Weekend in San Diego!

Wild Parrots?
Breakfast with Shamu and Santa?
Uncle Tom Changes Poopy Diapers?
Killer Whales?
Light Saber fighting?
A First Birthday?

It all happened this last weekend. I was in San Diego, California at my Sister Sandy's house. I got to hang out with her hubby Mike, my nephew Matt and the newest Niece, Cassandra.



Outside my Sister's house, a flock of wild parrots flew over. Strange. We left to have breakfast with Shamu and Santa Claus at Sea World. We ate as the Orca whales did tricks for us. Santa walked around and visited us all, then we went for pictures with him on his sleigh. After breakfast, we took off to see the rest of Sea World.
We visited Shark Encounters, got wet on the Journey to Atlantis ride, and saw polar bears, dolphins, and walrus. We had a great time at Sea world.


While the parents went out for a company Christmas party, Uncle Tom was the babysitter. We played for hours. Then disaster struck! I smelled poopy diapers in the baby girl!

"I was not properly trained for this. Where are my safety goggles and respirator? Matt, do you know how to change diapers?" I asked the five year old.



Matt exclaimed, "Yeah, but that's smelly and I'm busy with my toys right now."

So, I took a deep breathe and peeled off the diaper. Not good. The worst I have ever seen, and I have seen maybe three or four other diapers in my days. After turning green and using at least twenty baby wipes, she was as fresh as new. I put the new diaper on. All done, oh, oops, I forgot her pants. So, then we played until the parents came home.

The next day was Cassandra's first birthday! We had some butterfly cake, ice cream, and birthday gifts. She got cake all over herself and then opened up her present, a rocking horse. She loved riding it!


Sadly, I had to fly home after the party and return to my life.

Shamu and Santa!

I leave for San Diego, CA tomorrow! I am going to visit my sister, Sandy and her hubby, Mike. Also, my nephew Matt, a new neice, Cassadra will be there.

We are all going to see Shamu the killer whale for breakfast at Sea World. Santa Claus will also be there.

Breakfast with Shamu and Santa!

Let the fun begin!

Turkey Day

Sarah and I drove to Sedalia, Missouri to be with part of my step-family. We had great food a Magie Schwarz's sister's house. The food was so good and the company was also. I saw some of my nephews, Nic and Roman.
We celebrated my one of my niece's second birthday. She is Carly, Billy and Margie Schwarz's newest girl.

So here are pics of Carly's second birthday.





We had a fun time and now we are relaxing at home. Well, I am. Sarah is doing school work.




I have been re-training Zoe. I have been teaching her to eat leaves and other things.



Tonight, we are at Sarah's house watching movies.

Weekend

It's almost Turkey Time

Click Here to hear turkey gobble.

I woke up this morning and drove to the city of Davis. I ran a 10k there called the Turkey Trot. I was not first; I was not last. It was a good run, but i am out of shape.

Work is going ok. This last week at work, I was inspected by the State of California (ELAP). I had many things wrong with the lab that I have to correct. It was a little nerve racking preparing for the on-site inspection. I am doing a bit better now that it's over.

Aside from work, I have been playing with my remote control trucks, helping a friend organize an old stamp collection, and running.

I am going to Kansas to be with Sarah for Thanksgiving. I am not sure where we are eating yet. I will be working for Christmas.

Quarters

For some reason, I started collecting those US state quarters. I started putting all my change in a jar, sorting through it for state quarters, and then getting rid of duplicates. So, now I have a fair collection of them. I turns out that I have 34 of the 40 released so far.

So, now I am on the look out for:

New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Alabama, North and South Dakota

So, send me your money! :)

**Update: I got North Dakota 11/6/06

Halloween Night

I am at home relaxing tonight. No kids knocking on the door.

2 weeks a go Sarah came and visited me. We went to a lobster feed (paid for by my work).

This last weekend I visited my Grandmother in Visalia. When I was driving I noticed my truck was at 150,000 miles. It seems I have put about 85,000 miles on it since I bought it. I can't believe that it is still going! I had a great time with my grandmother. I also saw my mom, step-dad Bill, and Daisy the dog.

I have been playing with my remote control trucks, working, and hanging out with my friend Justin.

California Crazies and a 4th Anniversary

This morning I went to get coffee and there was grown adults jumping around in the parking lot. It looked like some sort of fitness boot camp. One guy is yelling and all these people were doing what he told them... "Get down and give me forty!" Oh well, I wasn't about to join them, despite my need to actually exercise.

I have been going to work and building remote rock crawling trucks. I have been going to a fly tying class and visiting with friends. It finally cooled down here and the weather is real nice.

Speaking of weather, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) sent me a letter saying that I would receive a discount of 15% this month off my energy bill. The letter said:

"Electric customers will receive the credit on their October bill based on the bill received for the summer heat storm which blanketed California from July 16-27."

"It’s a perfect example of the strong customer focus we’re establishing for PG&E."

How sweet of them to help us po' folk struggling after the "storm" we never noticed.

I will see Sarah in about 2 weeks. She is flying out here to visit. I will be in Kansas City area for Thanksgiving. Sarah and I just had our 4th year anniversary. i flew out to KC and we had a great time. We had a nice Italian dinner and exchanged gifts. She gave me a very nice dress watch. It was really great to see her. Sarah's 23rd birthday was yesterday, the 29th. I gave her a penguin,



and the largest book about SPACE I could find.



Zoe the cat and Sarah were doing well.

Here's a pic of my two girls.

