Archive for January, 2004

So I didn’t really sleep last night. I stayed up till like 6:30 am or something crazy. Then I finally crashed for a couple of hours. When I woke up finally at 8 (Batch was supposed to be there in 30 min) I still had not packed anything. I threw a bunch of crap in some bags and got dressed. Batch ended up showing up almost 15 minutes late. Which was good in a way because I needed a little bit of extra time to finish getting ready. Besides I don’t think any of us were actually expecting to be on the road by 9.

So we cruised over to Scott’s, packed everything in the truck, and hit the road. We didn’t get far before we made our first stop, Penfold’s in Temecula. Breakfast, YUM! So we were getting out of the car when all of a sudden Chris starts laughing and pointing at this van. We couldn’t figure out what he was laughing at until we went over and looked at the van. There were two dogs sitting in the front seats, and it totally looked like the dogs were driving. It was hilarious. Scott ran back to the truck and got his camera to get a picture. It was great.

We finished breakfast and headed out again. Next stop… Pasadena. Scott needed to buy a backpack at the Apple Store. Since his laptop is such a behemoth it won’t fit in a regular backpack he had to get one that was made especially for it.

Back on the road again we saw some cool signs on some buildings and trucks. The first one we saw was a “0% Off all Furniture” sign. I thought that was rather humorous. I was too slow with the camera though so I couldn’t catch a picture of it. Then as we were cruising alongside a truck I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye that was pretty funny. Trucks always have a compartment on the drivers side of the truck that has a label “Fire Extinguisher Inside”. Well this one was a little bit different. It read “Fire Putter Outer Inside”. I thought it was pretty funny so Scott slowed down next to the truck and I snapped a couple of pics. The next one I found was also on a truck. This time it was on the back of the truck. The sign was two arrows. One pointing to the left side ot the truck reading “Passing Side” and the other one pointing to the right side of the truck reading “Suicide”. I thought it was cool too, so out came the camera again. You should never try to pass a truck on the right side.

After several “I think it is right over this hill” and similar comments we finally got to our scheduled lunch stop. “Harris Ranch” a place known for their beef. Basically they have their own cows a couple of miles away. So we got seated and started to order. Scott and I both ordered burgers and then Batchelor goes and orders chicken strips! We proceeded to give him a bunch of crap. We came all the way to this beef place and he orders chicken… what are we going to do with that boy? Oh well. It really isn’t that big of a deal, but it is fun to give Chris a hard time about it. Then when we were nearly done we discovered that he had also never tried A-1 Steak Sauce. So we forced him to try some. I am not sure if he liked it or not, but he didn’t seem to hate it or anything.

Finally after about 8 hours we arrived at our hotel. Courtyard by Marriott at 299 Second Street. The hotel was only two blocks from the convention center so that was a step up from our long walk last year. We got all checked in and headed up to the room. So what do we do when we get there? We drive 8 hours to San Francisco and all we can think about is getting online to check our email. We are so bad. After spending an hour or so trying to sort out network issues with trying to get our wireless router to work, which we never did get to work, we decided to go and get some dessert.

We decided on just desert because we had eaten such a late lunch that we were still kinda full. I looked up the directions to the Cheesecake Factory. It is on top of the Macy’s building. I was going to write down the directions, but Scott seemed to think we didn’t need to. so we were off to walk to dessert. Little did we know, we were in for a longer trip then expected. The Macy’s building was in Union Square. Just under a mile away. Well we kinda took the scenic route. We walked in a gigantic circle around it. Overall we walked probably close to 3 miles to get there. We took some cool pictures from the balcony. After our long walk we were a little more hungry than before. We ended up splitting an appetizer and a meal between the three of us. Then we ordered dessert. Only, the guy came back and said that they didn’t have any strawberries for my strawberry shortcake. This was unacceptable. I ended up getting a goblet of strawberries and a scoop of ice cream. Phew.. That was a close one. I wouldn’t have been very happy if I walked all that way to miss out on my strawberries.

While we were eating we called Ryan trying to figure out exactly what the difference is between espresso and coffee. He wasn’t real helpful with that. He told us it was kinda like the difference between beer and everclear. We also talked with him jokingly about him flying out and meeting us. We left the Cheesecake Factory and headed back to the hotel. We decided to take the short way back this time. While we were on our way back Promo called again and was seriously considering flying out in the morning.

We made it back to the hotel, surfed the net for a while and talked about the plan for tomorrow. Then Ryan called again and told us what time he would be there. I can’t believe he is actually going to fly up here. He is flying from Ontario and then took the BART to Market Street. BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit. Basically it is a train that goes back and forth between above ground and subway style.

Ok well that is all for now, but we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.

So basically I did absolutely nothing today. I slept in past 1. After I finally got up, I decided to go and get my hair cut. I took Tynan along with me. After my haircut, we went to In-N-Out. Pretty much that was the extent of my day. I came home and watched the Chopper Build-off on Discovery Channel and some more TV.

