I have definitely come to enjoy the climate that California offers. However, the winters of NorCal do bring with it one unpleasantry -- rain! I haven't seen the sun for about a week now. It hasn't been raining constantly, but there have been a couple of days where the rain never quit. And on the days it's not raining, it's been overcast. No, I'm not comparing it to sub-zero wind chills in the Midwest, but it does take its toll on guy!
I spent yesterday afternoon through this morning in the Oakland area on call. It wasn't bad, I stayed in a nice hotel in a nice area. Even though I was just complaining about the weather, it was still 50 degrees last evening, so I took a dip in the outdoor pool and hot tub. It was glorious! I then ate at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse which is a higher class steakhouse in big cities. I treated myself to a $49 T-bone steak courtesy Medtronic. It was great! However, I was disappointed because they were out of the Kobe. Then I wondered over to a French Bistro for a poached pear topped with homemade ice cream and chocolate sauce...mmmm.
This week I'm planning on buying a grill (or barbecue as they call it here). Wish me luck!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
I left my heart in...Colorado!
So I experienced skiing in the Sierra Nevadas for the first time today at Heavenly ski resort! I have been waiting months for this and it was great. Me and my friend, Steven, went up there last night after work. It was about a 4 hr drive. On the way up, we ate at In 'n Out Burger (my second time there), a California fast food craze where you only have three choices (hamburger, cheeseburger, double-double). The meat is grown on some ranch in California and the fries are made from real potatoes. Every weekend night, there are usually 20 cars lined up in the drive-through and the place is packed inside. It's good, but who waits in line that long for fast food?!
They got 6 feet of snow at Heavenly last week. Along the highway, in the mountains the snow on the shoulder or the road was taller than the cars! The skiing was pretty good, but the powder was definitely different than the powder in Colorado -- it was freakin' dense! There definitely isn't the fluffy white dust flying in the air when you're skiing through the virgin runs. That was kind of disappointing actually. And the dense snow forces your muscles to work exponentially harder in your turns! By noon, I felt like every muscle in my leg was pulled, and I hadn't skied any blacks yet! By the end of the day, my legs felt like jelly. In all my life, skiing has never killed my legs like that! (I attribute it to the snow as opposed to the fact that I've exercised aerobically about 20 minutes in the last 3 months!) The temperature was surprisingly cold. It was cloudy and 30 most the day with fog which made it hard to see sometimes (although I'll take that over mid teens and windy in January in Colorado). But the last couple hours cleared up and it was 35-40.
So while I will keep my Vail snobbery and say the snow and mountains in Colorado (thus far in my experience) is better than the Sierras, I must admit the view of Lake Tahoe from Heavenly is quite breathtaking! And Heavenly is split between California and Nevada, so you get to ski between the states, which is pretty cool; however, there is a slot machine at the top of every lift on the Nevada side (j/k, but there are casinos at the base of the mountain)! And the drive out of the mountains tonight was one of the most breath-taking scenes I've ever seen. Driving west down out of the mountains into the foothills, the sunset was orange and purple and there was fog in the Sacramento valley, so you saw peaks of mountains and trees poking out of this sea of fog that we were above! Words can't even describe it. I've never seen anything like it. Absolutely breathtaking! Anyways, after round one: Skiing, grandiose, and atmosphere go to Colorado, scenery and temperature goes to Sierras. While there was some excitement in these mountains, my hearts still belongs to Colorado. Next week is round two at a different ski resort, so I'll let you know what the scores are for that one. In the mean time, here are some pics of Heavenly for you to enjoy.
They got 6 feet of snow at Heavenly last week. Along the highway, in the mountains the snow on the shoulder or the road was taller than the cars! The skiing was pretty good, but the powder was definitely different than the powder in Colorado -- it was freakin' dense! There definitely isn't the fluffy white dust flying in the air when you're skiing through the virgin runs. That was kind of disappointing actually. And the dense snow forces your muscles to work exponentially harder in your turns! By noon, I felt like every muscle in my leg was pulled, and I hadn't skied any blacks yet! By the end of the day, my legs felt like jelly. In all my life, skiing has never killed my legs like that! (I attribute it to the snow as opposed to the fact that I've exercised aerobically about 20 minutes in the last 3 months!) The temperature was surprisingly cold. It was cloudy and 30 most the day with fog which made it hard to see sometimes (although I'll take that over mid teens and windy in January in Colorado). But the last couple hours cleared up and it was 35-40.
