Mon Avie - French For "Juice Cult"

   Seriously, Jim Jones would be proud!

   Over the course of a week in OC we saw four different cars with window stickers advertising it!

   This is a bad multi-level marketing scheme. I consider it a bad sign for a company's reputability if in a two-day span I read scathing articles about it in both Forbes and Newsweek.

   This too shall pass; hopefully soon.

Dinner At The Beach

   For someone who grew up in a beach town I am decidedly anti-beach. I don't like that it is hot, I don't like that the sand gets everywhere, and in the case of the beaches of my childhood, I didn't like the tar we always stepped in.

   But tonight we had dinner at the beach in San Clemente and it was just beautiful. Of course, it probably helped that the sun was setting (so it wasn't hot), we were up near the picnic benches (so I didn't get too sandy), and most importantly, that both the kids were having the time of their lives!

"I Survived the Disneyland Earthquake '08!"

   Our next eagerly anticipated activity was our return to Disneyland, or as my son calls it, the "real" Disneyland (as opposed to California Adventure, where we went instead last summer).

   Now if you've been with us for awhile here you may recall my rant last year about the criminality of charging for parking at the Mouse's House (it is now up to 12 bones!). Save your breath because I'm going to bitch about it again.

   What a fucking rip off. I guess it makes sense psychologically though, getting you prepared for $5 bottles of water and $80 tasteless lunches..

   Anyway, I do think the continually rising costs at Disneyland is an indicator of the economy in general.

   Most importantly, we were on the Jungle Cruise when the earthquake hit! As we arrived back at the dock, fools were scattering everywhere. I was sure someone had finally brought in and detonated a dirty bomb. No, as it turned out, it was a tumbler centered in Chino Hills and all we heard for the rest of the day was people excitedly talking about it.

   I thought very seriously for at least two minutes about cruising the streets of Anaheim, procuring a screenprinting device and a tent, and selling "I Survived the Disneyland Quake - 2008!" t-shirts, complete with wavy lettering, out by Timon Section 2 in the parking lot.

   But the kids wanted to go on rides - my son even made his debut on Big Thunder(!!) so I scrapped my plan to earn back the clams Walt's followers had extorted from me and was content to while away the rest of the day and evening until fireworks time, which was VERY impressive!

   All jokes aside, a very fun day for all of us!

SoCal Traffic Is PAINFUL!

   After an impromptu departure for OC last night we awoke with a mission to pay my brother and his family a visit at their new home in da 909...errr..Riverside County as well as visiting my wife's grandmother nearby.

   After having dealt with the horrific drive up coast on Friday I figured we wouldn't possibly deal with anything comparable midday Monday, but what a surprise..we did.

   This turned out to be due to an accident which, though it had cleared by the time we got up to the freeway exit it was allegedly adjacent to, was still having the effect of slowing everything to a crawl.

   A highly illegal lunge into the carpool lane saved us literally an hour. And was worth every penny of potential risk as it meant we were able to procure our token annual meal from In N Out!

Hollister Brew Co

   We had lunch today at Hollister Brewing Company (not much on their site yet).

   I wasted no time in ordering a sampler. It came in a crazy, metal holder and featured some good beers. The IPAs were both solid as was the red. Because I was driving I didn't get a chance to order a pint of any of these but they pleasantly washed down a very tasty tri-tip sang! Oooh - I sure love me a tri-tip sang..

Caching w/Family and The Cupcakery

   After yesterday's unpleasant travel (we tacked a three hour drive in stop-and-go traffic on to our flight), today we spent a very nice day doing things but at a casual pace.

   My wife, ever the dessert fan, paid a visit to a cupcakery - yes, a bakery dedicated solely to the cupcake. And what cupcakes they had there..Lots of flavors to choose from and all at $3 per! Damn, that's like printing money..

   Later in the afternoon, a multi-generational gang hit the trails to introduce our adventuresome aunt to geocaching. We scored an unheard of (for us!) perfect record of four finds in four attempts.

   All in all, a great day!

American Airlines Can Eat Shit and Die

   Yeah, you read that right.

   As our blissfully delighted little family prepared to board our flight for California this morning, our attitude changed rather quickly.

   My son and I, with my daughter's carseat on my back, approached the gate agent as the first class folks finished boarding the plane. Our boarding passes showed "Group 5" but I had not heard her say that families with small children could board so I said, "do you mind if we board?" To which she replied "Yes, I do mind!"

   I will spare you the details but this fucking moron proceeded to contradict herself more than once as I doggedly quizzed her as to why it was we could not board early. We ended up boarding with Group 5, as mandated, and I went ahead and installed Sis' car seat in her window seat, well out of the aisle that the Mensa member had exclaimed with great fervor I would be jamming up if she let me board early. Suffice it to say that there was clearly a reason she was checking tickets at the gate and not actually handling money at the ticket calendar. I'm relatively certain she prints out a map each morning to remind herself how to find her way to work.

