Solitary Crow

There he sat solitary, brooding on the state of the neighborhood that he beheld. Cement dominated all. Occasionally, he let out a despairing caw; unable to do anything, unable to ignore what was happening around him, but also unable to allow the decline to progress unprotested. Sometimes, I feel like that solitary crow. I wonder why things can be so clear to me and yet nobody cares to see. I try to do my part for the environment, but I feel like I have to carry the share of everyone around me as well. All because they're to lazy and apathetic to care about what happens around them, even if it slowly kills them, their families and even their children and significant others. Why do you care so much they ask me? Because I care about people and their apathy is killing me and mine as well. In this global society, every action taken by every person affects everyone. You can deny it. You can argue against it, but that is the truth and the truth denied is still the truth.

Need a Toilet?

The neigh- borhood looks like a ghetto anyway, so I decided to put out the toilet that we have left over from when we remodeled the house. Nobody wanted it then and they didn't for the week we had it out this time either. Although last time we put it out we did get rid of the other toilet and two sinks. One sink didn't even have a counter with it. Strange, huh? Luckily, the toilet fit with the neighborhood decor of post-modern post-apocalyptic America. Eventually, I moved it back into the garage. If anyone wants it, or knows anybody that does, let me know. It's completely undamaged and it's not low flow if that matters to anyone. The one we replaced it with is low flow. My internet connection is supposed to be disconnected on Monday, February 27. I'm guessing that means midnight. BONG BONG BONG BONG That leaves me enough time to say, BONG BONG "Have a good night" BONG BONG BONG " and hopefully I'll get service again soon." BONG BONG "I'll find some way to post." Take BONG care...*click*

Squid Egg Cases

I got such positive reviews from the people I talked to about the jellyfish picture that I put up from the Monterey Bay Aquarium that I thought I'd post my other favorite picture from that night. It's of squid egg cases. All of this is in the hope that I can get some feedback from all you loyal readers out there. Post a comment on this blog entry about the picture. Do you like it? Is it better, in your opinion, than the other one. I'm thinking of blowing one of the two up and putting it on the wall. Which do you prefer? Let me know. If you don't remember what the other picture looked like, click on the link above. It'll take you to the other post so that you can compare. Also, if you ever want to post some feedback, go right ahead. It helps me to see if anyone is really reading these things. Don't worry about what you write. I get to approve them before blogger will post them. ;) I know you're all inspired to go see the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I also know you're all too busy to go right now. If you want a quick fix, check out their live web cams. It's live from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.. After that time, they show some pre-recorded footage. Enjoy! If I get good feedback on links like this, I'll post more in the future. Remember, the future is in you collective hands. Sort of...

#5 The Vatican

Well, here it is. This is the last installment of David van Sunder's Rome: The Vatican. Here's the view of the Vatican from Castel San Angelo. This was an amazing place for several reasons. First of all, it houses so many amazing pieces of artwork that I could hardly believe it. Of course, among those pieces of artwork are the (already posted) Pieta and the Sistine Chapel. Secondly, it's the head of the Catholic Church. Third and slightly combined with the second reason, it is only .44 square km. That's 108.7 acres. Here's a bit of perspective for you. Fremont, CA is 225.6 square km. Okay now you know that it is small. To really put it into perspective, Santa Clara University is .4 square km or 104 acres. They're almost the same size! SCU seems to still be growing also as they buy up surrounding land to expand. One day it might be bigger than the Vatican. To have all the importance in the world that the Vatican has while being as small as it is, is stunning. AT&T update: AT&T came back today. Guess what? They couldn't finish it. Why? There was nobody in the central office to switch it on. What does that mean? They're coming back on Monday. I guess I'll be without an internet connection here at home for quite a while. Comcast will end on Monday. I'm not sure at what time though. Well, when I go to the clinic I'll be able to use the internet. When I'm not there I guess I might be able to go to Ket's Cafe at the Fremont Hub. They don't charge for their wireless internet. Oh well, I'd been getting pretty regular at blogging, too. Expect it to get a little more sporadic after Sunday. If I can, I'll post a blog every day. If I can't though, I'll make it up on other days.

#4 Treve Fountain

The Treve Fountain is amazing. Talli and I were walking back to our hotel from the Spanish Steps. We turned a corner and there it was. I wasn't even expecting it. It's amazing and the scope of it is astounding. In the US, our idea of a spectacular fountain is a lot of water and maybe a jet of water or two shooting straight up. Whoopee... This fountain is packed with amazing sculptures. I can't even imagine what it must be like to live in Rome. Every day you would walk past monuments like this one and it wouldn't even register since you were late to work. That boggles my mind. I have to stop every time I see one of these Roman marvels. At the home front: Another AT&T guy came today. He worked for quite a while, but couldn't finish the job. Someone will be back tomorrow. Imagine if I couldn't be home for these guys. How does anyone with a normal job get phone service? It turns out that the phone lines at the telephone poles are the originals that were put in around the time the house was built. That puts those lines at about 45 years old. He had to replace line all the way back to the front of the school. The next guy is supposed to finish it off and get us hooked up. At this rate, I might be without internet service for a while. Why you ask? Good question! Apparently, I can't order DSL service until my phone number is active in their system. That won't happen until 2-3 days after my phone is finished getting hooked up here. That may not be 2-3 days. It might be 2-3 business days. That would make it active on Tuesday or Wednesday. Then we can order it. Then It would probably be 7-10 business days until I get the modem and starter kit. That would be somewhere between the 9th and 14th of March. The 14th being the day we leave for Beijing. If that was the day I received it, I wouldn't be set up then until I returned the day before Talli's birthday on March 20. Who knows if I'll have time to set it up then. I might not get it set up in that case until March 22. Since the 27th of this month is when I get disconnected from Comcast that could be a gap of three and a half weeks without internet here at home. Of course, I won't miss it when I'm in China, but it's the principle of it. Best case scenario: I have no service for close to a week. Lousy AT&T.

#3 The Thinker

Time for another in the series of moving moments on our trip to Rome. A version of Rodin's "The Thinker" was on display in the Vatican. The moving part, to be honest wasn't the statue. It was the fact that it was just plopped down in the middle of many other statues. It was as if they were saying, "Yeah, we have this statue by Rodin. No big deal. He was French..." That reminded me that no matter how good you are, there is always someone better. Unless of course you're Michelangelo. Or Leonardo da Vinci. Wait! One of those had to be better than the other...or does he? Let me break in and give an update on today. Today, I had to go to the accountant to see how much of my money the government wants to steal to buy bouncy balls and Slinkies for President Bush. I have one thing to say to President Bush. How many g*d damn bouncy balls and Slinkies can you fit in the Oval Office? Give me my money back. Cutting taxes? Yeah, right. My taxes went up. Thanks a lot you no good piece of garbage. All so you can have more toys. I also had to wait for AT&T to come by and hook up my phone service. Did they get it done? No. They need to come back tomorrow. *sigh* Guess I'll be home waiting for them again tomorrow. It also looks like I'll lose my internet connection at home for a week since they won't let me even order my DSL until they get my phone line installed. I spent so much time with them on the phone trying to fix that, but they were worse than useless. They couldn't do anything for me. You'd think they didn't want me to do business with them. Pond Temperature: 49 Degrees and rising

Interesting Crop You Have There

Our neighbors across the street have been working on their front yard for months. Each time, they spent a lot of time and almost nothing seemed to have been done. Finally, a few weeks ago they seeded the lawn area. I wasn't sure what the look of the yard would be. Well, the results are in. The new look is abandoned lot. The Jeep with the flat tire that their renter owns adds a nice touch as well, I might add. What they have growing in the yard, I have no idea. It's an interesting crop choice for sure. I hope it's a crop. At least then I know they would harvest it. Then there could be a neater yard. Unfortunately, it doesn't look too appetizing to me. Pond Temperature Update: 48 Degrees The pond is at its coldest point yet. The fish haven't been fed in two days. The weather is supposed to warm over the next few days. We'll see if it impacts the pond temperature much.

