Crashboombang

First, a couple of kids...

My Dad can paint!  Here are two of his latest

Take a look at his album , or just refresh this page to see a couple more. He's done so far.  It's likely that I have that gene--Wonder what it would take to make that gene active in me, even just a little.   

What's been happening?

Jul, 2009  Beth and I did the JMT!

If you met us and want to contact us, click here.

And if you haven't seen our blog, have a look.

Nov, 2008  Alexa's better

She had a good consultation with the hematologist last week.  Good good good news. 

Oct, 2008  Every golf course on the Monterey Peninsula?

I have a friend  (to protect his identity, let's call him Bill), who last week played Monterey Peninsula Country Club, the place which had been standing out as the only golf course in the Monterey area he'd never played.  The list includes a handful of very exclusive places.  Have you done it?  Know anyone who has?    Here's the list (and his ranked favorites).

Aug, 2008  Back from Brazil

The trip was incredible.  We used the iPhone to do the blog.  Higher quality photos are here, or click one of the pics below.  What a trip.

Jul 8, 2008  Alexa and me, in Brazil

We're leaving soon.  If you'd like to follow along check out our blog.

I spent the 4th of July weekend backpacking in the Sierras with some friends.  That fact doesn't belong in the Alexa and me, in Brazil heading, does it?  It was nice up there.

Apr 21, 2008  Ryan's Birthday

15 years old.  Still loves the bread sticks at Olive Garden.

Alexa has selected.... UCLA.  Excellent.  Westwood, Tommy Burgers, Santa Monica beach, Beverly Hills. 

From our trip to Mexico here's my brother, Carl, on the flying trapeze

And finally, a photo from our cavern diving excursion.  The guide, Paulo, is leading, with my brother next.   Diving those caverns was magnificent.  That's a real photo of us.  No kidding.  Amazing.

Apr 6, 2008  Scuba

I took a class and spent a weekend in a local swimming pool.  Then another weekend bubbling around at 60' in Monterey Bay, from a boat not far from the Aquarium, finishing the open water certification.  Brrr.  49 deg water.  Way cold.   

Mar 20, 2008  Alexa is getting accepted everywhere

Who would have guessed she'd get in wherever she applied?

She's narrowed her decision to UCSB and UCLA.  She'll let them know by the beginning of May.

Mar 19, 2008  Cooking with Martin Yan

I was one of his helpers for a couple of cooking demonstrations.  The guy has done over 2,000 cooking shows over 30 years, all over the world, in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.  He's a really fun guy.  Really lights up when it's show time.  He broke down a chicken in 15 seconds.  At the end, after publicly suggesting Mauricio and I join him on one of his cooking shows, he gave us each one of his signature designed chef's knives.  If Yan can cook, so can you!

Feb 13, 2008  Finished cooking school

10 months and lots of cooking.  Click on the Peking Duck main course of my final practical exam to read more about it. 

Dec 21, 2007  After a long time thinking it would be nice, I put in a new stove 

Open up the wall

Run a gas line under the house.  Hope it comes up in the right place. 

Disconnect the 220V, cover the box

Install a new 110V outlet.

Patch up the wall

Wait for the Home Depot guys to bring the new stove

Ready to invite friends over to make Thai dinner.  Yumm

Dec 2, 2007  Our Geocache

Back in 2001 Ryan and I hid a box in the hills behind Los Gatos.  It's part of a hobby known as Geocaching.  Since we hid it, 180 people have used their handheld GPS units to find it.  We know because they go the webpage and log their find.  It's like treasure hunting.  Go to the web, find some coordinates, read about the terrain and difficulty.  Then go out and find it.  The GPS unit can get you within about 10 meters.  Find the cache, sign the log, take a little trinket, put something else inside.  Then go to the web and log your find. 

The photo on the left is Ryan right after we hid the cache. 

This cache, on top of Cloud's Rest in Yosemite, was my favorite cache to find.  That's Half Dome between my boots.

