The Station

In The Park

This week I'm on vacation with my parents and Uncle Joe in Estes Park, Colorado. I need a better camera, and about a hundred more memory cards! Colorado is awesome. I'm moving here. Seriously.
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You're Jealous!

A little unexpected fun on the way to San Francisco...
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San Francisco

I went to San Francisco for Labor Day weekend. It was one of those very spontaneous trips where everything just fell into place very nicely. It started last Tuesday when Southwest Airlines offered one of their "Ding" fares of only $29 each way from Los Angeles to Oakland. I told Jeff and Malia and within an hour we had tickets for Friday.

While waiting at LAX, Jeff ran into a friend who turned out to be a mechanic for Southwest. He took us down to the tarmac and let us inspect the planes. We sat in the jet engines, checked out the hydraulic systems inside, and then one of the captains let me and Jeff into the cockpit. Neato. Then after we were in the air, I asked the flight attendant for more peanuts and was rewarded with 20 or so extra packages.

When we got to San Francisco, we stayed at Malia's friend's place near the Cable Car Museum on Nob Hill. I was enthralled by those cable cars; they're amazing. Over the next two days, we walked and rode the cars all over the city. San Fran is way better than LA in that the neighborhoods actually have restaurants, cafes, businesses, and other things to do. In addtion, great views and impressive architecture abounds. The place just seems alive, as a city should feel. It was very similar to Seattle, only larger and not quite as clean. Why do I live in LA?

Jeff and I spent a lot of time going to different coffee shops. We also went to Fisherman's Wharf where we took a $10 boat tour under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. We wanted to rent bikes to ride across the bridge, but there wasn't enough time. I'll just have to go back for that.

We had some great tapas and sangria at a place called "Cha Cha Cha" in the area around Haight and Ashbury. I also picked up some used CDs at Ameoba Music next door to the restaurant. There are a lot great stores in that neighborhood including this place called "Giant Robot."

Anyway, that's what I did last weekend.
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Gravity Doesn't Make Your Baby Interesting

Every time a coworker has a baby, someone puts up a sign announcing the name and birth date. They also list the baby's weight. Ever notice that people always mention a baby's birth weight? It's mentioned nearly every time someone talks about a baby being born.

I ask, "who cares?" Really, unless the weight is remarkable (at least two standard deviations from the mean), I don't want to hear about it. It's not like it's a segue for further conversation:

Engineer 1: I heard little Bob Rocketscientist Junior weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz, when he was born yesterday.

Engineer 2: Really? That's a good weight; it's the same as my wife's bowling ball!

Engineer 1: Golly, bowling sure is keen!

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