what day is it today? i'm going back to sleep

documentaries

Just saw a great documentary that I highly recommend that will definitely make you appreciate everything you have. Check out "God Grew Tired of Us" about the lost boys of Sudan and their journey into life in the US. Another great documentary was "Emmanual's Gift" about physical handicap culture in Ghana.
http://www.godgrewtiredofus.com/
http://www.emmanuelsgift.com/

Buffets

Just back from a quick 4 day trip up north to hang with my parents and accompany them on one of their regular 3 day trips up to Reno. For those who havn't visited lately, don't bother. Its about as opposite of La Jolla as you can imagine. But my folks like to gamble, get free room comps & have a good time so I went along for the ride. I was treated to FOUR different buffet meals. Stuffing yourself with bad food is not good for the Summer of George or anyone. One was an all you can eat lobster buffet, where I forced myself to eat 5, outdone by my Dad who ate 7. And these arn't dressed up crawdads, there actual Maine lobsters, albeit only about 1-1.25 lbs, but when's the last time you ate that much lobster in one sitting??

So after the first half day of 2 buffets and drinking lots of free beer & wine gambling, I decided I was done with Reno & needed to break off from the pack. I went on a hike on Mount Peavine overlooking all of Reno, went to a gym and took a drive down to Lake Tahoe. I hit Incline Village then drove down along the eastern side of the lake to Spooner Lake then up thru Carson City back to Reno. A much nicer way to spend a day than inside a smokey casino.

Spent the rest of the trip in Sac with my parents hangin in the near 100 degree heat. Glad to be home hittin the beach. Air & water temps in the mid 70's. Retirement just passed 2 months. No desire to go back. Cheers

Barney Butter

Just to make sure everyone knows by now, you can buy Barney Butter online at their web site. For those who I havn't preached to on this great product, Barney Butter is almond butter made by my good friends Rex & Jenny Barney in Fresno. In business for just over one year now, they've had great sucess with the recipe, introducing a new product, getting pr, selling online and getting into some major retailers, like Whole Foods. Below is some of the latest press from Parenting Magazine this month. You can read all about how they got started, where to buy and other press on their web site. Enjoy.

http://www.barneybutter.com/

Another busy week as I slept in everyday, kayaked, spear fished, played tennis, biked, ran, hiked, lifted weights, did 2 spin classes, swam, surfed, cooked and drank everyday. Off to Sac on Sun to hang with the famalia and a trip up to Reno for some hiking while my parents gamble. Cheers

The Meatrix

The only good thing about watching "Fast Food Nation" this weekend was the special features with these shorts on what goes on in meat facilities. It'll definitely make you think twice about eating hamburgers.

http://www.meatrix.com/

A good weekend filled with working out, running, boating, tennis, spear fishing, beach, church (no Tony the holy water didn't boil when I touched it), cooking, drinking & more bad dvds. Water temp is holding steady at 75.

Movies

Even before my retirement(work wasn't that busy all year), I've been watching loads of DVDs, primarily thanks to Blockbusters online program. Can you guess how much I watch now? Let me tell you, there's a lot of crap out there. So this is my recommendations for some of the better films (since I know a lot of you never even get to watch & movie then pick a loser) and a plea for any recommendations from you (Schmidt, forget Brokeback Mountain). I'm down to about 5 movies in my queue and I'll be pissed if I get Rocky Balboa shipped to me.

Best I've seen this past year:
Pan's Labyrith
Letters from Iwa Jima
Departed
Blood Diamond
Peaceful Warrior
Curse of the Golden Dragon
The Queen
The Prestige
Casino Royale
Apocalypto
Notes of a Scandal
Last King of Scotland
Volver
Born into Brothels
Emmanual's Gift
Water
Babel
Bobby
The Illusionist
Inside Man
Capote
The Constant Gardener

Anyone who can recommend a good movie that I havn't already seen gets a wine cork trivet. $20 shipping not included.

Humbled

If you think you're in decent shape and a decent athlete, try taking a spin class and surfing. Even after 10 or so classes, these things kill me, especially first thing in my morning (9am) which requires a 8:40am wake up. You're never as in great shape as you think or compared to someone else. (Unless you compare yourself to Schmidt). Further humbling took place as I twice went out surfing this week to get constantly pumbeled struggling to even get out past the incoming waves and to catch a wave. Makes me want to stick with kayaking and risk broken bones or spear fishing and swallowing a bunch of salt water. But the beers afterwards taste so much better.

