The cold from hell

I realized I had a sore throat, at the beginning of January, before we headed out on our road trip back home, but hoped I would fight off whatever I was catching. Nope! The day after we got back, I was hit with the rest of the symptoms, of what I assume is a rotten cold virus. It peaked after a few days, then held steady for over a week, causing me to go through several boxes of tissue, and a lot of cold medications along the way. Only now after four weeks, has it dwindled down to an irritatingly persistent dry cough. Ugh! I hate this. I'm hoping there is good news - with any luck, my immune system has now been well exercised, and is up to full strength!

Christmas trip

The Christmas driving trip to California with my niece went well. It took two 10-hour days on the road, each way. We took I-70 west to I-15 into California on the way out, and I-80 east to I-25 on the way back. It was a big adventure, with sub-freezing temperatures, ice and snow on the roads, several places where chains were required, and one night of heavy snow and near zero visibility, but we got where we were going, which is the most important part. I was glad to have my all-wheel-drive Honda CR-V with all weather tires, so we never had to put on chains. We saw lots of cars spun out into snowdrifts along the road in Nevada and Utah, and realized we were doing something right, or were very lucky, since it never happened to us.

My dog Mandy was a perfect little road traveler as usual. It was really nice, to have her along, and to easily find a pet-friendly hotel at the halfway point each way.

Of course, we had to stop for lunch at the In-N-Out Burger in Barstow, since it is Dorothy's favorite burger place, and I love it too. It's become our regular stop after entering California, when we travel that way.

We spent two weeks at my little sister's house and enjoyed lots of fun activities, including walks in the rain, shopping and eating out together, Marissa's weekly yoga class, and of course Christmas eve dinner at Brighton and Marissa's place.

Brighton and Marissa took Dorothy and me and Mandy for a walk on the coast in San Simeon, to see where they plan to have their wedding next year. It's a beautiful location.

On the way back, we drove up Highway 101 to San Francisco, and met Kristan's brother John and Michelle for lunch at Dorothy's favorite Chinese place, Bow Hon. After lunch, we all went for a short walk around the City, and John gave us a running commentary with some of the history of the area. I really enjoyed that!

We continued on to Vallejo, and visited for a few hours with my  high school girlfriend Kris. She retired from her job at the Alameda County emergency medical services a few years ago, and now is a foster mom for wayward dogs on their way to adoption. We stayed with my old friends Ken and Freddie in Lincoln near Sacramento two nights, before hitting the road for the long trip east over the snowy Sierras, through Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, to Colorado.

Thanksgiving with Sis

Mandy and I flew to Arcata, CA to spend Thanksgiving with my big sis Otamay. Mandy did great on all four flights. We enjoyed lots of rain and cool weather, a nice warm house heated by a wood-fired stove, walks through the neighborhoods and some very pretty local parks, and a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner at her friend Chris' house.

This pic is from our walk through the Arcata Marshland. Nice moist area, and lots of birds everywhere.

This pic is from the day Otamay set us up with massages, and I went for a walk through the Humboldt State University campus, while she was getting hers.

This pic is from one of our walks around the neighborhoods near Otamay's house. Beautiful countryside just a few blocks from her house. A deer was checking us out, as we walked by.

We spent some time relaxing and watching the Horacio Hornblower series, and some movies. Mandy settled right into her spot on the couch next to me.

This pic is from our walk through Hiller Park, on Thanksgiving Day. There's a beautiful view of the Mad River and the Pacific Ocean from the bluff.

This pic is from the 3-day period where Otamay set up a booth at a fair in the Eureka Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, and put her high-fire pottery out for sale. We were the first ones there on the pre-fair setup day, and we were in the small building, so it looks pretty lonely, but it filled up quickly, after everyone else arrived. Otamay is so creative and talented. She had so many beautiful pieces available for sale.

November Visitor

My old friend and neighbor Ken came to visit for a few days. We went on a few of our old breakfast/walk routines. Fun but all-too-short visit! One day we had breakfast at Lucille's Creole Cafe, then walked along the South Platte River.

One day we had breakfast at DW's 280 Diner in Conifer, then walked at Flying J Ranch Open Space Park. That park is so nice.

One day we had breakfast at The Cow, a breakfast/lunch place in Morrison, then walked on the trail from Morrison Park through town to Bear Creek Lake, then returned to The Cow for lunch, after our 6 mile walk, a long one for us!

Disneyland!

Dorothy and I drove to California in late October, with my perfect traveling dog Mandy, to support my nephew Brighton in holding a surprise birthday party for his girlfriend Marissa at Disneyland! Little did we know, he was also planning to propose marriage to her. She accepted! Here's my first pic of our trip, with Mandy resting comfortably in her backseat nest.

On our first driving day, we stopped and used the Glenwood Hot Springs for an hour. What a treat! Then Dorothy found this wonderful local polish restaurant, Polanka, where we had a delicious lunch, served by two very nice cooks. If I had better social skills (ref: Kristan), I'd know if they were also the owners, and the story behind the restaurant. Sigh.

We spent our first night on the road in Cedar City at the La Quinta Inn. Loved it. They were dog-friendly, really nice to talk to, took the reservation while we were driving, and gave us an AARP discount for their last room. Everything was super clean, the bed was comfortable, and even though it's close to the highway, the room was very quiet. Mandy was really happy to be traveling with us. I brought her big fluffy fleece blanket, and she loved cuddling up in it, snug and warm.

The next morning, we got going early, and decided to take a detour through Zion National Park. I've heard so much about it, but had never found the time to tour through there. It really is a beautiful place. And it was pretty fun, to finally get to use the lifetime National Parks pass that the gave me, the last time I went into RMNP. We went completely through the park in both directions, then headed back to I-15 to complete our trip.

We made it through Las Vegas uneventfully, but then Waze started suggesting some very strange and circuitous routes, down through Henderson and Searchlight, which seemed like such a huge detour, that we couldn't bring ourselves to go that way. Then we realized why, as we got stopped on I-15 for over an hour, probably due to an accident ahead. We experienced another long stoppage, and an extended period of very slow speeds, before getting to normal traffic flow somewhere around Zzyzx. So frustrating. But we eventually made it to the California border, and to our highly anticipated dinner stop at In-N-Out Burger in Barstow. Not sure why we like it so much, but it's gotten to be a tradition, to stop at the first one we can find, after crossing the border. