Christmas in Cali

This Christmas I realized the biggest sacrifice thus far of living 2000 miles from home. That is, I wasn't able to go home for Christmas. However, it was as good of a Christmas I could have away from my family. I spent Wednesday night through Sunday with my friend Nick and his wife, Cari, and their families in Sacramento and Mt. Shasta (way northern California). They all made me feel like part of the family. On Christmas Eve we went to a nice Lutheran church service and sang all the Christmas hymns. Christmas day we spent with Cari's family. The day after Christmas we drove 3 hrs north of Sacramento to Mt. Shasta to meet up with Nick's family. We stayed in a lodge in the mountains where it had just snowed a foot and a half. It was no Rocky Mountains or Sierra Nevada's (which have had 10 feet of snow in 14 days!), but very quaint, quiet, and beautiful pine trees. Luckily I had packed my skis, so I could go skiing for the first time this year! My Bandits dominated the three lift resort! Another fun thing about this Christmas was the alcohol :) Bloody Marys on Christmas morning, Zinfindel and Mistletoe Martinis Christmas night, homemade Egg Nog and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale in Shasta - I loved it and was giggly every nite! (I did gain 5 pounds though!). Overall, I missed my family (especially reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to my nieces) but was so blessed to have Nick and Cari and their families to welcome me in to theirs!

My-sized tree...the perfect tree!

Nick and I with our Mistletoe Martinis (Belvedere, cream de menthe, bailey's)

Skiing at Mt. Shasta

Me, Nick, and Tyler (his brother) with our Sierra Nevada Celebration Ales...Let's Celebrate!
BTW, if you can get your hands on some, I highly recommend it!

Use your imagination to figure out what the picture is of this that I didn't post :)

Our Celebration Castle!

Me, Cari, and Nick

Do not vote until you read THIS!

I have some very important information to share with you all before you make any presidential voting decision! If you think you have already made your choice, this may change your mind! What I'm about to tell you has been covered by the mainstream media (more like laimstream media if you ask me!) because they don't want you to know this. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if this blog gets blocked after I publish this post, but I'm taking a risk for the good of my country!

We all know that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. But that's not where it stops! Look at the Obama-Biden ticken. Does anything strike you as you read Obama-Biden? Look carefully...if you replace the 'b' in Obama with an 's', add an 'nla' after the 'i' in Biden, you get Osama Binladen! How scary is that! I mean, come on people, what more do you need to see the terrorist connection? To go one step further, if you take the 'ck' off Barack and then flip it around, it spells Arab! Oh my gosh, this is just ridiculously scary. Need more evidence...how about the Terrorist fist jab between Obama and his wife! A fist punch? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? Yes my friends, everyone knows that the sign of camaraderie between terrorists is a fist jab. That's what Bin-laden and his cohorts do in their cave...everyone knows that! Good grief...wake up people!


But if you think that gives you a clear answer as to who to vote for, i.e. McCain, think again! All we need to do is to look at his VP nominee, Sarah Palin, and you will be astounded! If you replace the 'P' in Palin with an 'St', you get Stalin! Oh my gosh! How can this be? Is she a communist? Oh no!!!! And to go one step further, if you take the 'P' and the 'l' out of Palin, add a 'z', and mix the letters around, you get Nazi! This can't be!!!! WTF is going on here?!!! This is just as scary! This explains the Communist wink she does! Everyone knows the sign of death between KGB agents and Stalin was a wink. A wink from Stalin to a KGB agent meant death to a non-communist! Everyone knows that! And is it a coincidence that she can see Russia from her house? Oh no!!!!


So what do we do?? It's either a terrorist or a communist!!!! [Sigh] I guess South Park had it right ...you're always voting between a Terd Sandwich and a DB!

Tower, this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby!

I had an awesome experience this weekend. My friend, Jonathan, is a flight instructor and he took me flying in a two-seater single engine airplane! It was so fun! We flew from Santa Rosa to Napa, an easy 20 minute flight. It was sweet seeing the Sonoma Valley from the air. Really, the vineyards look like they could be small cornfields :) I was able to take controls in the air which was sweet! I did some maneuvers where you pull back on the controls to climb for a couple seconds and then push them forward hard to dive and get the whole negative G's thing going like on a roller coaster! Jonathan did a maneuver where we climbed hard to where it stalls and then goes into a nosedive and then bring us out of it before we start spinning (a 500 ft altitude drop). He asked if I wanted to take the controls during it, but I passed :) But I did accept the offer to land the plane! I was pretty nervous. With his step-by-step instructions, I brought us into the descent, circled the airport, and landed the plane! It was quite the adrenaline rush I must say! We'll see, maybe I've found a new hobby :)

This was our plane...I wish! I may have to give myself at least 10 yrs before I get a private jet :)


Jonathan making sure our plane is air-worthy


This is my touristy pic!


Santa Rosa from the air

Sonoma Valley


The town of Sonoma

California Giant Redwoods

Recently I had to do a drive up north on Hwy 101, pretty much to the Oregon border, for work. It was a 6 hr drive each way. The upside to this drive was that it goes through the middle of the famed California Giant Redwoods. On my way back, I took a little detour on a road called Avenue of the Giants. Also, the final hour of driving north goes along the ocean which has some pretty sweet views. I basically ended about 30 miles from the Oregon border and at that point, was closer to Portland than to San Francisco; did my work duties, then turned around and headed home. All I can say is thank goodness for John Piper and Michael Savage podcasts for keeping me sane during the 12 hrs of driving!

A bit of fog rolling in off of the Pacific

Hitchhikers are a common site along the highway. On an unrelated note, this area is where some of the finest weed in the world is grown!

Look closely and you'll see people jumping off the rock into the river. If I had my swimsuit with me I would have loved to join them!

Entering the Avenue of the Giants...30 miles of this!

I mean, I'm a pretty big guy, but that's a pretty big tree!

I couldn't resist the "Drive-through Tree!"

Summer Fling (For Real!)

I wanted to let all my readers know that I officially have a summer fling! Yes, it's exciting and I can't wait to tell you about her. Some of you may have met her already, but I have officially claimed her...so hand off! Let me describe her to you for those of you who don't know her. Her complexion is a beautiful gold with gorgeous blond hair, and she has striking green eyes. She is tall and slender with a great six-pack and even better figure! Oh ya...she's a hottie! I met her playing water volleyball this summer. And since then we have spent many an afternoon at the beach and pool together. When I'm not with her, I'm thinking about her; and when I'm with her, I have such a buzz, it feels like I'm walking on air! Her name...Budlight Lime! Oh ya, she is my summer fling, and I am all about her! Some may call me an alcoholic...I prefer to think of myself as a hopeless romantic...you decide!

Weekend in Florida

I just had a great weekend in Florida! I took the red-eye from San Fran to Pensacola on Friday night and just got back late last night. It was a great time with my sister and her family (three girls all under the age of 4!). We stayed in their friend's condo on the Gulf of Mexico...pretty pimp! We were in the Penthouse Suites on the very top floor (21st)! It was three solid days of lounging in the sun, swimming in the Gulf, and drinking beers...some of my favorite activities! My typical day consisted of waking up at 7AM (my nieces are early risers!), taking a jog on the beach, drinking a couple cups of coffee, heading down to the pool at 9AM and swimming with my nieces until 11 when Tara and Steve (my sister and brother-in-law) took them up and I lounged around the pool offering to buy random girls drinks until noon (I think they were underage anyways :). After lunch I would lounge by the pool or on the beach during the girls' naptime with my Budlight Lime for about 2-2.5 hrs (this was my main recharge time!) After naptime, we would go to the beach and build sandcastles and wade in the waves and then finish the afternoon off in the pool again. Multiply that day by 3, add a bottle of California wine in the evenings, throw in a birthday party for Uncle Tanner, and you have my trip to Florida! Now back to the daily grind...

Our pool was sweet!

Me and Kylie

My favorite lounge spot by the pool

The birthday party!

Awwww...hugs for Uncle Tanner!

The worst thing was that you couldn't swim in the Gulf w/out getting stung by jellyfish!