Trips

In town for a week and a half enjoying the beach, surf, sleep, free time, etc but starting to plan some upcoming trips. So let me know if anyone is up for any travel or taking some time off. Also any recommendations for places or activities. Looking for any travel companions to East Coast, Australia, Argentina, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Utah, ??? Also looking for partners to climb Mt Whitney, Mt Shasta, Mt Hood, Grand Canyon, do some fly fishing, camping, mtn biking, kayaking, surfing,??? Get off your asses & lets go have fun. Your crap will still be there when you get back. beer time

My first BLOG

Its been almost 4 years exactly since I started my blog and thought I'd share my original posting for all (or just the two) to see all the major progress that has been made. Enjoy.

Wednesday, August 27, 2003
What the hell is a blog and why are you here looking at it?? Because I'm unemployed, angry, buzzed and bored. And most inportantly, because I'm sick of people calling me in the morning waking me up asking me what my job prospects are and what I was doing that day. Oh, I'll tell you what I'm doing and what I'm thinking. A blog is a web site with my personal postings whenever the hell I feel like it for whoever to look at. Mine will be filled with rantings, recommendations, updates, pictures, quizes and other crap. Just bookmark it and take a look once in awhile when you're bored during your so very important day with no time to spare but you find time to surf useless sites anyway.

Today, I'll fill you in with some of what I've been doing in the past 3 months since my sorry ass company got dissolved by two large multi-national companies with bad management who couldn't get along. In essence, I've traveled, visited friends, entertained guests in La Jolla, cooked, ate and drank, reading and did more physical activities than you've done in 5 years. My favorite activities have been surfing, kayaking, snorkeling, running, biking, hiking, weight-lifting, camping, fishing, and punching the munchin. All while getting paid thru my severance. But that severance ends, baby. And my shoulder is is getting thrashed yet again. So while I take this week from major activities, George is getting angry and bored. And alas the Summer of Kevin is coming to an end.

New posting coming later this week are:
* Recommended movies & DVDs
* Required reading
* Why is Jim Schmidt so angry analysis
* Why SD nightlife blows
* Places I've been to lately and where I'm going to next
* Weddings, babies and friends with craploads of kids who visited me lately announcements
* Why I'm fat and gained weight despite doing all these activities

So thats it for the first blog. I think you can send comments and if you don;t have anything nice to say, ZIP IT.
your little unemployed friend,
Shim

posted by Kevin @ 6:01 PM

my new sport

After being back in town for one week, my retirement has finally sunk in. My days are filled with sleeping in, cooking, eating, drinking, lounging at the beach, catching up with friends and figuring out what activities to do between biking, hiking, kayaking, surfing, gym, golf, tennis, running, swimming and now my new sport, spear fishing. It consists of obtaining a fishing license & a spear which is a 7' pole with an elastic band on one end and a 3 prong spear on the other, then using snorkling equiptment diving underwater to shoot fish. I went on Sat & Sun, not hitting anything, but swallowing a lot of water. Another sport I'll never master but have fun trying. It does get me out in the 75 degree waters of Windansea beach, which at 4 times in the past 5 days is definitely a new personal record. Tony Baldini would be proud. Come out to the beach while the water is warm and we can boogie board, surf, swim, kayak, fish or just drink beers. Cheers

Roadtrip II

After coming home from Roadtrip I & going straight to my foot doctor appointment, I got clearance to wear a shoe for the first time in 4 weeks with my Mt. Whitney hike one week away. After 3 days of hiking & biking, I decided 22 miles & 6000 ft elevation gain wasn't working for a still broken toes. But I packed up my truck anyway & hit the road by myself for a roadtrip of fishing, hiking, camping, mt biking, eating & drinking.

Monday, July 16th: A long drive up hiway 395 stopping by Lone Pine which leads to Whitney Portal, the starting point for the 14,500ft peak of Mt Whitney, the highest point in the contentential US. Just past Lone Pine is Manzanar, where they have a museum to the 10k Japanese-Americans that were interned there during WWII was my first stop. An extremely moving museum & movie, as my father was interned as a young boy in a similar camp in Colorado. All Japanese-Americans on the West Coast had less than 24 hours to sell everything they owned and move from their houses to relocate to these camps giving up everything they owned. Something definitely worth seeing.