Organic Wine Works

Before Talli and I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium the other day, we made a quick stop at Hallcrest Vineyards & Organic Wine Works. Talli and I went because it was on the way to the aquarium and it is the oldest organic wine producer in the nation. I heard about the winery on a podcast that I've been listening to lately, A Guy, a Girl, and a Bottle. It's a beginner's wine podcast. I've been mainly listening to it to learn about what's close by where we live. While at the winery, we focused on the organic wines and actually eschewed most of the non organic wines. I have to say that the wines were very good. They had very distinctive flavors that even I could sense with my very untrained palate. Talli and I agreed that we liked the wines, so we picked up four bottles. We bought a bottle of the Pinot Noir, a bottle of the Zinfandel and two bottles of the Notre Terre. Why did we pick up two bottles of the latter? It was much cheaper. It wasn't quite as good as the other two, but still very good and definitely a good value. According to the wine pourer, they are in talks with Trader Joe's to have their wines carried there. I'm definitely looking to the great prices and the convenience that we'll get with TJ's carrying them.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Family Camp-In

Talli and I became members of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in January of this year. We joined for several reasons: 1) The aquarium is amazing. 2) You pay $100/yr and you can go as many times as you want in a year for free. 3) You are given the opportunity to attend member events. 4) The aquarium promotes and participates in ocean conservation. Friday night, Talli and I headed down to Monterey for their family camp-in event. It's a great event where you and your family get to spend the night in the aquarium, enjoy the exhibits, see some behind the scenes areas and spend the night sleeping by your favorite exhibit. In this picture, you can see Talli standing behind the jellyfish exhibit. In this picture, Talli caught me getting ready to lay down to sleep in front of the Jellyfish: Living Art exhibit. It was fairly quiet in our area of the exhibit after the nearby girls settled down to sleep. I slept pretty well. Talli, however, didn't sleep as well. Apparently, I hadn't filled her sleeping mat well enough. She was also disturbed by the sounds of the filter, so she left happy in the morning, but tired. I wondered if I might bump into any of the attendees of the camp-in behaving inappropriately. I believe I did. Right before the lights were turned out, I caught the jellyfish in the act. I could hardly believe that they would behave in such a manner with kids so nearby.

Post-Modern Fish Bowl

I found our goldfish gasping in his bowl a few days ago. The water was too dirty and I thought that there wasn't enough surface area on the vase. So, I scavenged through the garage and struck gold. It was the coffee pot that we used to use in our clinic. I dragged it out, cleaned it out, decorated it and filled it up with treated water. Then in went the fish. It's been a few days so far and the goldfish hasn't been gasping at all. I'm glad to see that it's feeling better. It also looks pretty darned cool sitting in that coffee pot on our kitchen table. The new bowl was a big hit with Talli. If Hunter could just chime in, we'd have unanimity in the family's approval of the post-modern fish bowl. Hopefully, this will be the environment that will heal our fish. If it doesn't, I know that Talli would want to keep a betta there in its place. Get well to our unnamed fish.

Hunter's New Jacket

Well, against my better judgment, Hunter got a new jacket. I don't mind the idea of a jacket or the price: $9.99. It's the color that I'm not so excited about. Oh, well. Hunter doesn't mind, but then again, he's color blind. We picked up the jacket at Petsmart. It was half off and we had a $3 off coupon. That brought the price down to $6.99. Hunter looked comfortable. The fit was a little snug though, but it stayed on and he looked warm. Plus, Talli thought it was the cutest thing. It made her happy and, as such, it was a great purchase. Just don't expect me to walk him down the street dressed like that...

Fish Tumor

On Tuesday, I looked into the 23 gallon aquarium that we have and I noticed a disturbing thing. This fancy goldfish that you see here had developed what I believe, after extensive research, to be a tumor. It looks like something is trying to erupt from the side of the fish just beside its right gills. At the tip of the protuberance, is a white tip that looks like a zit ready to be popped. Due to this ailment, I had to move the fish out of his aquarium into a vase that we had handy. It was the best I could do on short notice. Hopefully, he'll be okay. There doesn't seem to be much I can do right now. I'm just going to keep him quarantined and his bowl clean.

Sunday Brunch With Sister Evangela

On Sunday, Talli and I were invited to have brunch with Sister Evangela at the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. They have their mother house just a few blocks from our clinic. So, we headed over there on Sunday. First, Talli and I sat through a mass in their new chapel. It was a very enjoyable experience. The chapel was beautifully renovated, the priest had a very nice voice and the sisters that provided the music were excellent. After mass, we headed to breakfast with Sister Evangela. We had an extremely pleasant meal with great conversation with all the wonderful sisters we met. After brunch, Sister Evangela gave us a tour of the Archives. It was very interesting. I also learned that Sister Evangela, at around 80 years of age, knows more about computers than a lot of fifty year olds I've met. Thanks again for the invitation Sister Evangela! Talli and I had a great time.

