11 AM on Saturday and then ran some errands with my mom before heading over to the church where the party was held. I helped out with the preparation for the party from 1 PM to 3 PM and then the party started. Family members and friends from both Ryan's side and Sabrina's side made it to the gathering. I also got to see my friend Emily from high school. She had moved down to Phoenix after graduating and has been married for about 2 years now. I also got to see Ryan's Dad Mike, his mom Melanie, and his brother Travis. I hadn't seen Travis since he about 10 years old. So it was cool to see him grown up now. Mike and Melanie still looks the about the same as the last time I saw them. After the party was over I went back to Mike and Mel's house and got to check out Mike's 1962 Porsche 356. Then we spent the rest of the night playing a board game. I can't remember the name of that game. On Sunday I got up early and went to their church with my mom to listen to Mike give a sermon. I think he did a great job of giving the sermon and I'm glad that the timing of my visit worked out so that I could listen to it. After that I did some sightseeing with my mom and then had a bonding experience of playing video poker with her before being dropped off at the airport. I read an article not too long ago that referred to video poke as the "crack cocaine" of gambling. I guess I could say I got my fix. :-) Overall I think it was a pretty good trip and I look forward to going back to Phoenix to see Ryan and his family again soon. I wish I was better about keeping in touch with my friends.
:: Tom 2:20 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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In the meager amount of spare time that I have I'm trying to read through an article about a couple of people that are in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) following the caribou. I'll try to finish the series of articles tonight, but so far a lot of it makes me laugh. I especially like the parts where they rail on the Republican controlled congress and the Bush Administration. At least they are the .001 % of environmentalists that will actually visit the place that they are trying to protect, so I have to give them props for that. But while they are up there they should head over to Prudhoe Bay and see what could happen to parts of ANWR. They say that the caribou are threatened from going extinct but they fail to see that the caribou near Prudhoe Bay are thriving. But overall I'm interested in learning what they find out while they follow the porcupine herd around Alaska and Canada for a few months. And to think they are actually worrying about starving. I'd be worried about eating too much! But then again they are probably vegetarians. But on their way out of Alaska to their next Sierra Club convention they should stop and ask the Alaskans what they want done with the refuge. The answer might surprise them. Afterall, who better than the people that live there to decide what to do with their land?
:: Tom 8:05 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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Today has been eventful on TV. First, I watched the last half of the recall candidate debate when I got home and I know who I will definitely not vote for now. One is Ariana Huffington and the other is Peter Camejo. For the rest of it I'll do more research and decide later. Then later on this evening Timber made me watch the Bachelor with her. Overall I would say the quality of the women is higher than the past seasons of the Bachelor. That being said, I want to make sure that Rong is around for the rest of this season of The Bachelor because he always has really funny comments about the show while it is going on.
:: Tom 12:03 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I'm waffling again. I've tried to do a little research to find the real reasons to vote yes or no on the recall election. I got upset by Gray Davis signing a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to receive drivers licenses, especially after he had vetoed similar bills in the past. I think he was pandering to try to get the votes of Latinos in California. But I'm not convinced by the arguments that I've seen to vote Yes on the recall. Then again I also get offended by the reasons to vote No on the recall. So what should I do? I'm just not sure yet. I guess I have to do more research...
:: Tom 5:12 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I had one good soccer game yesterday and I think because of that the rest of this week is going to be good. I had a 5:55 PM game last night. I left work early, fought through traffic, and when I got there I found out that the other team had forfeited. I was bummed because I was going to have to miss all you can eat ribs at Armadillo Willy's, but since the traffic would have been really bad to get back home I decided to stay there and scrimmage. It was fun just playing to play. I think I sometimes get too caught up in winning or losing and I don't enjoy just playing enough. After the scrimmage was over I went home and worked on things around the house until it was time for me to go to my 11:25 PM soccer game. I got there and warmed up for the game and I think I played my best game in a couple of months. I was playing goal keeper and I was really on top of the fundamentals. For any aspiring goal keepers out there the fundamentals are footwork, angles, communication, and distribution. Footwork is making sure that you never cross your feet and can dive side to side at any time. Angles is playing the angles when people bring the ball into range where they can shoot on net. You can really make your life a lot easier if you position yourself well in case there is a shot. Communication is telling your players who to cover, who is open, and when they have someone approaching from behind. Distribution is how you distribute the ball to your team after you make the save. I was doing all of those things well yesterday, and we won 8-4. The score makes it sound a lot closer than it really was. After that I went home and went to sleep. But thinking about Armadillo Willy's makes me think of Claim Jumper which makes me think of the Ore Cart which is Rotisserie Barbecued Chicken, Baby Back Pork Ribs, Beef Back Ribs and Barbecued Tri - Tip, which makes me think of one time that I was there I saw two kids that were on a date. They must have been 12 or 13 years old and they were both dressed up, and the girl was having lobster. I couldn't believe it. If I was the boy at that table that would be the last date that I take the girl on. From what I saw of them I would guess that it was probably their first date, and any girl that orders lobster on a first date with has to go. The reason is because she is either taking advantage of me by ordering the most expensive dish on the menu or she is the kind of person that orders things like that all the time. Neither option is a good one. And in other news my beloved Raiders got beat down last night as I feared. I knew it would be bad when I picked them to lose in a football pool. It is going to be a long season.