Race Results

So I got the results from the 3k I ran on July 4th. I got first place in the 25-29 year-old mens division! (That was out of seven, but still!) To my shame, one girl beat me in that age bracket so I got second overall in that division which meant a medal instead of a bottle of wine. And I got 66th out of 430, so not quite top 10%, but close. The good news is that since I was in the top 75, I'm qualified for the Boston Marathon!

Redwoods in the Morning, Napa in the Evening

On Friday I had an early morning. I had to leave my place at 4:45AM to drive to Fort Bragg, a small coastal town 2 hrs north of Santa Rosa. To get to the town, you have to drive 33 miles through the thick of the Redwoods, which ends at the Ocean where the town is. It's about a 45 minute drive through the Redwoods. In the morning, the coastal fog sets in the forest and it's a pretty neat drive.

Then that evening I had to drive to St. Helena, the nicest town in Napa Valley, to check a patient. It was dusk and once again, a beautiful drive. So even though it was about an 18 hr work day, I enjoyed some beautiful scenery. Hippie, grungy Redwoods in the morning; ritzy wine country in the evening!

At the end of this forest is the Pacific!

If you look close, in the middle of the picture is a glimpse of the hwy

A private Napa winery

My first post high school organized race!

On the 4th of July I did my first organized race! I was pretty excited...I had been training for a good couple weeks, so I knew I was prepared. It was called the Kenwood Foot Race and it's in the small town of Kenwood just outside Santa Rosa (you may have heard of Kenwood wines) nestled amongst the vineyards. There were over 2,000 runners, so I was a bit intimidated to say the least...but I got in the top 75 averaging just over 7 minute miles! So I hit my goal, a total time of 13 minutes 57 seconds (my goal was to be under 14 minutes)...the race was a 3k :) I almost caught a 10 year old girl in front of me, but I just couldn't do it! (But karma was on my side because she puked afterwards, haha). Maybe I'll tackle a 10k next. After the race, there was a pancake breakfast at a nearby church that we hit up...some of the best pancakes I've had!

Steven on the left and Gary in the middle, my coworkers, also ran. (Steven did the 10k).

A Voice of Reason in a reasonless world :)

So there was an article today in the Santa Rosa newspaper breaking down the financial support of residents of Sonoma county to the presidential candidates. Not surprisingly, Obama was by far the most supported ($500,000...wow). I found the following excerpt from the article interesting...

"Graves, who described herself as a conservative on interpreting the Constitution and a liberal on social issues, said she likes the fact that Obama is black, saying she believes it's time that a minority led the nation.

'It represents that we're not a prejudiced country anymore,' she said. 'I'm sorry that we were. This sort of helps cure that.'"

So let's reword this statement in the negative (because it's saying the same exact thing)...

"Graves, who described herself as a conservative on interpreting the Constitution and a liberal on social issues, said she doesn't like the fact that McCain isn't black, saying she believes it's time that a minority led the nation."

Now that sounds kind of racist! Or can you imagine this printed...?

"Graves, who described herself as a conservative on interpreting the Constitution and a conservative on social issues, said she likes the fact that McCain is white, saying she believes it's important to have someone leading the nation who racially represents the majority of the people."

Interesting how one point of view is considered to be so acceeeepting and progreeeeeesive. And the opposite view point with the SAME reasoning is racist and close-minded. Just some food for thought from A Voice of Reason!

And I'm proud to be an American...!

Just when I thought the Supreme Court couldn't be any more in step with the communist liberal agenda....they go and totally redeem themselves! That is, it was only yesterday they ruled in favor of child rapists, and last week they ruled in favor of the terrorists that attacked our country who are being held at Guantanamo Bay, but not today. Today they upheld my freedom as an American to bear arms! The first Supreme Court ruling on the 2nd Amendment in the history of its existance (until now common sense kept them from having to rule on it) and it flies in the face of the liberal agenda (sorry Barry O)!

