Don't let my mood fool you, I actually don't feel like writing, but I've been gone too long and there are several good stories to tell. I took an afternoon nap, and I feel hot and uncomfortable, even though the temperature in the house is decent. I was tired Friday and Saturday too, so I've run out of time to write in my diary and I need to do it now before it's too late. The memories are already rubbing off like so much chalk. So without further ado, I present my San Francisco trip.

    I had to leave the house at 6:00 AM last Monday, which followed a week of lack of sleep. I think I averaged around 5 hours asleep for 7 days straight. Most of it was my fault since I wanted to play with my new toy, but I also had some scheduling nightmares as well.

    Ok this isn't exactly in order, but it's worth mentioning. On the Friday before leaving for San Fran, I attended a house warming party with one of my oldest friends. This woman and I used to hang out during our freshman year, and caught up with each other at last year's class reunion. Northern Virginia is a bit strange in that even though I only live 15 miles from someone, I don't ever see them. So, even though we haven't lived far away from each other, this is the first time I've seen her since the reunion. We keep saying that we'll make plans, but we don't. I've had similar problems with other friends in the area. The party started at 9 PM, and I had to be somewhere at 7 AM on Saturday morning.  I had a great time, and need to e-mail her about having lunch soon, before school starts (she's a teacher and has the summer off).

    After I returned home from the party, I checked my e-mail and found a short note from an ex-girlfriend that I haven't talked to since we broke up 8 years ago. She had found my website in March and finally decided to write me. I always wondered how things would turn out for her, but I never contacted her, since I was the one who broke it off. It was one of the few times that I've instigated a break up, and probably one of the healthier relationships that I've had. Strange how that works huh? If you need evidence that I fear commitment, maybe that one was my flagship. Hindsight can be 20/20, but I've fallen into the trap of rewriting history once it's long past. We've exchanged a few e-mails and it seems that she's doing fine, so I no longer have to wonder about that one. There are still a few AWOL exes out there, but I doubt that I'll hear from them anytime soon.

    OK, back to the topic at hand. My flight to San Francisco went through Las Vegas. So, for about 45 minutes I was in the airport in the city of Sin. I've never been to a casino before and in fact haven't done any organized gambling, other than scratch off tickets and quick picks from the state lottery. I figured that I would waste a dollar on a slot machine in the airport. I sought out what looked to be the most straightforward device of greed. I wasn't about to read a bunch of instructions on how to pull the handle, and I didn't want to play black jack, or video poker. I just wanted a purely lucky pull. I found a machine, sat on the stool, put my dollar in, and it gave it back. So, I tried again and it gave it back. I moved to the next one over, and put my dollar in, and once again, it gave it back. I was prepared to lose, but I wasn't prepared to be rejected. Old ladies can stand at these things for hours, and I can't even get started. I wondered if this were divine protection. Maybe I'd get the fever and never leave Vegas. Trading in my yuppie wear for polyester black and white suits as I seek to become a professional card shark. It could happen.

    My next trial occurred at the Thrifty counter. I'm sure that Thrifty car rental is a wonderful place, but on this afternoon, I wasn't interested in spending 45 minutes to an hour in line. I was interested in getting out to the city before traffic became prohibitive. Prior to leaving Virginia, I went out on the internet and found the directions to 4 record stores in SF. Because my direction sense is so keen, I found 3 out of 4 of them, and made purchases at 2 of them. I didn't find anything by U2 that I absolutely needed, but did find quite a bit by James. I'll have to update the James portion of the site soon to reflect these new purchases. One place I went to was absolutely amazing. It's called Amoeba Records which is located on Haight right near the Golden Gate Park. So, on my first day, I found myself in the Haight / Ashbury portion of San Francisco, home to a 60's revolution of flower power and rampant drug use. What saddened me was that even though there was a great amount of artistic freedom exhibited on the walls and streets in that portion of the city, there was also locked gates in front of every apartment and walk up. It seems that San Francisco hasn't decided on what to do about their homeless. Every park that I passed on Monday had Bums in it. Bums wrapped up in some pretty decent sleeping bags I might add. What's really sad is that even if the bums had jobs, it's doubtful that they would find a permanent residence. Housing prices are easily 3 times the price of houses here in Northern Virginia, and Northern Virginia is pretty pricey. I was astounded by the price. I wouldn't be able to be a home owner in San Francisco and the outlying areas. I certainly appreciate things much more now that I've gotten home. The rest of Monday evening was spent driving around and getting lost in the hills above SF. I didn't make it to Lombard Street though. Maybe next time.

