for 4 days of essentially doing nothing, except for playing golf, eating and sleeping, and maybe a jog or swim or two, but no bike.
And neither am I taking the computer. So there’ll be no emails, posting to the blog or even watching of television. Of course we’ve Tivo’d all the shows we don’t want to miss.
But if you do need to get in touch with us, we’ll both our phones with us, so you text or call.
We’ll be back on Thursday with a full report.
For the last couple of days, I have been fretting over bidding on a wine dinner with the Burghound, and award winning director Matthew Diamond.
Tonight I had just been trying to recruit a few other friends to participate, and convinced myself to bid $2,400, and then up my bid to $3,200 if necessary (It’s a dinner for 8). But much to my surprise, when I logged on to the website, I discovered the bid was already up to $4,300 (that’s over $500 per person). Bummer!!!
Now I’d be willing to go more, provided I only had to pay one quarter of the cost, but I haven’t had any success drumming up much enthusiasm for others to go over $300 per person.
Oh well, how could I be so naive to think, if I thought something was worth $3,200, someone else wouldn’t think it was worth a lot more.
If I didn’t realize it before, I do now. There’s a whole other class of people out there, who live in an entirely different world than I do.
At least now, all I have to worry about is what to do with the extra grand I seem to have burning a hole in my pocket. Some how though, I think the trip to Vegas, Edie and I are planning this week, will take care of that problem.
Note: This post was originally title “Life just got a lot easier”
Here it is 3:41 AM, and I’ve already been up for 30 minutes. I had breakfast, put the dishes away, that were in the dishwasher, and now I’m playing on the computer, trying to kill another hour and 15 minutes before heading off to work.
I don’t understand it. It’s not like I do anything differently on Wednesdays, than I do any other day of the week, but it just seems that come every Thursday morning, I find myself unable to sleep. I toss and turn for an hour or two, eventually getting up around 3 AM. (Every other morning I manage to sleep until 6 AM, or 4:30 AM if I’m going to work.)
I did go for an easy bike ride in the morning, and then to the golf course to hit some balls later on in the day, neither of which were very stressful (I was hitting the ball pretty good). Plus I only got one call from work, making for a very relaxing day.
Could that be the problem? Not enough stress!
I didn’t even get a chance to take a nap during the day, so I can’t use that for an excuse.
I know gasoline prices have been going up relentlessly lately, but it wasn’t until this morning that I realized just how much.
After filling up my 1998 Toyota Camry, I had to do a double take when I glanced at the total price on the pump. I couldn’t believe it!
My first reaction was I must be seeing things. But after thinking about it a minute, 15.9 gallons at $3.24/gallon, $51.52 is about right.
What’s so distressing is, we haven’t even got to the summer driving season yet, and likely even higher prices!
I can’t wait to see how much money I spend on gas for our trip to Vegas next week, and Oregon in July for the International Pinot Noir Celebration, in a car that only gets 22 miles to a gallon, that is when I drive conservatively. Now only if I were a conservative driver.
Oh well, it’s only money, and you know what they say,
You can’t take it with you!
We got new phones today at work, which just so happen to have a camera built in. So on the trip home, I thought I would test out the new camera, and at the same time give everyone a brief view of part of my 80 mile (one way) commute to and from work.
Most people can’t believe I’ve been able to do that drive for the last 18 years, but I think this photo, sort of puts everything in perspective.
Typically I don’t give the view much thought, but a day doesn’t go by that I don’t see at least one tourist stopping to admire the view and take pictures.
Then, of course, there are those days, I can’t help but admire the view myself. (Click on the picture for a better view.)
One thing I learned when I first started riding a bike competitively, about 25 years ago is, it’s not so much the quantity of the miles you ride, it’s the quality of those miles.
The problem is, I see too many people adhering to just the opposite.
I see them at the gym all the time, people getting on the exercise cycle or treadmill, and then reading a book or magazine while they pedal or walk, both at very slow speeds. I could no more read a book or magazine when I exercise, than I could walk on water. Sure it may be better than sitting on the couch at home and doing nothing, but I still wouldn’t call that exercise.
And as far as I’m concerned, the same goes for food and eating.
Every since going to France, several years ago, coupled with my love for the Food Network (especially Iron Chef America), I have gained a greater appreciation for how food is prepared and presented. I no longer care how much food is on my plate, more importantly it’s how the food is prepared, presented, and of course how it tastes.
Last night was a good example of such a meal. We went to the Riviera at the Fireside for dinner with some friends. Now at one time, I may have considered this a great restaurant, but now it’s just not what I want when I go out to eat.
I had Duckling a “L” Orange which was OK, but far from great. The plate consisted of a leg and a breast, bones included, and some rice and vegetables tossed on the plate. There was absolutely no thought to the plating. At least they could have deboned the duck, making it easier to eat. (You can read my entire review of the restaurant over at LA Wine Blog.)
The only reason I still enjoyed the meal, was the company of good friends, and the bottle of 2003 Laetitia ‘La Colline’ Pinot Noir, which I brought from home. It was one of the best pinot noir’s I’ve had in a while.
Now if everyone in the US could only take a lesson from a competitive cyclist about exercise, and adopt the same attitude towards food, as those in France and some other countries, we might all be a lot healthier.