So while I will keep my Vail snobbery and say the snow and mountains in Colorado (thus far in my experience) is better than the Sierras, I must admit the view of Lake Tahoe from Heavenly is quite breathtaking! And Heavenly is split between California and Nevada, so you get to ski between the states, which is pretty cool; however, there is a slot machine at the top of every lift on the Nevada side (j/k, but there are casinos at the base of the mountain)! And the drive out of the mountains tonight was one of the most breath-taking scenes I've ever seen. Driving west down out of the mountains into the foothills, the sunset was orange and purple and there was fog in the Sacramento valley, so you saw peaks of mountains and trees poking out of this sea of fog that we were above! Words can't even describe it. I've never seen anything like it. Absolutely breathtaking! Anyways, after round one: Skiing, grandiose, and atmosphere go to Colorado, scenery and temperature goes to Sierras. While there was some excitement in these mountains, my hearts still belongs to Colorado. Next week is round two at a different ski resort, so I'll let you know what the scores are for that one. In the mean time, here are some pics of Heavenly for you to enjoy.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Roof Rack...check!
Well, I'm back in Cali and into the work groove again. I had a great time in Nebraska over Christmas, although I didn't get much sleep! Between three nieces running wild at home, and three nights in Lincoln that involved alcohol, dancing, cards, and shared hide-a-beds, my sleep time was significantly less than my aging body needs! But it was all great fun! Stepping on the scale at the YMCA, I was pretty surprised that I had gained 5 lbs in the last two weeks. I haven't gained weight for the last 6 months, and then all of a sudden I exploded! I'm motivated all of a sudden to incorporate jogging (pronounced "yogging"...it's a new fad out here on the west coast) into my workout routine!
Get this, Lake Tahoe has had 6 ft of snow this weekend! That is craziness. I've never heard of such a thing! But that makes me super excited because I'm planning on going skiing up there the next two weekends. I just made a stop by REI and got my ski poles and a roof rack for my Rav-4. I can't tell you how excited I am!
Get this, Lake Tahoe has had 6 ft of snow this weekend! That is craziness. I've never heard of such a thing! But that makes me super excited because I'm planning on going skiing up there the next two weekends. I just made a stop by REI and got my ski poles and a roof rack for my Rav-4. I can't tell you how excited I am!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Crazy Day
The last 24 hours are just a blurr! I found out yesterday evening that I would have to travel to the town of Chico (home of Sierra Nevada beer which was founded by two college students--how sweet that would be!) which is 3 hours from Santa Rosa. That wasn't great new as I would have to wake up around 5 am, but that's been done before, so no big deal.
So then last night was the first time I've had plans with friends outside of work since I've moved to Santa Rosa (not that I don't enjoy my coworkers, but it's good to diversify!) We went to a Messiah Sing-a-long at a local high school. For those of you enthusiasts of classic music score, this is Handel's choral piece based on the life of Christ and is where the "Hallelujah Chorus" came from. I sang parts of this score in high school, so a sing-a-long sounded fun (I'm showing my dorky side)! At this sing-a-long, the audience is the choir and they handed out the music at the door (I think I may by my own music and practice for next year.) I sat by an attractive girl who I mustered up the courage to talk to! She ended up being a senior at the high school, so of course, I got her number, and will probably tutor her in calculus. (That's a joke by the way, it'll probably be trigonometry) :) During the Messiah, I was really enjoying myself and surprised at how much of the music I actually remembered. The "Hallelujah Chorus" is the third song from the end and I really wanted to sing it, but I decided it'd be best to leave at intermission which was at 9:00 PM since I had to wake up around 5 AM.
On my way home, I received a phone call informing me that I needed to go to Redding instead of Chico (240 miles from Santa Rosa) and that the clinic starts a half hour earlier. This necessitated waking up at 3:30 AM to leave my place by 4! Needless to say, I wasn't real excited. So on my way I texted Aaron since he's on the east coast and figured he'd be on his way to work. Well, I had been on the road for an hour and Aaron informed me he was just leaving for work (he's three hours ahead of me!) How ridiculous!
Overall, the clinic went well, the patients were nice, and my coworkers in Redding were very glad I came. I got back to Santa Rosa at 5:30 PM (a 12 hour work day with 8 hours of driving) and had a beer at a local bar with some friends. I had a Sierra Nevada, kind of an ironic beer choice in retrospect (refer to first paragraph)!
So then last night was the first time I've had plans with friends outside of work since I've moved to Santa Rosa (not that I don't enjoy my coworkers, but it's good to diversify!) We went to a Messiah Sing-a-long at a local high school. For those of you enthusiasts of classic music score, this is Handel's choral piece based on the life of Christ and is where the "Hallelujah Chorus" came from. I sang parts of this score in high school, so a sing-a-long sounded fun (I'm showing my dorky side)! At this sing-a-long, the audience is the choir and they handed out the music at the door (I think I may by my own music and practice for next year.) I sat by an attractive girl who I mustered up the courage to talk to! She ended up being a senior at the high school, so of course, I got her number, and will probably tutor her in calculus. (That's a joke by the way, it'll probably be trigonometry) :) During the Messiah, I was really enjoying myself and surprised at how much of the music I actually remembered. The "Hallelujah Chorus" is the third song from the end and I really wanted to sing it, but I decided it'd be best to leave at intermission which was at 9:00 PM since I had to wake up around 5 AM.
On my way home, I received a phone call informing me that I needed to go to Redding instead of Chico (240 miles from Santa Rosa) and that the clinic starts a half hour earlier. This necessitated waking up at 3:30 AM to leave my place by 4! Needless to say, I wasn't real excited. So on my way I texted Aaron since he's on the east coast and figured he'd be on his way to work. Well, I had been on the road for an hour and Aaron informed me he was just leaving for work (he's three hours ahead of me!) How ridiculous!
Overall, the clinic went well, the patients were nice, and my coworkers in Redding were very glad I came. I got back to Santa Rosa at 5:30 PM (a 12 hour work day with 8 hours of driving) and had a beer at a local bar with some friends. I had a Sierra Nevada, kind of an ironic beer choice in retrospect (refer to first paragraph)!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Condo Clarification
Just so you all know, that's a mirror on the wall behind the bookshelf in the picture with the kitchen table. Kudos to you who figured that out, but I think it could be confusing to the untrained eye and make my place seem twice as big as it is :)
Monday, December 17, 2007
My Pad
I figured I'd post some pics of my condo for ya'll to see. I'm definitely happy it. For those of you who heard me complain about how small my place in Sac was (see July blog), you'll hear no such complaints about my new place (it's four stories)! Well, maybe more like multi-split-level, but I like to describe it as four stories! But hey, I got a great deal!
2 car garage
Living room
Kitchen/dining room
Stairway to master bedroom and then guest room
View out my back patio
2 car garage
Living room
Kitchen/dining room
Stairway to master bedroom and then guest room
View out my back patioMonday, December 10, 2007
Bad Ass Ride!
Well, my bad ass ride finally arrived! Lincoln Navigator what? Cadellac Escalade who? No thanks, I'll take my freakin' pimpin' Toyota Rav4! That's right, my Rav4 is here, and I'm kind of a big deal in Santa Rosa now. Tanner Augustin has officially exploded onto the scene! No more minivan for me. Although I had gotten used to those looks I would receive driving that thing around. I just resided myself to the fact that every girl who saw me in the minivan assumed I was a young family man with kids. Not anymore! Now I feel like rugged mountain man. Bear Grylls, I'm sure, drives a Rav4 as no other vehicle screams rugged mountain man like it does. And I think Dog Bounty Hunter drives one around too. Goodbye family man image. Now when I drive by with my 2Pac's Greatest Hits thumpin' the ladies are thinking, "That's the kind of man I want to be with!" Some even yell, "Hey Tanner!" (That's right, they know my name. How do they know it, you ask...they just do). I just smile back, give a wink, toss out my card, and keep on rollin'...that's how I roll. That's how I do it.
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