    One fact that you may not know about San Francisco is that it's generally 5 - 10 degrees cooler than the regions around it. The Bay area in general is a bit of an anomaly. Because of the winds on the bay, the area remains cooler and when I was there 80 - 85 degrees was about as high as it got. On Tuesday we went to an Oakland Athletics game and the temperature began to dip. In desperation, I spent a lot of money on a fleece pullover. I figured that it was nice enough for me to enjoy for years, thus the price tag won't be so embarrassing in hind site. After I returned to VA, I talked to my brother and he practically smacked me for wasting that much money on it. After the conversation was over, I went up stairs and discovered my new fleece pullover laying on the floor. It seems that Fritz took a liking to it and began to chew off the zipper. I could have cried at that moment. It was a reminder to not be too in love with your things, you could lose them in a heartbeat. It was also a reminder to spend a bit more wisely, which usually isn't that great of a problem for me. I'm not the conservationist that my brother is, but I do try to get decent enough deals on stuff. Anyway, the game was good. It was intriguing to the last pitch. The game saving catch in the bottom of the ninth, made the top web gem on Sports Center. We had fabulous seats and I must say that my co-workers and I had a good time.

    On Wednesday we took the opportunity to go to downtown San Francisco via the BART. The BART is the subway/metro of the Bay Area. We got off at Powell Street right in front of the San Francisco trolley. We waited in line for the trolley, and then took it up to China town, where we found an authentic Chinese restaurant called Great Eastern. I'm not a huge Chinese food fan, but I did enjoy the meal. We ended up ordering a family special which allowed us to eat parts of 5 or 6 different dishes. I appreciated the variety. After dinner we decided to walk down to the Embarcadero to catch the BART home. Along the way, an 18 year old kid asked us where the closest BART station was and since we were on our way, we invited him to join us. The kid was piss drunk and was kind of angry because he had forgotten his ID and couldn't get into a comedy club that all his friends were in. This guy was so drunk that his body looked a lot like the pliable cartoons in Fat Albert. All willowy limbs and uneven gait, he was one misstep from a face plant.

    On Thursday we got out of work early and decided that we were going to drive North to Napa Valley. I couldn't leave San Francisco without seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, which is red by the way. Not golden as advertised. We stopped on the northern side and got a good view of the city, and saw Alcatraz as well. I paid a quarter to use one of those observation binocular thingies. After about 15 minutes we moved on toward Sausalito and decided to have lunch. Sausalito is a very quaint seaside town. Very picturesque. We ate at a little Italian cafe before moving on to our wine tour. The wine country has a very European feel to it. San Francisco as a whole has a mixture of European, Mexican and American sensibilities to it. San Francisco prizes it's Mom and Pop restaurants and establishments and resists the big corporations. As a result we ate well while we were out there. We had a wine tour map and decided on a winery that was over 100 years old. It was called Valley of the Moon. It was kind of neat to go wine tasting, but we all agree that this is something we'd rather be doing with women. Wine tasting has a bit of a romantic feel to it. We got started a bit late so we only went to one other winery. This one was called St. Francis and they had some good wines there as well, but they charged you $5 to taste 4 wines. So, it wasn't exactly free, although if you decided to buy any wine, your tasting price would go toward the purchase of the wine. On our way back towards our hotel, we stopped at a Mexican bar / restaurant which was quaint and very small town. It wasn't much different than the hole in wall bars in upstate NY, except that the menu featured Mexican food. I had a great burrito there and played a few games of pool.

    Suffice to say, the trip screwed up my sleep schedule quite well. I wasted yesterday and most of today, doing very little. When I arrived home from the airport, I had a big surprise waiting for me. Most of my furniture in my living room and family room was stacked on top of each other. Someone had come by and steam cleaned my carpets. After inspecting my home and finding my Star Wars room in disarray. I deduced that this was a renegade band of munchkins bent on cleaning carpets and playing Star Wars. I promptly called my brother to report this malfeasance and to warn him that his home wasn't safe. I'm blessed and don't deserve, nor will I ever. Random acts of kindness bestowed on me are not repayable, nor should I worry about the perceived debt. You just say your thanks and smile.   

