Friday Five

The Excuse:

Ok. So it comes down to a couple of things. I discovered the cause of my computer problems at the end of last week - a faulty hard drive. I had to wait for a new hard drive and then get it all set up. And then I simply never got around to posting a delayed five.

The Week[s]:

I spent the week of the 27th at home. Really - at home. All week. It was everything I thought it would be and more.

In any event, I attempted ribs for the first time on my first Sunday home for the Chargers game. They came out pretty well. Need to work a few things out, but I think I can eventually get the hang of this. The one nice thing about our grill is it's a 5 burner, so it's pretty easy to get it to that low temperature you need for making ribs.

Beyond that, I mostly relaxed at home, trying to stay focused long enough to study for two exams I had to take on Thursday. Fortunately, it worked as I got past both exams - go me! ;-)

This week was a class in San Jose. What's nice about going to San Jose is I have friends there. I went bowling with one set of friends one night (bowled a 180 & 187 - my best back to back games ever, btw), and then met a friend in San Francisco for dinner another night. I heart San Francisco.

The Restaurant:

For dinner in San Francisco, my friend and I roamed through Little Italy. We went to a little place called Calzone's which my friend had been to before. Food was quite good. Started with a nice bruschetta, split an arugula and goat cheese salad. I had the lasagna and he had an angel hair pasta dish. All very tasty.

The Exercise:

Ebb and flow here on the exercise front. I must get back into the swing of things. I used the Wii Fit a couple of times, hit the gym once, and went jogging once, but that was about it. Must refocus. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

The Travel Note:

I loathe Southwest. They have a good reputation from the past but they've gone downhill over the last couple of years. They're consistently late, their customer service is lacking, and don't even get me started on their seating policy.

I went to board the plane in the "B" group, when my boarding pass wasn't read correctly. Now I have to go back to the counter and get a new boarding pass. By the time I get back, I'm one of the last people to board the plane. Ugh. Guaranteed middle seat and trouble finding spot for my bag.

Sure enough, I managed to find a bin that has a small briefcase (why didn't you put that under your seat??), a small little bag and a set of wheels. I stack those one on top of the other. Now I've got just about enough room for my bag but not quite. I pull the other roller out and slide it in sideways and then put my bag up. I go to close it and it doesn't quite close.

"It's not going to close", says the guy sitting there.

I flip my bag around knowing that if I put it in top first (wheels out) it will slide in further.

"That's only going to make it worse....", says this same guy - rather gleefully (Oh, look how smart I am.)

I close the bin and it closes just fine.

"Thanks for your help", I say, gloating.

Rather than make snarky comments, maybe helping would be better.

The Five:

From an idea from Sarah - five spontaneous moments

1. Karin and I flew out to the east coast one year and had planned a little side trip before seeing family. We flew into JFK on the red eye and then drove down to Baltimore as we wanted to see an Orioles game. We got to the hotel but they wouldn't check us in as it was too early. We took a nap in the car, and decided to make the best of the situation - a quick side trip to DC. That was the first time we had ever been there, and even though it was only for a few hours it was amazing.
2. I treasure tranquility at home, and stress out whenever anything disturbs that. Our friend had dropped off his dog and cat to watch for the weekend, and the cat was a handful. Karin told me to just leave for the weekend. I took a road trip out to Phoenix and checked out some of the poker rooms. Just a blast.
3. My baby brother and I did Vegas for New Year's Eve one year on a complete lark. We had no idea what we were going to do when we got there, but we of course had a blast. It's become an annual tradition now.
4. Karin and I didn't know what we wanted to see one night when we were in NYC. There was a guy handing out little slips for [title of show]. We decided to go see it, and as you've read before, it was one of the best shows we've ever seen.
5. This is really Brian being spontaneous more than me, but Brian coming out to visit in Boise was an absolute blast.