FEEL FREE TO COMMENT

When I set up my blog I didn't realize I had the prefernces set to
only allow fellow bloggers to post comments. You no longer need a
GMAIL account or BLOGGER account in order to post comments, so knock
yourself out!

EARTHQUAKE!!!

The Los Angeles area got hit with a 5.4 quake. It was our first such
experience since we slept through the one about a year ago. At first I
heard noises on the opposite end of the house and it wasn't long
before the whole house was shaking - the dishes in the cabinets making
noise and the light of the dining room table swaying back and forth.
The worst part was the brief but severe motion sickness that followed
the 10 seconds of the earth shaking below us.

TALKING TO MYSELF

Thanks to a purchase yesterday I'll now be one of 'those' people
walking around talking to themselves.... You know, the person you
think is crazy until they turn around and you notice the Bluetooth
headset. I figure if you're gonna do it, do it right, so I went with
the Jawbone (2nd generation). A small sensor rests on your jaw bone
and translates vibrations to eliminate ambient background noise. Plus
I got a $50 discount thanks to a friendly salesperson. Makes you
wonder what the mark-up is in the first place.

UP CLOSE WITH TERRELL OWENS

Everybody went nuts when "T.O." came by. I've never been a big sports
or celebrity fan and Owens didn't make me think twice about my
"policy." I'll give him credit though for stopping for quite some time
to sign autographs.

FIELD SIDE AT COWBOYS CAMP

Thanks to obnoxious fans the cowboys moved to the further field
shortly after starting their practice. I don't understand what all the
hype is about... I could have done everything they were doing!

DALLAS COWBOYS CAMP

Monday we made our way to Oxnard for the Dallas Cowboys camp. VIP
tickets came compliments of Amanda, a co-worker and friend of ours.
Unfortunately the cheerleaders never showed up!

CHILL TIME

Sunday is always a great day for one of my favorite rides - starting
at the coast in Ventura then taking a gradual 14 mile climb to Ojai,
breaking for lunch in the Ventura County town notorious for it's
summer heat, then riding back down to the breezy 70 degree coast in
Ventura to cool off. Today, against my better judgement, we went with
the baseball caps instead of helmets... a bad decision because it made
me realize what a nuisance helmets are.

I GOT THIRSTY!

The picture pretty much says it all, don't you think?

DAYSHIFT

Juliette's doggie, Sampson, has not been feeling well which landed me
a day shift today as she tends to his medical needs. Looking out the
break room window at So Cal's sunshine is something I'll be getting
used to since her last day with the company is early next month. It's
been a long time since I've done the M-F 8-5 grind but I won't miss
working Friday and Saturday nights all the time.

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE...

There's probably some mighty good tastin' red meat awaiting your taste
buds anytime you see this much smoke pouring from a grill. We've had
some bad luck with restaurants lately so we decided to pick up some
steaks and grill them at home Monday evening. Yummy!

THE BEACH, AGAIN

Monday afternoon landed us at the beach, yet again. You'd think it
would get old after a while but it never does. High tide forced us off
the sand and into the rocks but we found a nice, big flat surface on a
boulder for the blanket.

A TRAITOR IN OUR MIDST

They stink, they poop all over the trails and they leave potholes on
premium singletrack, but the second we run into one on the trail what
does Donna do but pet it! Meanwhile, two words popped into my head....
"Elmer's glue."

WALL•E FOR ME (AND DONNA)

After hearing our remarks about Wall•E, my parents and sister sent us
a Wall•E of our own. Donna has has fallen in love with him already (I
don't think she knew I had a remote control in my hand).

COASTIN' THRU THE AFTERNOON

After Gardens of the World it was off to the coast. Temperatures were
a good 15 degrees cooler than inland which made it extremely pleasant.
We watched wind surfers for a while and I swear I didn't even glance
at the women in their bikinis.

GARDEN OF THE WORLDS

After cooling off at ShaveIt we ventured over to Gardens of the World
in Thousand Oaks. We were planning to go for a swim but noticed a sign
discouraging it.

BRAIN FREEZE

With temperatures soaring into the unbearable 80's we decided to cool
off at ShaveIt, where banana and pineapple flavored frozen goodness
brought my body temperature down a few degrees. Donna stuck to the
sugar free raspberry lime.

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER

Donna's iPhone is all updated with the new software and ready to roll
and for the first time, I'm the one ready to go to sleep, waiting for
my spouse to put down their tech gadet for the night. I guess I'm
getting a taste of my own medicine!

SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND

Waiting for the new iPhone was a whole new experience, one I wouldn't
go through often, but it was worth it. When I got home I was unable to
activate the phone, I presume because the servers were too busy due to
all the other iPhone buyers doing the same thing. By 1pm, while at
work, I was able to get signed in to activate the phone. Sitting at my
desk all day, NOT playing with my shiny new toy, was torture.

STILL IN LINE

8:46am and we're still in line, which is moving at a snails pace since
they're activating the phone at the store instead of letting us do it
at home. Donna brought coffee and bagels and to join in the fun!

A TWO HOUR WAIT

I got to the AT&T store at 5:50am for the 8am opening. I'm number 24
in line and I'm hoping they have that many phones. Rumors are that
every store has anywhere from 40-300 phones. In short, nobody knows! I
just hope I didn't get up early for nothing.

iPHONE TIME!

Well before the alarm went off my internal clock woke me up, knowing
it was time to head to the AT&T store for the release of the iPone 3G.

FAREWELL TO A FAITHFUL FRIEND

When I wanted to talk to a friend, he was there. When I wanted to take
a picture, he was there. When I wanted to blog, he was there. When I
wanted to check my email, he was there. The list could go on forever
but the point I'm getting to is that this is my last day with my
iPhone, to be replaced tomorrow by the iPhone 3G. Doors open at 8am at
the Apple store!

NIGHT TWO

The ride home tonight was just as good as the last. A few blocks from
the house the battery on the light went out but hitting a pothole in
the pitch black of night makes the ride a little more exciting.

THE MORNING ROUTINE

You really don't want to cross Donna until she's had one of her
monster cups (see the size of that thing?) of coffee. After I've gone
through the paper and looked at all the pictures, she goes through and
actually reads the thing while I go through my RSS news feeds on my
iPhone and browse the headlines that aren't 13 hours old.

BURN CALORIES, NOT GAS

Tuesday night was my first night to commute home by bike, leaving the
car for Donna, who rode her bike to work. The ride was lots of fun - I
forgot how much I like riding after dark.

DODGERS 3, BRAVES 0

The Monday night Dodger's game would have been much better with Donna
there but it was a great game to watch with Bruce and Julie from work.
They made the game all the more fun, being the huge fans that they
are. Oh, Dodger Dogs are awesome - well worth the $5.75!

HARDCORE YARD WORK

I really get into my yard work. I was trimming the palm trees with a
chainsaw that has a 6' extention... Since I was standing on the
sidewalk I looked both ways before finishing the cut to make sure no
pedestrians were coming by and forgot to watch out for my own well
being. Boom! Right on the noggin. After cleaning up I realized it was
a little tiny puncture wound, trickling a little blood.

TWO WHEELS THREE PANCAKES

I finally got my commuter bike all built up and ready to roll. The maiden voyage was to IHop, which recently celebrated 50 years of business. Unfortunately this weekend is being brought to an abrupt halt as Donna has to go to work since a co-worker decided to not show up for work. This means I'll be attending the Dodgers game without her tonight. However, after watching Hancock yesterday, Donna, without provocation, gave me permission to go out with Charlize Theron (who starred in the movie) if she ever asks me out, so I'm hoping maybe Charlize will be at the Dodger's game tonight!

BEACHSIDE PICNIC

After a couple hours of working up a sweat on the singletrack, we
cooled off during a beachside picnic. PB&J and some cold peaches
really hit the spot. And no, those aren't clouds (or smog) in the
background - it's the 'marine layer', whatever that is.

SWEATIN' LIKE A WHORE IN CHURCH

We got out for a good ride Sunday afternoon. The loop that we used to
ride in 2 hours now takes us about another 20 minutes extra. The
weather was great in Camarillo but really humid by the coast, hence
the title of this post!

THE TOUR BEGINS

It was a shame that the Tour de France started on a work day for me -
I didn't get any work done at all.

LEAN, MEAN, COMMUTING MACHINE

I've been determined to get a commuter bike built up from a spare
frame and parts but the spare time always seems to vanish. The plan is
to start biking home from work every day, leaving the car for donna
(who rides her bike TO work every day). Hopefully the project will be
done by the end of the weekend.

OUR NEW BEST FRIEND

If you haven't me WALL•E yet, you must. We went to see the movie and
fell in love with him.