If you don't understand how big of a deal this is, let me paint a picture. Imagine a country where only the state militia, police, etc are allowed to have guns...if you pictured Nazi Germany, you're correct! The first thing Hitler did as a dictator was take away the rights of the people to bear arms, that way, when his Gestapo went through the country to eradicate the Jews, none of the citizens could stop him. Not in America baby! I can shoot down the Gestapo with my Glock. Maybe Barry is right, we should have the audacity to hope! Now go crank up "God Bless the USA" (or your patriotic song of choice) and echo Michelle O's sentiment of finally being "proud of [your] country!"

California is burning...so is my stand-up career

So I've been exposed to a new natural disaster. No, not earthquakes...yet...but wild fires! There are over 800 first burning in California! In the county just to the north of me there are 117 fires and only 20 of them are contained! There was a huge lightning storm this weekend that started the ones in northern Cali. It's crazy...there has been a haze over Santa Rosa for the last two days. I drove north yesterday morning and thought it was fog, but then after the campfire smell didn't go away in the 75 miles of driving, I realized it was smoke from fire...my clothes and car reaked. People are being told not to spend much time outside because of the hazards of the smoke. I just hope I don't get the black lung!

On another note, I crashed and burned in my first stand-up comic try this weekend! I was in a wedding this weekend was asked to give an announcement that the bouquet toss was going to happen and to have the single girls come forward. Well, this was a Seventh Day Adventist wedding reception...no alcohol, meat, or dancing, and it was on a Sunday evening, so it's a tough crowd. But when I got in front of the microphone I couldn't help myself! I said, "Can I have all the single ladies come forward please...I need a date for a wedding I'm going to next weekend!" Ya, silence and stares! So then I was like, "Um...please come forward for the bouquet toss." Whew...crash and burn! But I'm holding onto the hope that I didn't speak loudly enough into the microphone and no one heard my joke :)

The answer to the previous blog question is the musical Westside Story.

Officer Krupke, Krup You!

I'm so pissed! After returning from a nice trip back home last weekend, I was greeted with a letter in the mail from San Francisco Traffic Violations Bureau. On my way to SFO airport to go skiing in Vail last month (wow it seems like so much longer ago than that), I was photographed going through a red light. Since a month had passed, I figured they must have just let it slide...well I thought wrong! And I couldn't believe the amount...$400! Ya, to put that in perspective, I flew to NYC and had $100 cash in my pocket for that! Ugh...I felt like I had just been raped (well, not literally, but if money could rape you, I think that's what it'd feel like)...



Another bonus blog question...The title of this blog is a line from which musical?

East meets West!

This was it (a couple weekends ago)...my much awaited weekend to NYC to visit Aaron and B-Black! I caught the red eye from San Fran at 11 PM Wednesday night and landed in Newark at 7 AM. Luckily, I took my benedryl and was able to catch a bit of sleep on the plane. Enjoy my picture blog of NYC!

I gotta see my homeboy Joba Chamberlain pitch an inning at a Yankees game!

Us at Central Park...that place is huge! We got interviewed by the Discovery Channel on a special they're doing on the rainforest. They were pretty impressed with our knowledge...they'll probably be calling us for future specials :)


Time Square at night is a sweet place!


This was our Broadway show of choice (my choice). The biggest regret of the whole trip was that I didn't choose Phantom of the Opera (across the street). The consulation was that our tickets were amazing...8th row in the center!

The sweetest pub ever! It was no surprise that the chugging champion was yours truly :) We were all having a good time until Black took out our old Irish waiter with his drunken elbow!


We lost Aaron's two umbrella's during our night of debauchery, but luckily, I found this sweet one at Grand Central Station!

Ground Zero...


If you squint you can see Lady Liberty! (Aaron, did you know if you use the zoom feature, you can make far away objects look bigger? :)


Damn eagles landing on Aaron's head!


NYC...no place like it

I can't wait to go back! Aaron was a great host, putting up with my indecision about which Broadway show to go to, chosing Xanadu, and then whining that we didn't go to Phantom (I'm sure no one can picture this!) And Black was a trooper for sleeping on the couch so I could have the air mattress (Black sleeping on a couch in his underwear with the TV on...can anyone see this happing? :) With all the changes that happen in life (i.e. friends spread throughout the US)...it's good to see that some things stay the same!