Tacky Christmas Ornaments: $7

Sweater from TJ Max: $15

Wiring yourself up with a string of lights and winning the bad Christmas sweater contest: Priceless

Arrrr Matey!

Finally getting settled into the new place and have some time to post some pics from the last months events.. This is from Jimmy's Pirate Party in Buena Park. It's big dinner/showplace like Medieval Times but with a pirate theme (obviously) From what I can remember it was pretty damn fun :)

ALDS 07

Thanks to Jim's diligence on the Angels website I was able to attend game 3 of the ALDS this Sunday. It was a great day for baseball and the weather was perfect if a bit hot for this time of the year (my face is as red as that flag). The game was awesome until the 7th inning when the wheels came off and the Angels bullpen imploded. They had a great season and if they can just add a big bat they'll be in the postseason again next year.

Seasons Change

Yes, even in San Diego we'll get the occational storm blow through.. Aside from messing up everyone's commute, we are sometimes gifted with a great sunset.

Big changes set to happen next month. I've gone out and bought my first place and will be looking to move in around October 13th. I've purchased a one bedroom condo in the Little Italy area of downtown. I'm excited but also a bit nervous and this is a pretty big commitment and a tad more than my current rent :) Wood floors and tile are being installed this week and I'll keep everyone updated as I get more info.

How NOT to start your day (not actual pic)

File this under: I never thought this would happen to me or, I thought this only happened in the movies.

Driving down Garnet this morning on my way to work and I’m on a con-call with the Birmingham office.
Usually I use my earpiece but it’s out of juice so I do it the old fashioned way (handheld) which I hate, but what are you going to do?

There’s a little more traffic than usual but nothing too crazy. I had just finished talking and decided to put my phone on mute since I
Thought we were wrapping things up. Look down for a second to mute and as soon as I look back up I realize traffic had stopped.

Screeched on the breaks but I was a tad too late and I smacked the car in front of me… Didn’t hit it too hard but this is my first accident and
I’m a little surprised. I wished that was the end of the story….


I hang up my phone and then I realize, I’ve just rear ended a police officer L

I get out and walk over to his door, he radios something in and then steps out. Here is the dialog that follows:

Cop: You alright
Me: Yeah I’m fine, you ok?
Cop: Yeah, I’m fine

I survey the damage and notice that there about a 1 inch scratch on my bumper and that’s it.. Then I see that his bumper is pretty bent up L

Cop: Let’s pull off into that Weinerschnitzal parking lot
Me: Ok

We pull over and continue to survey the damage while he radios it in.

Me: I guess you can’t do you own accident report?
Cop: No, I have to get a traffic cop over here to fill it out
Cop: Funny thing is I was just on my way to a traffic accident
Me: Yeah, funny………

A second Cruiser shows up after about 10min

Cop#2: Pulls in next to Cop#1, rolls down window and just starts laughing at Cop #1

A third cruiser arrives a minute behind #2

Cop#3 Pulls in next to my car and gets out.
Cop#3: Looks at me and then looks at cop #1
Cop#3: Points at me and says, “why isn’t he handcuffed?”
Me: (poops a little)
Cop#3: Laughs and then says to cop #1, “Why aren’t you handcuffed?”

Cop#2: Laughs Hysterically
Cop#1: Nervous Laugh..

A motorcycle cop now rolls up into the fracas.

Cop #3: Looks at me and says, “so officer Thomas was doing about 30MPH when he backed into you?”
Cop#2,3,4: Laughing Hysterically
Me: (Thinks about going with that but decides to say nothing)

Cop #4 walks me to the scene and asks me the basic questions

Cop#4: Where were you heading?
Me: Work
Cop#4: What Happened?
Me: Looked down for a second and when I looked up traffic had stopped.
Cop#4: Shit happens
Cop#4: Were you on the cell phone?
Me: (Ashamed) Yes

Cop#3: Don’t worry about it, I rear ended someone in this (points to cruiser) last week.
Me: Nervous laugh…

Cop#4 Gets my DL info and insurance info and says ok, you can go now…
Cop#4: I’m not sure how this works but I assume we’ll just bill your insurance company or something.
Me: Um, ok… I don’t need to sign anything?
Cop#4: Nope, you’re all set.

And that was my Tuesday morning! I guess I’m glad I didn’t get a ticket out of it and kind of hope their mechanic just looks at the dented fender and says “fuck it” but we’ll see…..

Some of the perks of my job allow me to visit places most people don't get to see. This week I was up at Lucasfilm for the AMD Barcelona launch and had Darth Vader give me the famous "force choke". I highly recommend it if you get the chance :)

Tracey and her friends rented a double-decker bus for her birthday last week so we hit the town in style. The bus only went about 30 mph but we had a keg on board so it didn't really matter :) It took us from her place downtown to PB where we hit Tower 23 and Canes. From there it was back downtown to J bar which is often the scene of mischief. A good time was had by all.

Bluesapalooza 07

Brought some rookies to this years Bluesapalooza and for the most part they handled it like champs. We had a great time as always but here are a few hints for anyone coming to future festivals:

1. Come early so you can set up a base camp near the stage.
2. Eat something before you come for God's sakes
3. Pales and Lagers first then transitions to the Reds, Stouts and Porters
4. Eat again
5. Stay away from Irish bars after a full day of drinking beers with 11% Alcohol content.

Tubing

Made my 2nd annual trek to Bluesapalooza in Mammoth last weekend and it was just as fun as I remember it.. Just as fun as as the festival itself is tubing down the owens river the day before. This is a picture of Jim and I after the 3 hour ride. That we drank for the whole float probably explains the strange look on our faces...

Whiskey 101

I wouldn't say I'm a whiskey connoisseur but I do enjoy the occasional glass and the history of the drink in society. I was familiar with the Irish Catholic and Irish Protestant views on whiskey and their fanatical preference of one over the other-

Catholics drink Jameson while Protestants drink Bushmills.

However I was enlightened to a new bit of knowledge this weekend while enjoying a glass of 18yo Jameson. While chatting about the differences between the two the bartender let me on to the fact that all the Irish Catholic whiskey bottles are round while the Protestant preferred bottles are square and that this was done on purpose. For some reason I was fascinated by this tidbit and decided to snap a picture of their wall of whiskey.

I was also drunk...

Fishing Trip

I'm not an avid fisherman but I'll go once or twice a year with my Dad and brothers. We took a 1/2 day boat out of Seaforth last weekend and actually caught a few keepers this time which hasn't been the norm the last few trips. This is my first catch of the day and yes, they did get bigger after that one :)

-Ed

Spring Training

Went to my 2nd annual spring training / St. Patricks Day weekend trip to Phoenix this year and it was as fun as ever. I was able to catch three separate games including an Angel, Padre, an A's home game. The Padres facility in Peoria and the Angels stadium in Tempe are both very nice and I would recommend both to anyone that is interested in seeing a game out there.

-Ed

Sacramento

I visited my old friends Marc and Robin this past week at their place in Sacramento. It was too cold to go wine tasting so we decided on a micro-brew tour instead. Sacramento has a good selection of micro-brews and I think my favorite stop was the hoppy brewing company. We played tons of games including our usual Cribbage and Mexican Train but I also learned how to play pinochle for the first time and enjoyed it very much.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

I just wanted to say Happy Holidays to everyone! I spent Christmas up at my folks house in Riverside and had a great time hanging with the family. The adorable girl in the picture is my niece Sara and she will be joined by a baby bother in a few days. I hope the new years brings you everything you wish for!