:: Tom 11:25 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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Here's a good quote that I just came across while catching up on my reading. This is from General George Patton to his troops just before D Day. "We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks...We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him..." I wonder what he would tell the Democrats if he were around right now...
:: Tom 1:54 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I found a bug on the Apple Online Store. It looks like some of the banners for the Apple Online Store are directing the user to the wrong pages. It is not completely consistent, but when I click on the imac banner it takes me to iPods. Very interesting. I will be sending my bill to Apple. :-) In other news I accomplished my goals today. I went to the gym after work and ran 4.5 miles on the treadmill. I ran 3 miles on Tuesday, and my plan is to run 6 miles on the treadmill when I go back to the gym next Tuesday. I have to get back to going to the gym now that the summer is over.
:: Tom 11:08 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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It looks like there will be another Democrat going for the Dem's nomination. Some of the people I know are really excited about this, and I think he has a good chance of getting the Dem's nomination. But here's my first problem with him. This transcript from an interview quotes him as saying "I thought this country was founded on a principle of progressive taxation." I don't purport to be a history major, but I was vaguely aware that the current income tax was instituted in 1913. So just on the tax issue alone there is no way that I would vote for this guy. Thanks Uncle John for being the first person to bring this misstatement to my attention. I knew it would have to be revisited if Clark ran for President.
:: Tom 11:55 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I had to leave work a little early today for a soccer game. My Barking Dogs team had a 5 PM game. In retrospect, I'm not happy that I left work early to go to my game because I had to play goal keeper and we lost 9-3. We started out down three players because most of our team hadn't showed up by the start of the game. In other news, with Timber and I working on projects around the house this weekend I got the idea that I would check out marthastewart.com . I know that you're thinking, and I agree. I guess I am getting more in touch with my feminine side. So to combat that I'm watching as much football as I can. And after the game is over I'm going to watch UFC 40 'vendetta'. That should get my testosterone level back to normal. I'm also looking forward to my beloved Raiders playing the Broncos on Monday night next week, but at the same time I'm worried that they are going to get beat down. They just aren't looking like the Raiders of old.
:: Tom 9:16 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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Yesterday I went to dinner at Azie with Timber, Jenny, Rong, Jackie, Lee, and a bunch of Jackie and Lee's friends. They serve a fusion of Asian and French food. Overall I would say the food was pretty good, but at $40 per person it is probably some place that I won't go back to for a while. It's not that it costs too much, it is that there are so many different places to go eat that I want to try out more other places before I go back to Azie. Today I worked on things around the house and watched some football. I'm pretty disgusted with the Raiders because they barely beat the Bengals at home. This is just a guess, but I doubt the Raiders are going to make the playoffs this year. I think KC and Denver are going to beat them down, and I'm not happy about that.
:: Tom 9:43 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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This makes me hungry. WFTV.com - News - Fishermen Reel In 533-pound Halibut; May Be Largest Ever Now that's a fish!
:: Tom 11:38 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I had a soccer game last night and I played goal keeper for my team. We lost 17-3 and it still hurts to sit down. But I will have my revenge. :-)
:: Tom 11:37 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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Here's an interesting article. Sike! That is kind of like having a study that says eating bad and not exercising makes people fat. I love the blindingly obvious. Perhaps if women in Arab countries had more rights then they might use the internet more. But I'm not telling anyone how to run their country...
:: Tom 5:54 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I am proud to announce that I am finally done getting the photos from our Utah Trip online and ready for public consumption. Check on the left side of my blog in the photos sections or try these two links (Part I and Part II).
:: Tom 5:51 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I worked until 2:30 AM on Monday night and I think that is still affecting me. I couldn't fall alseep last night until nearly 3 AM and as a result I woke up late and got into work late, etc... I have to stop this cycle. In other news, Bert send me a link to sidestep. They install a toolbar type application into your web browser and then you can use it to search for flight, hotel, and car rental deals. I used it to see how much it would cost for me to go to Phoenix at the end of this month for my friend's wedding anniversary party. The best rate that I could find was $193 before taxes. Not a bad deal overall.
:: Tom 12:30 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I'm at work right now and kind of bored, so I'm working on planning a backpacking trip to Denali next summer. I want to be up there for summer solstice. It is going to be awesome. I guess I can't reserve a unit in Denali ahead of time, so I've got to download the map and pick a bunch of alternate routes. I hope Timber is up for the challenge. I hope she's not afraid of bears...