Awww

Fishing in McCloud

I went on a fishing trip to the McMcloud River in Northern California. I stayed there a week. My Dad, Justin, and his family were all there. I went flyfishing for trout almost every day I was there. I know, it's a tough job, but I have got to do it.

We ate great food, fed chipmunks by hand,



and caught some trout.

Dad with rainbow Trout

Dennis with Brook Trout


We had a lot of fun!

Home again

The picture is the Middle Falls of the McCloud River in Northern California.

I just returned from a fishing/camping trip to the McCloud River. More pics and stories to follow.

Gone Fishing'

I will be out for a week fishing at the McCloud river.

Sunday brunch

Once in a while I make a meal I want to share with you all.

Since you know I don't like normal food, you wont be surprised at my choice.
------------------------------------
Grilled Calamari Salad.


Marinade (for two thin calamari steaks):

1/8 cup Peanut oil
1 Tbs Lime juice
spoon full of minced garlic
tsp sea salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp coriander

Place steaks in zip lock bag and marinade for 20-30 minutes.




Start up barbecue grill on high heat until preheated.

While the steaks are marinading, prepare the salad.

Salad:
1/2 half a head of Romaine Lettuce hearts
Artichoke hearts, quartered and marinated (Bought in store this way)
Oil and Vinegar dressing (I just used the artichoke marinade as dressing)
Cheese cubes (The cheese I used is Dubliner from Ireland, by Kerrygold)

When the BBQ grill is heated up, the calamari steaks are ready to go on.

** Be careful about the time you cook them!**

Put them on the grill on high heat.
Cook 1 minute, turn, then another minute on the other side.
That's it, only a minute each side.



Slice the calamari into strips for the salad. Add to salad and toss.



enjoy!

All Work and No play...

Here's a couple of pictures of me at work:
















The picture below is "Toy Zoe." She just arrived in a shoe box, yesterday. Zoe and Sarah are in Kansas. I am in California. So, I needed a Zoe here. So, Sarah sent me a "Toy Zoe" she got from Washington D.C. so I wouldn't be lonely.
She likes to ride around on my remote control truck.

A day in the Life

So, you want to know what I do every day? So do I! Just kidding.

Here is a typical day:

I arrive about 7am without donuts or a little later with donuts. I meet with co-workers and see what's going on around the plant. Then, I start the lab work. I check all the instruments, calibrate, and check quality assurance of lab water and instruments.

After the initial checks, I start collecting samples from different locations around the wastewater treatment plant. I collect small amounts to represent much larger volumes. The best part is that I drive a small electric car called a "GEM car."



So I race around in the GEM car and get the samples, bring them to the lab, and analyze them. I check pH, conductivity, and many other things. I do a lot of wet chemistry and some microbiology. I test the fluid coming in, process along the way, then the final effluent leaving the plant to irrigation or the river.

I make all the lab supply orders and do routine maintenance on instruments.

This week I am preparing to do California State lab certification (ELAP). To complete the tests, I have to perform about ten lab tests on unknown samples that the state knows the answer to. So, wish me luck!

Friday night

I just got done fixing up a post-nap dinner. I decided on peanut chicken and vegetables with noodles, a taste of Thai. I love the peanut sauces! I was supposed to put noodles in but somehow I forgot the cooked noodles in the colander in the sink. It was really good without the noodles! So, I mixed the leftovers with the cooked noodles.

I have this thing with the Dog Whisperer. I love the tv show and wish I had a dog so I could whisper at it. Caesar, the Dog Whisperer, is awesome. He takes old ladies who spoil their dogs until they attack everyone but their owner, and train the old lady, not the dogs. So he trains people, NOT the dogs. It's great! Oh it's shark week also on Discovery channel. Stop laughing, I haven't had cable tv for some time now. You wont believe the things on tv nowadays!

The Big City

I was driving today and notice that the freeway I was on was five lane one way. That is a 10 lane freeway! I just have been in rural Missouri or too long I guess, but that is a lot of road. Of course everyday it fills up with cars in the morning and evening for rush hour. There is a good amount of traffic as you get towards the city. I live on the edge of it all, so I can avoid it mostly. The interesting thing is how I have a sense of direction that is "old" from having once lived here. So I get a deja vu but don't know why. I also seem to think I know where I am going, but then turn around because I don't. And yes, I never ask for directions cause I'm a man (and I also have a GPS with mapping)!

Not so nerdy, but a litle

Took this nerd test and... not too bad.

Weekened at the River

<

Oops I did it again

I went fishing again. I know it's crazy to go so often. I may start to like it, then what? I could go more, maybe every day!

I saw a black bear on the road near the lake tonight. It looked like it was going the same place we were. I went with Justin's dad. We both got Fish Cat float tubes to float around in and fish.



Tonight the fish hated me and I hate them.

Gone Fishin'

Went out on a quick fishing trip to Fuller lake after work today. I tried out my new float-tube thingy.

it was fun and caught some fish.

It was a bit cold up there. I put on a sweatshirt, in July!

Work Stinks! (but I like it)

It doesn't suck like if I worked in a vacuum factory. See I work at a waste water treatment and reclamation facility (i.e. modern sewer plant). You might think that is the smelly part, but it's NOT. It is the public trash dump a mile away that stinks up the treatment plant. When the winds blows from the south, get ready for a ripe smell.

So I work at a sewer plant that smells fine on normal days, but it stinks from a trash dump a mile away. So when I step out of the lab to get some fresh air, I get the pungent odor of, no not sewage, but TRASH!

The dump STINKS! The funny part is that this area is where everyone is building homes. The best part of waking up is the smell of the local dump in your cup.