   Contrast this with the single male flight attendant on the flight who went out of his way to help bring the kids drinks when they were thirsty, even though it wasn't our row's "turn" yet.

   Note to American - airlines like you are endangered species - if you want to stay in business, clean up your shoddy act..and don't expect another bailout by the taxpayers - we will gladly fly Southwest and JetBlue when they're the only ones left.

Vacation Time Is Here!

   Halleleujah - I didn't know if I'd make it.

   The good news - I did.

   The bad news - none today!!

Brain Saturation

   Training classes should be no longer per day than 4 hours.

   A bold statement, I know, but the fact is that regardless of the topic, regardless of the skill of the instructor at engaging the class, people just stop absorbing new content after 4 hours.

   I think that even though it would double the total days it took to give a course, students would come out of it with FAR more retained if the days were shortened.

Rudy Giuliani Is My Instructor

   Great instructor in the class I'm taking at work. She knows her stuff inside and out and has great anecdotes to share on and off the subject matter.

   But one thing is just killing me. She has the same forking accent as Rudy Giuliani.

   I don't know what it is but that New York accent that Giuliani typifies just kills me. It is so agitating.

   Oh well - at least her sentences do not consist solely of a noun, a verb, and "9/11!"

Muppet Security Guard

   I couldn't help but notice this morning that the security guard in my office building strikingly resembles one of the theatre critics from the Muppet Show.

   The squinting, the mumbling, the whole package!

   A very nice guy but I suspect not terribly intimidating to would-be evildoers that he is expected to handle.

Congrats to Padraig Harrington on back-to-back British Open wins!

   Freaking awesome performance by a really stellar guy.

   Despite the thrill of the drama that Greg Norman brought to the tournament, I think Harrington deserved to win. He is just such a fun guy to watch and from all indicators, a good guy to boot.

   Nice work!

Extreme Loyalty - Noble or Pathetic?

   As the threat of a work stoppage looms at my place of employment, I've been giving an increased amount of thought to this question.

   If, in fact, the union goes out on strike, the rest of us are expected by management to work 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week until the strike ends.

   To someone like me, who has been in the workforce right around 10 years, this is total lunacy. Why the hell anyone would actually agree to do this is beyond me.

   But to most of the people I work with, who have been with the company at least 20 years, this is part of the deal. We get no bonuses, no overtime pay, no comp time for working those slave hours - we get to keep our jobs.

   In fact, if you don't report to your strike duty assignment, you will be let go.

   I think the mentality my colleagues have in this regard is directly related to two factors - they have worked all their career (effectively if not literally in all cases) at one place. They have relatively healthy pensions waiting for them when they finish up their careers in the next several years. And they're not getting any younger, so they are not interested in looking elsewhere for work. So they take what they have and endure.

   People of my general age entered the workforce knowing we had to take care of ourselves. You fatten up your 401(k) early and often and know that no job is secure - we've all been laid off at one point or another. We expect companies to have no loyalty for us so we have none back. You tell me to work 12 hour shift, 7 days a week in some God forsaken town, I tell you to fly a kite!

   So getting back to my original question - I think the real answer is somewhere in between. I think the answer is more like "regrettably understandable."

Gore Provides a Good First Step

   This is going to keep happening if we only go as far as Gore has suggested. We need more nuclear energy now!

Unimpressed

   I watched a recording of the Colorado Senate candidates' debate from earlier this week. And I was disappointed.

   Former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer came across as a smug, snide know-it-all, who while obviously comfortable in front of a microphone, reeks of the smarter G. W. Bush clone he was proven to be while in the House.

   Current U.S. Rep. Mark Udall came across better, though he struck me as kind of a dud. He didn't really respond with substance to many of Schaffer's barbs and left me wondering why I should believe his rhetoric of how great he'd be representing us in the Senate when he seemed to talk very little about what he has done during his time in the House. It kind of seemed to me like he is running because this is the logical next step in his political career, which considering his heritage, certainly bears consideration as a valid motivator.

   I am hoping that in subsequent debates it will be made obvious to me why I should vote for one over the other but for now I am left wanting.

People Are Gross

   It is a fact and obvious but still surprises me.

   The latest example came today when as I was eating my breakfast in my cube I heard over the wall the telltale sound of nails being clipped.

   Though I didn't walk around the corner to do a forensic investigation, I would be willing to bet money that the clippings were left on the floor for the janitorial staff to deal with.

   Note to disgusting-grooming-practices people: clip your nails, floss your teeth, and scratch your ass in the privacy of your own home.

Greenpeace..of Crap

   Articles like this just piss me off.

   Hey you fucking wingnuts, go back to harassing whaling boats or chaining yourselves to trees. Just because something has the word "nuclear" in it doesn't make it bad necessarily. Are you opposed to people fighting cancer receiving radiation treatment too?