Continued on 395 thru Independance, Bishop and finally to Mammoth. Sent up camp on Lake Mary & had a great dinner with my boss, his wife, sister-in law, and another coworker (two of which were climbing Whitney later that week and acclimating to higher elevation) at The Restaurant at Convict Lake. The prime rib of Elk and asparagus-mushroom soup were certainly not your typical camping food, but easily the most expensive restaurant in the area and worth a stop.

Tuesday, July 17th: Sleeping on the ground (despite 2 rest pads) never is easy to get used to. So after waking up early, I confidently tried my luck fishing on the lake that I camped, then another (Lake Mamie) with not even a bite for 3 hours. Then it was off to Devils Postpile Nat'l Monument, where a shuttle bus takes you down from Mammoth Mountain Ski resort. A pretty amazing site of symmetrical vertical and hexagonal columns formed by a volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago.

We then hiked to Rainbow Falls and out to Red's Meadow.


Then it was more fishing (with no luck), some thunderstorms, then finding my tent filled with water that had leaked in which I had to clean up with dirty socks. Good times. Luckily, I was close to a resort town, Mammoth Village, only 4 miles away which meant improving my spirits & odds of sleeping in a wet tent by eating & drinking at Mammoth Brewing Company.

Wednesday, July 18th: More fishing early morning with no luck, then a high altitude mt bike ride, and more fishing and a hike to some remote lakes (TJ & Barrett). I moved to another great campsite right by Lake George with amazing views. I then caught my only fish which ended up getting away right as I brought it to the shore and some little girl was standing next to me shouting to her mother "IT GOT AWAY".
Luckily for not counting on fresh trout, I was invited to a great steak dinner at my boss's 40ft RV.


Thursday, July 19th: One of my most exciting moments came as I once again was fishing and came face to face with a black bear that was cruisin around the lake. Luckily, I didn't have food or catch any fish, so he just sniffed my tackle bag & moved on. I'm pretty sure I could have taken him. Another great hike to a remote lake (Lake Crystal) then off to a remote mtn bike ride above June lake where I repeatedly got lost and worried I wouldn't ever get back to my truck. I then drove the beautiful June Lake loop back to 395 and up to Mono Lake.


An incredible day was capped off by a great meal at one of the most unique restaurants you'll ever eat at, a gourmet restaurant in a gas station, the Whoa Nelly Deli. I had read alot od press & reviews of this place and all lived up to the hype. Despite actually being in a mini mart of a gas station, the food, outdoor patio and view of Mono Lake were all incredible. I had the lobster taquitos which was a hard choice over the Jambalaya, Elk, tenderloin, Tomba, buffalo meatloaf, fish tacos. After meeting a few families from the area, a fly fishing guide and a few Mammoth Pale Ales, I could actually see myself living up here.


Friday, July 20th: After more luckless fishing, I packed up my camp and hit the road again stopping at the Whoa Nelly Deli in Lee Vining at the 395 and Tioga's Pass for an incredible mushroom, onion, ham, bell pepper, sausage, tomato, bacon, cheese and smoked trout omlette with toast & blackberry marmalade & potatoes overlooking the lake. This is a must stop if you're ever in this area as its by far the best food you'll not only have in a gas station, but I venture to say outside of any major city. Then it was onto Hiway 120 on Tioga's Pass into the Eastern entrance of Yosemite. The eastern area of Tuolomme Meadows is much more remote than Yosemite Village and offers some incredible sites. I drove all the way thru the park into the Village and out the southern entrance by Wawona, which provide one of the most incredible drives you could ever see. The Village was packed, water flow low and so I opted for a few short hikes then out back down to Fresno after a quick stop at Bass Lake. If you havn't been before or just awhile, I highly recommend a trip back to Yosemite as its hard to imagine nature and the outdoors in any better environment or scenery.



Then another back to back (but drinking) weekend with the Barney family before heading back to LJ on Monday. But what would be a roadtrip with some winetasting? On my way down the 41 from Yosemite I saw a sign for the Madera Wine Trail. So after a quick web search and a quick 20 minute drive, I was at 4 local wineries tasting the speciality port & dessert wines and a wide range of reds with pleasant results exceeding all of my expectations. A nice way to spend a Fresno day.

A truly spectacular trip combining the best of the outdoors, food, friends and a black bear that didn't eat me. Take advantage of the summer weather, endure the crowds and get out and enjoy the incredible outdoors. Mammoth & Yosemite are two spectacular spots that should be on every one's life lists.