I talked to Kirsten online. She says she is doing better. She is back at school. Class starts tomorrow. Her first class is not until 11am. At least she gets to sleep in. Though she is taking 20 units or something crazy like that. Hopefully it will not be too much with all of her other activities. If anyone can do it though, she can. She asked me to take a look at Mama D’s PC. I guess it is having problems. I told her I would stop by sometime between when I got back from San Francisco and when I left for Phoenix.

I am looking forward to the San Francisco trip. I should be a lot of fun. Batchelor is picking me up at 8:30.

Well I started off today by going to Doug Christiansen’s father’s memorial. His dad Dave died Monday of a brain tumor. The service was really nice. Even though I don’t think I ever met they guy it kinda mad me wish I had. After the service I went and gave Doug a big hug. I saw a lot of people I hadn’t seen in a while there. I saw Buzza, Pastor Kirk, Jenny Promack, among others. Doug seems to be taking it well, but I am not sure if maybe he is just holding it all in. I hope he is alright.

After the service, Scott, Chris, Aimee, and I went to Friday’s to grab some lunch. Well I guess it was more like linner considering it was about 3 somthing. It has been nice to see Aimee so much lately. After linner we all went home.

Scott decided that he wasn’t actually done for the night and He, Chris and I went to see a couple of movies and check out the new theatre in Vista. We watched “Paycheck” with Ben Afleck. It was a decent movie. It was interesting to see Ben Playing a more serious role, an action hero even. After that we met Ryan and Megan to see “Cheaper by the Dozen” with Steve Martin. An ok movie. Mildly funny, but not tremendously entertaining. Maybe it would help if I actually saw the beginning.

Following the movie we went over to Denny’s – San Marcos to see Dennis. First we had to stop at the gas station so I could pickup a butterfinger. You can’t make a Butterfinger Blender Blaster without a butterfinger.

It was a good day overall. It was cool to hang out with everyone again.

Ok well I am tired now, so I think I shall retire. I need to get up at some point tomorrow and get my hair cut. Hopefully we will have a plan nailed down for our San Francisco trip tomorrow, considering we leave on Monday. I hope Ryan decides to come.

Well I kinda was late to work this morning. After my long day yesterday I just couldn’t bring myself to get up. So I got to work and 30 min later we took lunch. We came back and dumped the truck from new years and then took all of our many packages over to UPS. Lane has gone ebay crazy. After work I went to hallmark to look for a get well gift for Kirsten. Wow what a crappy Hallmark. They had nothing there at all. Not even much in cards. So I decided to go over to Wallmart and see if maybe they had a cute bear or something. On my way there I decided maybe Michael’s would be a better choice. I wanted a bear with it’s head wrapped in a bandage. So I found a bear and picked out a white sweater for it. and proceeded to find some ribbon with which to wrap the bears head. Along the way I found some fake flower and thought it would be cute if the bear were holding a bouquet. I tore apart a bigger arrangement to make what I needed and in the process got yelled at by this old lady that I think worked there. I told her that I planned on buying the whole thing. I looked around to find some scissors. You wouldn’t think that to be a difficult thing to find in a craft store, but man was it. I eventually found some and completed my creation. I also picked up a sparkly blue gel pen to sign the card that I still needed to get. Luckily there was a much better Hallmark in the same shopping center. Got the card and wrote in it and signed it in the car. As I was writing it began to rain.

Next I was on my way to Kirsten’s house to deliver the gift. I got there and luckily she was awake. She was happy to see me. I gave her the bear and card along with a big hug. I sat and talked with her for a while. We talked about how she was doing and about school and also she asked me about Amanda and I. We talked for quite a while. We then went in to see what Mamma D and the gang were doing. I went upstairs to say hi to John and check out how the build was going. Their house is going to look great when it is done. John will really have something to be proud of. He is basically rebuilding the entire house and adding a second story. He is doing all the work himself. I think it is really cool how much he is putting in to it.

We went downstairs to have dinner, but Kirsten wasn’t feeling well again so she didn’t join us. She had been throwing up all day and had a really bad headache. So it ended up that pretty much all of the meal we had was stuff I didn’t really like. I ended up trying a bunch of new stuff. We had ham, broccoli, cauliflower, sour creme potatoes, and rolls. I ended up eating all of it. Chris joined us for dinner too. He wasn’t going to eat anything, because he didn’t like it either, but we forced him to eat it too. It really wasn’t all that bad.

After dinner we sat down and watched “Bad Boys II” Chris had brought it over. During the movie Lucy came by to see Kirsten. Kirsten woke up again and talked with Lucy for a while and then they turned on a movie too. Kirsten fell asleep a bit more. After the movie Chris, Lucy and I decided we should go. So we said our goodbyes and went home.

I was reading in some of Mamma D’s medical books about concussions and I am kinda concerned about what I read. I hope Kirsten will recover well and soon.