    Hmm, I just got up from a long nap. Well, long for me. I usually doze off for 10 minutes, wake up, and then feel horrible for the rest of the evening. I'm still a bit tired, but somewhat focused on working productively on the site and other tasks that I've assigned myself around the house. I've been trying to be a little more productive. After returning from San Francisco, I was a bit lackadaisical (Thanks Spell Checker!) in just about everything. My sleeping schedule is still screwed up, but I really can't blame that on San Francisco anymore. I've been pushing the limit every night because I just don't want to give up my play time. I spent some of that time, completing the PC game Jedi Knight II. It's an FPS (First Person Shooter) except that as you progress along in the game, you use your lightsaber and force powers more than any of the guns they provide. It's a really cool game! I'd go into more detail, but I know that would bore you.

    The other night I went through my CD collection and found 56 CD's that I'm prepared to part with. I'll probably do a combination of E-bay and local used stores. I have a lot of promo's in there that I bought for a $1 on a whim, plus a few albums that I liked one song on, but don't anymore. There are other one's in my collection that I may get rid of later, but for now I'm keeping 'em.

    I just finished reading Stephen King's book "On Writing." Which was a little bit of a memoir, and a little bit of an instruction manual on how to write and be published. To a certain degree, I wonder how good a writer I could be if I actually tackled writing on a daily basis. It's become clear to me, that computer science isn't really my strongest suit. I'm good enough at it to remain employed and to get good reviews for my work, but I can see myself reaching my level of incompetence at some point. I can only rise so far as a technician before I encounter those folks who put me to shame. Management is probably a more accurate place for me to end up. My writing skills and personal skills are stronger than most technicians. It's that balance that has made me valued and liked, but if I want to continue climbing up the ladder, I have to realize that some things aren't for everyone. By the way, this isn't a crisis or anything, just a few thoughts knocking around my head. Management will probably require college. Ugh, more discipline required for me.

    I updated the James portion of the site this evening. I had picked up some goodies in SF and I finally scanned them in. The strange thing about James for me is that I've been able to go back and actually like them more and more as I listen to them. I don't always pick up the lyrical reference the first time I listen, and so during a repeat hearing, I get it more and more. Oooh, I just remembered something. I really wanted to put 15 second clips of songs that I listen to, so you could get an understanding as to why I included this lyric or that lyric. Some of the lyrics are better in the context of the song. I found out that the copyright laws prohibit any type of posting of their music on my site. There is no promotional clause in the laws as they are written today. You can't put 15 seconds of a song on your site without breaking the law. I hope they change that. The record companies are going nuts, because they believe that they are losing a ton of money because of the internet and piracy. They are only half right. There are those who will refuse to pay for any music, if they can help it. There are those who will not download illegal stuff. Then there's the 70 to 80% of the rest of us, who would buy the album if they weren't $18.99 a pop. If you like one song, $18.99 stinks. This is not excusing anyone who would want to download pirated songs, I'm just saying that the record industry doesn't have a full grasp on what the market can bear. At $10 - $12 I would buy more discs. Now, if I buy a CD it's either a special occasion or a collector's decision. I'll also use secondary markets much more often, as they are usually cheaper and since CD's can theoretically last forever (more so than tapes) then I'm willing to buy it used.

    I bought The Lord of The Rings DVD yesterday. Walmart was running a $15 special on the double disc DVD. See? Two DVD's are cheaper than CD's right now. In any case, I'm a little miffed at myself because what I really wanted is the 4 disc set that is coming out in November. It includes extra scenes etc. etc. Now I'll have to look into purchasing that later in the year. I didn't realize it was coming out. I also wonder if George Lucas is going to let Peter Jackson (the director of the LOTR) out do on special edition DVD's. I'm also looking forward to seeing Signs. It has gotten good reviews and I'm keen on seeing it.

    I actually cleaned up my car today. I went out yesterday and bought some of those collapsible sun visors. Which I still haven't figured out yet. V can you give me some tips on this one? I saw one in your car. My sun visor has Van Gogh's Starry night. So now my car has an artistic flair!!! And it's about 50 degrees cooler too! I bought some armor all and did the leather and dusted and stuff. I also cleaned the chrome and the hub caps, since they were getting quite dingy. Now I have to run the car through the car wash to finish the job. I mostly did detail work in the interior of the car. I had to clean off a lot of the doggy tongue marks that were left over from my trip to NY.

    Well, I think that's about it for now. I'm trying to finalize my trip planning for this fall. I'm looking at taking two trips. One is going to Florida, the second is Denver. I have to use my vouchers before March and these two trips will amount to about $500 of the $800 that I got free. Once I take my first trip, I'll have another year to use the last $300. Maybe I'll use it for Albany next spring, we'll see where Delta goes. 

