Friday Five

The Week

Strange things this week. Not only did I go somewhere new, I didn’t board a plane to get there. This week I got to visit Apple Valley.

That’s Apple Valley, CA for all of my Minnesota readers. And trust me – there’s a lot less green and a lot more sand in the Apple Valley in California, although no less apple logos everywhere. Small desert towns are certainly not known for excitement, and this place was no exception. Although there was an Oggi’s out there, which at least gave me a small taste of home.

The Travel Note

As I mentioned above I didn’t have to board a plane, instead driving up there. My nearly 4 year old Miata now has 16,000 miles on it. You read that correctly.

The only issue I ran into was driving through the Los Angeles area and dealing with traffic. Fighting traffic while driving stick makes for a sore thigh.

The Restaurant

Not really a high class place, but Oggi’s is one of my favorites. It’s a San Diego born chain that’s expanded quite a bit over the last few years, boasting over 17 locations. They do very good (if not great) microbrew beer, and their pizza is nothing to sneeze at. On top of that, they feature a great collection of salads^[1], which is a nice change of pace. The one in Apple Valley was new, had their usual selection of beers (although they did have a couple of yellow fizz taps, which disappointed me), and a very friendly barstaff. Don’t know that I want to go back to Apple Valley any time soon, but if I do I know where I’m going.

The Five

Didn’t have much in the way of ideas, so I’m going to The Friday Five for questions this week.

1. What is your favorite book and why?
   High Fidelity, without question. It’s dating from a guy’s perspective. It’s absolutely spot on – Rob (the protagonist) is everyman.
2. How many languages do you speak?
   3 fluently – English, C# and SQL
3. How many family members are named Bill, Jim, etc?
   None, really. In our family it was always your full given name – Christopher, not Chris.
4. What’s your all time favorite song?
   A Letter to Elise by The Cure
5. What can’t you image your life without?
   Karin. Yes, it’s sappy. But it’s true.

^[1] Yes, I highlighted salads. I’m trying to eat healthy. It’s working.