Shit...

I didn't think anything of it. Sirens in the morning outside my home. I lived in the urban area of near downtown Sacramento. It was not uncommon to hear a siren, or see a helicopter search light or anything.

Well, this morning... right before sunrise... or after... I don't know, I didn't sleep due to stress in my job and life anyway, I heard sirens. I thought nothing of it. It was a siren...

Well... it sucks. Some poor little kid was walking to the bus stop to take that long journey to school I did so many years ago up here in the sticks. Someone in a car I guess didn't see the kid in the street or whatever and ran the poor kid over. The kid went to the hospital and later died of his injuries.

My town is beyond rural... with like 200 people. There is the tiny gated community I live in and this is where it all happened. It sucks because, I guess because there are so few people out here... and even that I did not know the kid or really see the incident, it makes you think that we are not always safe no matter where we live or work or whatever we do with our lives. Sometimes if it is our time, it is just our time, period.

You can read about it here and here. (On another topic, what is with the comment spam on the last article)

Red, Gold, Blue Orange, and Lots of White

I am on the road this week. This time up north to one of my favorite cities.

It is freaking HOT!!! Dude... humid too... At least I can breathe. And that is a good thing. My eyes are back to their original color.

Accidentally took too much pain meds in 12 hours. This isn't the fun kind of pain meds like Vicodin where you get a cool buzz and shit... This was a nerve pain blocker I take and because I left at 4 AM and because I took the previous dose only 7 hours earlier instead of 12, I was fuct up.

At least the meeting wasn't until this afternoon which gave me time to drink it off with water. Holy crap dude... I usually take it at 6 and 6 or 7 and 7 or 8 and 8 but 9 and then 4...oops!!

So like, I wanted a mild dinner and so I looked up Jared Burger (Subway...eat fresh!) on the Google nearest to my hotel. I found one a mere 3 blocks away so I walked... forgetting it was 150 out and I forgot shorts and comfortable non-dress shoes. Anyhow... I wandered through downtown and found my place to eat.

I walk in and no one is in this place except of course the worker. And it was "likes to talk guy" behind the counter. You know, the single serving friend on a plane that does not shut the hell up. Only it wasn't a dude, it was a chick and she was on the phone. I never made eye contact but I guess she was like late 40's. In the span of 3 minutes after she got off the phone, I heard about her fuct up son with his illegitimate kid, her the grandma working for $10 bucks an hour (which is quite modest for Subway if you ask me), the success and how nice the other grandmother is and about her own mother still caring for her mother who is like 95... I was like, holy shit... 95 for the matriarch, 70 maybe for the great grandma, 45 for her and 20 for her son and like 3 for the daughter because she is upright and speaking... so I gathered from the long assed one sided conversation I was not having...

I wanted to cut her off but the story kept getting better as she was running her mouth. I was waiting for her to say that she was related to Johnny Knoxville from Jackass... and that her brother was a crack dealer in the state pen or something because shit, you did not know what was coming out of that lady next... Damn... and then she gave me a discount...

It was freaking cool I guess. Reminded me of my own mom...

My turkey sandwich with lettuce... I am the world's pickiest eater, period.

Father and Son go to Oma and Opa's...

Elijah discovers fire!

Yeah... Elijah loves Opa and Oma's house now. Now since he has discovered the sheer pleasure of burning piles of brush. The sinister laugh and exciting applause he wailed as he danced in the smoke was a key sign that he was having the bestest time:


Here's some more great fun as Opa burned more leaves and twigs from the Eucalyptus pile. It was cool man... He had a cool day running out on the "farm". (LOL Calaveras Country... a farm, heh heh)



A distant shot of Elijah with his newfound bestest friend Opa. Next time he wants a ride on the tractor.

Happy Halloween!!

The missing link...

Disney Blitz in 3 Hours

The Statue of Walt standing proud like Lenin did in Red Square

Well... here's a little story, much like this guy's without the costumes, the puking and the hard foreign alcohol. Okay well, it involved hard foreign alcohol. (Amazing the similarities...though like metaphorical though)

As part of my last night of Disneyland and my vacation. Me and the two sister in laws went on run. A fast run... See, we were at the last restaurant of the mighty G-Family of Downtown Disney and the three of us were watching the clock. Elijah had it and DW was well off to bed. It was roughly 8:30PM. California Adventure closed at 9 and we wanted a run at the Tower of Terror. And then a run in the big park which did not close until 12:00 AM.

So the clock was ticking, I swigged the last of my margarita and we were off... To the hotel first to change some clothes and shoes...