Roadtrip I pics

Is 10 hours too much sleep?

Roadtrip I

My new retirement started just over 5 weeks ago. After two straight weeks of travel to Vancouver & Rochester, I severly broke my toe kayaking at the infamous Windansea beach (a freak accident but very painful). After "working from home" & negotiating my exit from the great corporate community for 3 weeks with some level of stir crazy with only one foot, I decided a roadtrip was necessary. So I packed up the S2000 and the lovely Lisa & I hit the road up the coast. (I decided to start detailing and documenting my travels as I find myself quickly forgetting where I've been, eaten, stayed, etc and need to keep as reference and share with friends for recommendations)

Roadtrip I
Thursday, July 12th: start our drive from San Diego up the 5 to the 101 up the coast with our first stop Santa Barbara. Lunch at the famous "La Supa Rica" where we had incredible mexican soup, tacos, pork adobo & mexican juice. A must stop next time you're in SB. From there, a quick tour of State street, then off to wine country, made famous by "Sideways". We cut up the 154 to hit Santa Ynez & Los Olivos and the Foxen Canyon Wine trail. With a late start, traffic in LA, & early winery closing, we only managed to hit two wineries, Fess Parker & Cottonwood Canyon. I highly recommend a few days in this region, as the wines have gotten very good, theres some great restaurants and a ton to see & do in SB. Next we were back on 101 with a stop in Avila Beach for beers & seafood ceviche at Nick's on the pier listening to local musicians. Then off to San Luis Obispo to catch their Thursday Night Farmer's Market sampling Santa Maria Tri Tip. Then off to Morro Bay to spend the night.

Friday, July 13th: We had one bad meal the entire 8 days and it was at a small mom & pop diner for breakfast in Morro. The corned beef hash was so bad we had to send it back. We then continued up the 1, tops down, driving thru small beach towns like Cuyocos, all the way thru Big Sur. If you havn't done this drive, its truely one of the the most spectacular drives you will ever do. We passed on Carmel (you can't stop if you're not with Keelpasa) and did a quick tour of Monterrey. Lunch at Phils in Moss Landing was clam chowder, fried fish, shrimp & scallops with local beer. Then back up the 1 along the coast thru Capitola & Santa Cruz. Two more winery stops at the highly recommended Bonny Doon & Hallcrest. Another highly recommended wine district to check out as there are now over 70 wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Our night ended at friends of Lisa's in Boulder Creek, where I got to take in cocktails at the local tavern before drinking cava (roots mixed with water)from Fiji and a great dinner with lots of wine.

Saturday, July 14th: On a twisting Beer Creek rd to the 17, we passed David Bruce winery but I could'nt stomach a morning tasting, one of the trip regrets. Next stop was lunch at my good friends, Paul & Masako Yasuda in Sunnyvale with their kids, Erica & Katie. Then over the the next town with a stop by of my high school buddies, Rob Cruz and wife Stephanie. Then off to the East Bay for a stop over in San Ramon to visit my MBA buddy, Dave & Rhona Goldblatt & their 3 kids. Then up to Lafeyette for awaiting mojitos at the house of Tony & Mona Keeler. Quick drinks & showers and it was off to Wes & Dr Mary Smiths house in Orinda for dinner & lots of wine.

Sunday, July 15th: Woke up feeling like crap thinking I was just hung over. We had breakfast in Walnut Creek with Tony & Lisa's friend. Then I went to the gym to work out. Then we were off to Napa where we stopped at Trefethan & V Sattui. Still unable to drink. We get to Baldinis in Yountville and I get sick and can't even drink with my good buddy Tones. It was a sad night. Tony still drank.

Monday, July 16th: Next day we stop by Vacaville & work out with one of Lisa's friends, lunch at Woodstock's & hit campus in Davis then Sac & my parent's house where I'm still sick.

Tuesday, July 17th: Go to the gym again sick, then off to Fresno to see the Barneys.

Wednesday, July 18th: A full day hangin with all 6 of the Barney clan despite being sick in 100 weather.

Thursday, July 19th: Back to SD. So despite some type of stomach virus, it was a great trip catching up with so many friends, spending time with my folks, going to some great wineries, eating so many great meals, and driving the incredible hiway 1 in perfect weather with my top down. Get out and do the same. Hopefully, I'll be out to see all of you soon.