Life's Ups and Downs

So things have gone up and around and there are times you want to just throw up your hands and say, "What next?"

So about a month ago I had my first crown.

Then recently we found out that our cat Felix (the miniature black panther) has a heart murmur.  Apparently three out of every six beats.  Apparently that doesn't reduce like a fraction, because those were the doctor's words.  Mom was encouraging and reminded me that one of our dogs had a heart murmur and lived a healthy life for eight years or so after being diagnosed.  We're just going to continue to love Felix and keep our home peaceful and happy.

Mother's Day (yes, that far back) was a fun visit for brunch at my parents.  Dad cooked, and I provided tech support including introducing Mom to an RSS reader.

I have been continuing to get to work in the office, so I really can't complain about that.  Being back on an 8-hour workday is pretty nice.  And when almost everyone else is in the field it's pretty quiet in the office.  And when the more senior people don't come in until 10 or 11, then I've got 3 to 4 hours alone to really get stuff done without distraction.

And then Tuesday, when I parked my car, my driver's side window refused to roll up.

Now, about 3 years ago, I was coming home from a long day of drilling: early start and late end.  I was driving on a residential road in late twilight, when I saw what looked like newspaper blowing across the road in front of a car going the opposite direction.  And then suddenly that newspaper was a deer running in front of my car.  I managed to slow down, but still hit the deer kind of hard.  It ran off the rest of the way, but I've got a dent in the corner of the bumper, and some minor crumpling of the fender and door.

I guess it's good that the window kept working this long.  Now I get to find out how much to fix it.

Miles to Go...

So it's been a while since the last post, so once again, we play catch-up.

Last week, I spent three days in Santa Cruz installing soil gas vapor wells around one of the buildings.  Then this week I spent three days sampling those new wells.

Then on Thursday, I got my first crown.  A month ago I had broken one of the tips on my second lower right bicuspid.  I had a filling there and the inner tip had chipped off from the filling when I bit into something.

So I took Thursday off for the crown.  Friday I ended up staying home because I had not slept well due to lingering pain from the work.

Today, after an amazing night's sleep, Jennifer and I went for a bicycle ride.  I suggested we try the Iron Horse Trail.  So we rode to MacArthur BART, and then got off at Walnut Creek BART.  We coasted downhill to the trail near Ygnacio Valley Road, and then rode all the way to the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station.  We took a nice ride back to West Oakland BART and rode home.  With a detour after missing a turn, we ended up doing 27 miles total today.  It was good to be back on the bike for so long.

Another bonus was a set of walkie-talkies that we bought.  It's really difficult sometimes for Jennifer and me to talk to each other when we're on our rides.  So we bought a set that had headphones and vox capabilities.      It was a great experience   We had to learn radio protocols and remember to wait to respond until the radio had completed transmitting, but it made the ride so much nicer.

Tomorrow, we will decide what to do next.

Fifteen Years

Fifteen years ago, yesterday, I took a woman on a picnic.

It was a brave endeavor as it had been raining every day since the rainy season began.  And as it turned out it would for almost every day through the month of February.  But January 25, 1998 turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with big fluffy clouds all around the San Francisco Bay Area.

I took her on a visual tour of the city.  On the way in, we stopped at Treasure Island to admire the view.  We also went around to the Palace of the Legion of Honor, and up to Twin Peaks.  Then we headed down to Golden Gate Park and enjoyed what I had prepared: shrimp cocktails, pork tenderloin with rolls, and Grand Marnier chocolate mousse.  While we ate, we admired the tiny daisies growing in patches around the lawn of the park, and we were visited by a gopher who would stick its head out to watch us, and then hide when we looked at him.

After eating, we went to the Cannery, and walked around for a bit.  Then we headed back to my parents' house, with a stop at Treasure Island again to see the city all lit up for the night.

The next day, we watched the Super Bowl eating salmon with dill sauce, and before she left to go home, we had our first kiss.

Yesterday, we were in the city again, this time for a dentist appointment.  We parked in our usual spot behind Kennedy's, and walked hand in hand up Columbus to Washington Square Park.  Afterwards, we had a mid-afternoon meal at Burger Meister.  Then we drove home.

I still have a picture of that woman from that day on my desk at work.

Apatite and Appetite

So, yesterday was a day to visit the dentist.  I worked through lunch, and left the office early.  I drove to BART near home, rode into San Francisco, and walked to Washington Square Park Dental.  We started going there about a year ago when they had a 2 for 1 Groupon.  They use a great x-ray machine that is handheld, USB connected to a computer, and doses you with about 1/5 of the amount of radiation as the typical x-ray machine.  The doctors and hygienists are fun and friendly, and we've really enjoyed it.  Plus it provides for an afternoon/evening in the city.

Our dentist recommended an amazing restaurant for us when we told him we were looking for someplace to eat.  He said to go to Don Pisto's at Union and Grant.

He suggested we try the pork chop, but we ended up with a seafood evening.  The food is designed to be shared, and we did.  I had the salmon sashimi and Jennifer had the prawns ceviche of which we shared one piece each.  Then for our main course we had lobster burritos.  They provided  us with a lobster cut down the middle, and bowls of butter, rice, beans, and red sauce.  We each had one burrito with half a tail, and tonight we're having claws.

And if you go, either make a reservation, or be there at 5:30 when they open.  It filled up fast!  And this was Tuesday.

Oh, I almost forgot.  For a drink we had their margaritas which are made with agave wine (fermented, not distilled).  So amazingly fresh.