    I believe that tonight is a perfect night. It is the absolute perfect temperature. It's not hot, it's not cold and a warm breeze is blowing across your body. Pardon me, Sam Adams and I are going to join my dog on the back porch for a few minutes to enjoy this fine night.

    I'm back! It was tough to come back inside, so tough in fact, that my dog looked at me like, do I have to? I let him stay out there while I went inside like a homebody to type my thoughts on a computer. How lame is that? I still don't own any deck chairs or even a grill. I bought the computer instead. Maybe next year.

    As I was enjoying this perfect weather, I looked around at the sky and the townhouses and trees located nearby and I thought to myself. This is not accidental. I have to remind myself that this world is way too complex and beautiful at times to be accidental. Random. Chance.

    On a night like this, I feel very blessed that I own a home in this community. It's exceedingly quiet, except for the sound of a dog barking. My dog in fact. Other than Fritz, it's really quiet. There are also very few bugs. No mosquitoes, no gnats. Only moths. Which makes sitting on the deck (in lieu of deck chairs) quite pleasurable. I'd still love to put a hot tub in the center of my deck, but that's money I don't have. Not that I need a hot tub on a night like this, but it's a greedy little fantasy.

    Lately, I've been working on a Power Point demonstration for my church's first anniversary. I was quite honored to be asked to helm this project. At this point, we have over 250 pictures in this presentation. With another 50 - 100 pictures to be added over the weekend. It's going to be big and will probably clock in at over 10 minutes long. Aside from my web site this is the first real multi-media experience. If you want to split hairs, my web site isn't even multi-media. I don't have any sound attached to it.

    Let me brag a moment here about some of the symmetry that exists between my interests and the church. I realized this fact today, by the way. First off, my pastor is a Star Wars fan. He's several years older than me, and also grew up with the majesty that is Star Wars. One of the first times I heard him speak he used a Star Wars illustration to enhance a point. How cool is that? As I was growing up, I thought that I was part of a church that believed in the separation of church and everything else. That is not to say that this church is liberal, because it's not, but I believe that they have a balanced view of the world around us. The other cool thing is that we have a little thing called Invitation Adventures, where people submit their stories about invitations that they have passed out to people in their neighborhoods and communities. I was asked if I would find music to accompany this particularly amusing portion of the service. We previewed a number of musical selections from Movies and Television, including Gilligan's Island, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the A-Team and the Star Wars Theme. What we settled on was the theme to Mission Impossible. Not the TV version though. No, no nothing as fuddy duddy as that. We're going to be using the Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr version of the theme. Those who are familiar with my site, will know that they are none other than the Drum and Bass backbone of U2. Once again... How... Cool... Is... That?

    I'm currently listening to U2 live in Mexico City on my computer. This is from 1997. I think this version of New Year's Day may be one of their finest. The Edge does fantastic on back up vocals, really drawing it out. You really need to listen to the song closely to understand that in some ways, it's a love song. Listen to this. "I will be with you again, I will be with you again." Hell, it could even be a hymn. Bono has an amazing ability to write vague lyrics that can be interpreted in any way you wish. When I write, I write to be understood. I tend to break things down so a 3 year old can understand. I'm going to listen to that one again.

    Tomorrow, I have the distinct pleasure of taking a friend from High School to lunch for her birthday. We're going to go to Sweetwater Tavern which is supposed to have a pretty good local brew, which is too bad, because I have to go back to work after it's over. Still, it's nice to reconnect with old friends and I certainly need contemporaries to hang out with. Speaking of which, another old friend will be coming to visit the area in a few weeks, which is cool. I'm looking forward to that visit as well. It seems that none of my guy friends like to travel, towards me. I guess that's kind of normal. I would prefer to visit women too.

    Ha Ha Ha Ha, U2 update! U2 are releasing their Best of 1991 - 2001 CD. There will be two new tracks, including their new single Electrical Storm, which will debut in October. Whoo Hoooo! Add to that the DVD for the videos and I hear rumor of a DVD concert at Slane Castle in Ireland, which is very very cool. That's supposed to arrive right before Christmas. You got to love that. In addition, they have recorded the Ramones "Beat on the Brat" for a tribute album due in November and they have contributed a song to the movie "Gangs of New York" a Martin Scorscese film due in December. I hope 2003 brings a new studio album. If I'm lucky they'll continue to put out good music into their 50's unlike the Stones who put out music into their 50's.

    With that, I'll bid you adieu, to you and you and you.