Jardiniere

Here's Talli and I at Jardiniere. We went there on February 2 when we went to see Swan Lake. I just got the pictures off the camera today, hence the late post. The night was amazing. The dinner was excellent. Talli and I had a nice glass of wine each. I had a Pinot Noir and Talli had a Cabernet Sauvignon. It started the other way around, but we traded. Talli got the better part of that deal. Swan Lake was an excellent production. We sat way up in the highest section, but it was still very enjoyable as well as being much cheaper than orchestra section seating.

Long Overdue Patio Area Addition Post

Weeks ago, Talli and I made a small purchase at Pier 1 Imports. They had an Asian garden chime that was half off. Since, I'd always wanted one and the price was good, Talli and I picked it up. Carrying it to the car without a box was the most challenging part. I finally took all the pipes off and carried them in a bag. The noise of the chimes while walking across half the Fremont Hub was too much for me. The location it's in right now is a temporary placement. The place I have reserved for it keeps getting wet with the rains we've had lately. Pond Temperature Update: Balmy 54.5 degrees

1987 Dow's Royal Oporto Vintage Porto Review

It's that time again! Talli and I cracked open another bottle of vintage port and I'm here to review it. We opened the bottle on Saturday and finished it yesterday. I cracked the bottle open and set it aside to sit for close to an hour. Then we poured it into two port glasses and let it sit for another ten minutes, so that it could open up a bit more. The wine was a nice deep red color, going pinkish and almost clear at the edges. The bouquet which had been closed when I poured the glass had started to open up when we inhaled it. The wine definitely had some plum notes. It lingered on the tongue with a velvety finish. The flavors were noticeably more complex than the Quinta do Bomfim. That could be due to the fact that the Quinta do Bomfim was a few years past its prime while this wine was just at its peak. We next sampled the wine paired with some double Gloucester cheese with Stilton. The wine did admirably with very small bits of cheese, but was not strong enough to defy any large amounts of such a muscular cheese. Overall, the wine was excellent. I'm glad we didn't wait much longer to have it though because I'm afraid that in a couple more years it might have lost that edge it had. I'd recommend it to anyone, but I'd also recommend to drink it now.

Todd Chretien

I'm Back! Sorry to keep you all waiting. I've been really busy. Things have been slow at the clinic the last week, so I've been catching up on everything I've let slip over the last couple years. That's right...years! I've been cleaning out and organizing all of my junk, important documents and artifacts. Which are which depends on your point of view. That process is ongoing, but I managed to spare time today for other things. First, I did thee weekly cleaning of the aquariums. The fish are still healthy..and happy presumably. I'm presuming that they're happy because I saved them from little kids who like to feed a bottle of food a day or frat boys looking to swallow goldfish. I could be wrong...but I don't think so. This afternoon, I looked out the front window and noticed that our neighbor across the street and one house to the right had a bunch of signs up. They were small signs; impossible to read from my house. Later, I looked again and what to my wondering eyes did appear? A big white sign proclaiming "Green Party." How lucky could I be? I felt like I lived in a big city. Someone was hosting a political action within walking distance of our house. So, I grabbed Hunter determined to cross the street and see what the smaller signs said. Apparently, it was a meeting with Todd Chretien. He's attempting a run for Diane Feinstein's Senate seat in California. It sounded interesting, so I took Hunter home, disappointing him terribly. His hopes were up for a long walk. Don't start bad mouthing me. I took him for his walk later. So, long story short. Todd Chretien spoke. It was good stuff. I liked his stands on the issues. Stop the war in Iraq. Don't cut taxes on people with the most money while cutting from the people poorer than me. I live right by them. No need to make them hungry. Protect the environment. Look after women's issues, which unbeknownst to me, Diane Feinstein has been bad at. That was according to a N.O.W. member, so she would know. Todd's a socialist. Not good, doesn't work. Luckily, that will never fly and his other desires for reform might, so "Go Todd!" At the very least, it would be nice to have a third party candidate that can wake up the two-headed monster we currently have.