   I suppose they'd rather have the air poisoned by coal burning instead of the enjoying the cheap electricity they get from their widespread use of nuclear power generation in France.

The Public Election Financing Mess

   This does a very nice job of explaining just how deeply flawed our whole election process is. There has to be a better way..

Southern Sun = Yummm

   We finally paid a visit to the Southern Sun brewpub in Boulder.

   I had a delicious IPA on nitro and a very tasty, spicy burger. Very affordable prices on everything too!

   We'll definitely be returning soon!

Mulching Is Clutch

   I don't know why it took me so long to try it but today I finally put the mulching block in my mower and was able to cut in half the time it took me to mow the yard! Add to that, no freaking bags and free fertilizer!

   I will never go back!

The Misstatements Continue To Pile Up

   John McCain is catching one of President Bush's worst attributes - a knack for getting his facts wrong.

Sad Sad Sad

   More from the same issue of Newsweek.

   This is just horrible. Yet another sad sad story from our debacle in Iraq.

What Obama Should Say on Iraq

   A week behind on Newsweek, per usual..Fareed Zakaria hits another one out of the park with the speech he has written for Barack Obama to give regarding his position on Iraq.

   The only thing I don't like about Zakaria is that he was not born a U.S. citizen so he can't run for president himself!!

Garbage

   All the senators (and representatives, for that matter) that contributed to the passing of the FISA revisions should be ashamed of themselves.

   I am particularly disappointed in Barack Obama's aye vote, especially since he publicly declared last year that he would support a filibuster of this bill.

Utah Has It Right!

   Though not the first place I think of when I think of progressive policies, Utah definitely is ahead of the curve on this one!

   Once upon a time I had a situation that afforded me a 4-10s work week and damn, do I miss that.

   Not only is it huge for employees to have a three-day weekend every week it is also very good for employers. Your workers come back refreshed after having a legitimate shot at refreshing and resetting over their long weekend. And without the shutdown and startup associated with stopping work on Thursday night and resuming Friday morning, your employees will actually get more done as a result of having 2 additional hours each day added to their workday to continue the momentum of whatever they happen to be working on currently.

   Good move, Utah! Hopefully this will spread.

A Head Scratcher

   I paid a visit to the restroom in a building I was visiting for a meeting.

   Pleasantly clean, especially for an old, dumpy building like the one in which it resides, I noticed as I walked in that there were hands-free soap and paper towel dispensers. Ahhh..very nice and sanitary - my kind of facility.

   Except that when I reached the urinal I noticed something conspicuously absent - a sensor to auto-flush. Bummer, I thought, but at least once my hands are clean after washing I will be good-to-go.

   Uhhhh..actually...no.

   The sinks had handles on the faucets too! So once I washed my hands I would be forced to touch the faucet handles, potentially re-infecting them with whatever the last nasty guy to use the sink was toting around on his mitts!

   This just doesn't make sense. Either be totally manual or totally hands-free - there is not a useful in-between.

A Symbolic Purchase

   Today was the first day to buy beer on a Sunday in Colorado, due to a law that went into effect on July 1st.

   Though with my 10 gallons of blonde ale on tap and some microbrew in the fridge, I didn't really NEED any more beer, I had to do it.

   I rolled into my local liquor store late in the afternoon and picked up a 22 of Avery's The Maharaja Imperial IPA - a special beer to mark a special day!

Brewing Steam Beer

   With the three-day weekend formed by Independence Day coming up I had been planning to brew another batch of beer today.

   As I grappled with selecting a style, it dawned on me that no style would be more appropriate to brew on (OK, near) the 4th of July, than one of the true American-born styles. And so I fired up the brew system and made a California Common, more commonly known by the trademark held by the Anchor Brewing Company, a Steam beer.

   Everything went smoothly and I look forward to putting this 5 gallon batch on draft for my second go-round with kegging.

Independence Day

   Today we here in the United States celebrate a very important birthday.

   Treasure what it represents. If you are religious, say a prayer for the men and women who are serving admirably in our military even if they have been sent to fight a foolish war. If you're not, send good thoughts their way.

   And remember why this country declared its independence from Britain and what safeguards the Founders put in place to protect us, the citizens. Don't let anyone in Washington, D.C. forget that they work for us.

Wildfires Are Very Scary!

   Chalk up another point for Colorado versus California - though there are wildfires here, they are NOTHING like what seems to be happening year-round now in California. Over 1000 wildfires burning in the state?! That is ridiculous..

I'm Guessing He's The Funny One

   As I come to a stop at a red light behind a pair of motorcycle cops, I notice the one on the left has a license plate holder:

      "Smile - I could be behind you!"

Coders Are Awesome!

   A Star Wars quote..in code. Brilliant!!