Wow. What an eventful couple of days, well exhausting anyhow. I started at the shop on the 31st at 9 am. We took lunch and then I went down to load in the “First Night – Escondido” gig. We loaded in at like 1:30 pm or so and had everything ready to rock pretty much by like 3. Well except for the power situation. They wanted us to do the mains, monitors, band and FOH power all on two 20A circuits. Luckily I found a 50A twist that they didn’t even know existed apparently. So we called lane and told him to bring the cables we needed to use that. All of the shows went smoothly and it sounded good. We finished our last act at 11:30 pm and were able to pack up and be out or there by 12:45 am. The acts were all pretty decent. I got to hear zydeco music for the first time. Very interesting music. I got ahold of Kirsten and found out about the IM she sent me. They were having a party that night and wanted to invite me. They also decided that they were going to go skiing the next day and wanted me to come.

So I left there and went to the Douglas home to catch the tail end of the party there. Mama D got me some hot cider because she said I was turned blue. Which I believe because it was FREEEEZING out at the gig. She then threw glitter all over me and ended up getting me another cup, because mine was now filled with glitter confetti. I met some cool people there. I still had the truck to take back to the shop, so I didn’t plan on staying long. Yeah well…. I kinda fell asleep on the couch there. I woke up a couple of times and said screw it and went back to sleep. Then I got up and left about 6 something. I drove the truck to the shop and dropped the keys inside. Then drove home to get my ski gear. I grabbed what I needed, brushed my teeth and left. I had to go to the bank first to get some cash for the trip, seeing as how I had spent the last dollar in my pocket.

When I got to the Douglas’ house they said they were just looking for my number and didn’t know I had left. We were supposed to leave at about 9 and I was there by 8:45 so everything was fine, but Jenny (A friend of the girls I had met at the party) and I were the only ones who were ready. There were nine of us going: John, Mamma D, Kirsten, Britten, Chris, Me, Jenny, Richard, and Jeff. Richard and Jeff were also friends of the girls I had met just the night before. They were in cheer with them. Richard and Jeff are both deaf, so that made things interesting. I had never really had much interaction with deaf people before now.

Kirsten and I kinda napped on the way up, which was good. I don’t think I would have made it the whole day otherwise. We finally got there, there being Mountain High, only to discover that they were full. They wouldn’t be selling any more lift tickets until 2 o’clock. So we went back to the car and had some snacks and waited it out. Jenny by this time had decided that Jeff was totally hot, and was obsessed with him. That was kinda funny. Eventually 2 rolled around and we got on the lifts. Everyone was doing great. I kept saying we needed to go higher on the mountain on some bigger runs. Kirsten wasn’t too excited about that. One of the runs I pointed out apparently had some trouble with before. Well eventually John, Mamma D, and myself convinced everyone else to go up higher.

Everything was going fine at first. We were all crusin down, and then we noticed that Kirsten and Mama D weren’t with us any more. I guess Kirsten had followed her dad over a jump and crashed Charlie Brown style. John and I climbed back up the hill. Mama D was helping her and then ski patrol came. I didn’t climb up the jump cuz I didn’t want to be in the way. John said she couldn’t see out of one eye. Then I noticed a bunch of blood on the side of the jump. That really made me start to worry. I found out later that the blood was not hers though. Well they strapped her to a backboard and put her in a sled to take to the medical lodge. As the ski patrol took off, John and myself were right behind him followed by Mamma D. Man that guy was fast! We took some Double Diamond runs to down the fastest and he just flew. I was keeping up ok till I caught an edge in an icy patch. A snowboarder ended up running me over. Smashing his board into my face and then tumbling down the hill. We stopped after a couple of rolls and then I asked if he was ok and took off.

We got to the medical lodge just after they rolled her in. They started checking her out and decided to call the ambulance so that they could check her out better. The paramedics got there, and I guess the guy who got there first wasn’t really the paramedic, so he asked all the same questions that ski patrol did and when the main paramedics arrived in the ambulance they asked all of the questions again. Poor Kirsten. While we were there they brought in another kid who was pretty messed up. He started throwing up. While they were loading Kirsten into the ambulance they decided that the boy needed to be life-flighted and put him in the same ambulance.

John and Mama D went to the hospital and left the rest of us all there. Well no one really felt much like skiing at that point so we went into the lodge to get some food. Most of us had chili in a bread bowl. It was actually pretty good. Well we eventually all went back to hit the slopes. We had fun, though my mind was mostly on how Kirsten was doing and if she was going to be ok. I talked a lot with Richard. He is a really cool guy. So is Jeff. Hopefully I will see them some more.

We finally decided that we were done at like 9:20 and went back to the lodge. We sat down for a while and then took our stuff back to the rental department. At 10 they closed the lodge and we had to wait outside. It was funny. We looked like a bunch of kids who’s mommy forgot them. Eventually they showed back up from the hospital. Kirsten was ok as far as they could tell. She had a bunch of x-rays and two cat scans. They gave her some vikadin for the pain in her head, neck, and back. We all piled in and took off at about 11. We stopped at Jack in the Box to get Kirsten and Mamma D some food since they hadn’t eaten anything really. Kirsten started to worry us in the car, because she would get this shortness of breath and couldn’t talk. Well we got back to their house eventually and we said our goodbyes.

Wow, what a long New Year’s, and what a long entry for that matter.