Nov 30, 2007  The days will soon be getting longer and a hole-in-one

It's easier this year since I'm not stuck inside all day long, but this is still the part of the year I enjoy the least.  Might be leftover from living in Kodiak, Alaska in high school, where the winter days this time of year are very very short.  It would only take a little stormy weather and there'd be no light all.  Then later in life, working in a cube had about the same effect.  Go to work when it's dark, or maybe really cold outside with a little light, and go home in the dark. 

So from that I've always looked forward and enjoyed Dec 21 or so, when the days start getting longer.  It's pretty soon now, only a few weeks. 

Last week I hit a 6 iron, down hill, down wind, 187 yards to the front right pin on the 12th hole at CordeValle.  Ball landed 4 feet in front of the hole and rolled in.  My regular golf buddies were there to see it.  The club gave me a nice framed lithograph of the hole.  Despite the rumors, it did not bounce off a tree, roll down the path, swing way around the green and roll in; rather, it was a really good swing for me.  I'll have to do it again soon. 

Sep, 2007  A Cabo birthday present

I was sitting by the pool in Cabo, talking with a tough ass Marine and his father-in-law about their deep sea fishing trip.  A few of my friends were around.  The conversation turned to the Marine's combat experiences in Afghanistan.  He told us about his role in artillery, with Dad stopping him "we'd all like to know, but he can't say much more". 

The Marine looked up at me and said, you look like you could be SF.  I had to get everyone's attention.  "Did you guys hear that?". 

"He looks like he could be SF"

"What's SF?", ask my friends. 

"Special Forces", "He's in great shape.  Look at the veins in his arms.  He's reserved, smart, and he looks like he could meld in just about anywhere, especially in Asia and the middle east."

So of course, I'm loving that. 

Later that night my buddies and I are all at Cabo Wabo.  In the men's room I run into the Marine.  I told him I had been having fun with the special forces thing. 

He says "You're a dead ringer for an SF guy I knew in Warsaw"

"Was he a mean f*#^?", I ask.

With the seriousness of a veteran combat Marine, he replied, "He was deadly"

Alexa makes local diving news 

Feb 20th:  Vegas, NBA All Star Weekend, Skills Challenge.......  Old guy lost

Dec 16th:  Ryan and Alexa's Interviews 

Ryan rocked his career unit interview in his 8th grade English class.  The kids had to choose a career, do research, make a resume, write a cover letter, and do a live interview in front of the class, with parents playing the role of interviewers.  For Ryan's interview as a sales professional, he did a terrific job preparing and an even better job during the performance.  Miss Breen gave him his grade with "Ryan, your sister, Alexa, won't be able to say she received a higher grade than you!"  (They both got a 100)

On a related interview note, Alexa was interviewed on television for a local high school sports show.  Pick a format below to see the clip.

Aug 28th:  Back from the JMT hike. 

Fantastic trip.  More than fantastic.  Spectacularly beautiful, sublime, intense, physically and emotionally demanding.  Peaceful.  Take a look at the photos . 

Aug, 2006:

Going out to hike the John Muir Trail in the high Sierras.  Should take 19 days.  Details here.

Jan, 2006:

In Waikiki for our parents' 44th wedding anniversary.  Stopped in the same place to take a picture of the kids. 

We need the little one.  Hey, where's Carl!?!?

More photos, produced in the style of family vacations, can be found here. 

Nov 2005:  I'm on my way to Nepal and Bhutan next week.  Here's a link to my blog.  Can't promise much entertainment value, but if you care you might be able to track my progress.   If I were smarter I'd add a live map and a symbol of where I am. It might look like this:

Photos of my trip are here.

Sep, 2005:

The pic on the left is September, on the right is 6 months earlier

September, 2005:

Spent a couple of days hiking in Yosemite.  My notes from the hike are here.  Above is a nice panoramic view taken by a guy I met up there last year. 

June, 2005:

Here's Alexa doing a 1 1/2 with some twists (try and count them) at her regional diving meet in Portland

Click the picture to see the movie

Mar, 2005: I ran my first marathon, Napa Valley.  Beautiful day, long long race.  

3:55 is a long time, I guess, depending on the reference.  The winner: 2:23, 1600th place: 5:29.  That puts me almost exactly halfway between winning and getting picked up by the straggler van. 

The chart shows my wheels falling off starting around mile 21.

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