:: Tom 10:26 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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Since my system at work is down right now and there isn't much that I can do I figured I would check the news real quick. This is an interesting story. I hope the guy can finish the hike. It is pretty inspirational. Yahoo! News - 2,168-Mile Trail Awaits 'Bionic' Hiker
:: Tom 3:40 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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Another weekend came to a close. The weekend started out with mountain biking at Freemont Older Park in Cupertino. If you check out the link look very closely for my review. After returning home I got to watch a little bit of college football. The day concluded with a sushi party at Jenny and Rong's house. Once again Forrest was awesome at making rolls. Sunday began with a little bit of NFL and then progressed to volunteering at the Mountain View Art and Wine Festival. After my stint as a volunteer ended, the better half and I waltzed around checking out booths and getting some garlic fries before going to visit her parents. As we were leaving her parents' house we noticed that a car with lights on the top like a police car drove up to near where Timber's car was parked. And a guy got out of his car and started walking toward us. We were wondering what was going on when he pointed his flashlight toward Timber's car and asked who was the owner. Timber said that it was her car and she said that we were about to leave. He said that he car was blocking the sidewalk and that if she didn't move her car then she would get a ticket. I couldn't believe my ears. It was 10 PM on a Sunday night and we were at the end of a cull da sac and no one was going to be walking through. So after Timber said that we were leaving he got back in his car and drove away. Not long after that happened their neighbor came home and parked the same way that Timber had parked, so we told him he needed to move his car or the parking attendent guy would come back and probably give him a ticket. He said that he had already gotten two tickets before for parking like that. So we convinced him to move his car and then remarked about how stupid it was to have a parking violations unit cruise through residential neighborhoods at 10 PM on Sunday night writing parking tickets for people that are parked in their own drive ways. Timber said that hse had never seen anything like that in all of her years of living there. The funny thing to me is that their neighbor had already gotten two tickets for parking in a way that would block the sidewalk, yet he did it again when we saw him come home before we convinced him to move hit car.
:: Tom 10:04 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I heard on the news tonight that Gray Davis had signed a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to get drivers licenses. Does anyone see anything wrong with that? Well I sure do. Pardon my language, but I'm about to exercise my right to free speech. If you're an illegal immigrant you don't belong here, so get the fuck out. They showed a clip of Gray Davis saying that illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans don't want to do. First, I don't agree with that, secondly, even if that were true, you're rewarding them? I was most likely going to vote to keep Gray Davis in the recall election because I think it is a waste, but after seeing this bull shit I'm going to vote that Gray Davis get the fuck out too. Take him back to whatever countries the illegal immigrants came from. And on to the next point... They do jobs that Americans don't want to do, tell you what, if the only job I can get is picking strawberries then guess what? I'll be out there picking strawberries, and I'll pick as many as it takes to feed myself and my family. So don't tell me that they do jobs that we don't want to do. I'll do any of those jobs if I have to. I'm not too high and mighy to work hard and do manual labor. And on to the next subject -> http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/6704670.htm . Who are these people? I think the city council of Santa Cruz, CA are a bunch of flea bitten hippie crack headed clowns. You people need to work on getting the hippies, bums, crack heads, and prostitutes off the streets in your downtown before you try to impeach the president. I almost wish he would send in the national guard and take over your hippie and homeless ridden commune by the ocean. I bet they have pictures of Mao and uncle Hoh in their houses. You damn ass hippies just don't get it. Do you remember September 11th? The city council of Santa Cruz probably passed a resolution saying that our country deserved to be attacked and that the people that died that day deserved it. If that is the case then they should go live in the countries and with the terrorist groups that they empathize with. I still remember exactly where I was and exactly what I was doing on 9/11 when I found out about the terrorist attacks, and I'm still pissed off. You boys must have forgotten we have a Texan in the White House. I'm not suprised that we beat down the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and invaded Iraq. I'm actually suprised we stopped there. Anyway, enough ranting for tonight...
:: Tom 1:59 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I went for a run during lunch today. I ran down the Harry Road side of the hill leading to my work site. One the way down the hill I saw 12 wild turkeys hanging out together pecking at the ground. When I got to the bottom of the hill I saw 4 or 5 mule deer hanging out and grazing. Then I ran back up to the top of the hill, showered, and got back to work. I need to do this more often.
:: Tom 2:29 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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I guess it is time to start blogging again. The Mountain View Art and Wine Festival is this weekend. I'm volunteering on Sunday with Christina. I'm not sure what we have planned for Saturday, it might be a trip to the new Palo Alto Ikea and some mountain biking but I'm not sure. Please don't make me go to Ikea. I know the traffic and crowds in that place are going to be horrible (sob).
:: Tom 10:43 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
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We made it back from the Utah trip last night. I posted the preliminary version of the Utah Trip Page. Feel free to check it out. I think I'll check with Christina, Jenny, and Rong to see if they want to add any comments to the trip page. I'll also clean up the spelling and grammatical errors and add some links and pictures to the page.
:: Tom 2:31 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
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