Little Sis ran us fast through the park to the Tower which had a bit of a line. It only took 20 minutes though and we got the first spot as pictured below.:


Neat huh? We just had to show y'all. After Katie snapped the picture she was like, "This so has to go on your blog..."

At this point it is safe to say the margaritas kicked in because we were clamoring for a flask of something. And the contents of that flask could have been anything.

Here's us at the top of Tower of Terror (I am the drunk dude in green):





Pretty funny stuff...

Next we ran full speed out of the park and into Disneyland. At that time a parade was running so the lines were short (so we thought.) We found a group of girls maybe early 20's or late teens running for Thunder Mountain Railroad like we were. I don't know what happened or who started it (me) but it turned into a race to get there. And we're old except for Katie so we were like anchors beating these chicks out. Katie towed her sister and I through the park. It was funny because we were failing like pieces of paper and Katie had the direct path to the ride. We finally made it to the ride so we ran through the line. And right before the train... the line splits and we went left running all the way to the front... On the right were the chicks we were trying to beat out and I yell, "Well... look who's gonna ride first?" and Karen yells, "Denied!!!" Katie looked at us like we were imbeciles but it felt good. No freaking way with our bad backs could we ever beat those chicks with Katie. The photos would have been seen below had we taken them. Pitch black in the tunnels with the fireworks blasting as you came out. It felt spiritual. We went by the goat eating dynamite (which I have a picture of but the camera is in the car) and I got like three rows attention behind me and then I yelled it while pointing as we went by. The people behind us were like, "That dude's hammered..." But really I was coming off my buzz at that point...

Next was a side detour on the way to Splash Mountain. Keep in mind, we had less than 3 hours to hit these rides from the beginning. The park was dark with a bunch of shitty parades going on. It was wall to wall people and we had to zig zag around to get where we needed to go because they had all these feeble ropes with retired people waving flash lights on where to go.

But the side detour we took was directly to Pirates of the Caribbean. We got right on... There wasn't any excitement. Karen and I just got our breath. They yelled twice to keep your feet on the floor but it wasn't me.

Next was Splash Mountain. Ice cold water and chilly fall air. Nice to get soaked. I lingered towards the back of the log. We had a group that got the front of the log so we were cool. I almost slipped forward making a stupid pose for the camera. Karen flashed her gang signs. Katie wished for world peace. It was symbolic. If there were photos, they would be seen below. I yelled a lot as we went through the tunnel.

The final attempt we made was to hit the Matterhorn. Unfortunately my dream of riding this thing at night was still only a dream left for next year. They closed one side like idiots so the line was long. It was decision time... wait for the Matterhorn or checkout Space Mountain and ride it. We decided on Space Mountain. It was around 11 and the sign said 45 minutes for the ride. We waited for an eternity, people watching throughout the line. I hate couples who sit and make out while the line is moving. I hate really fat people who listen to their iPods by themselves wearing Star Wars trucker hats. I hate red necks. I hate parents who drag their 5 year olds into a long line and then yell at their kids because they hand on the chain dividers that make the lines.

Anyway, the ride was awesome for the 3rd time this week... Here's a picture of Elijah in an over-sized Charlie Brown shirt at Knott's Berry Farm:

Elijah Joins The Twisted Few

I wonder if El Jefe knows he has an under-aged member...? (Like the local sheriffs would care) Elijah is here checking out the Giant Fricken outside of the Twisted Oak Winery. I stopped in (finally) to pick up the latest bottle of "The Spaniard". 2005 Vintage, very tasty... Gonna let that sit on the rack for a bit until the next big summer barbecue. I can always get more though... for a while.


I couldn't pass up attempting this shot and it is too bad you cannot make out the old BMW 2002 in the background or the Frog's Tooth Winery sign. The seester-en-law and I wanted to head out and taste the wines here. We had not had a chance since they opened in August. Great selection. I don't know what it is with white wine lately but I picked up a Pinot Grigio and a Fume Blanc. The Fume Blanc was my favorite. I bought the Grenache too. One of the best up here in Murphys. It was a cool day so all of the wines tasted great.

Later on, I caved in the Murphys Village Toy Store next store and bought my son a toy truck that is really cool. I also picked up my salty Dutch Licorice at Nelsons.

Brisk day here in Murphys and lots of bright Fall colors. Great day to fly around in the Porsche with the sunroof open with the ass warmer seats cranked on five. I wish I had the 914 up so I could roar past all of the Corvettes that are up here for some Corvette show. Corvettes are over rated. I mean after about 1972 what is really new. The 80's 90' and late models look the same and are a bitch to see out of. My middle aged crisis car would will probably be a Cayman. If I can afford that car in a few years I am so buying it. $47,000 right now with similar engine placement and wheel base of my 914, who could go wrong.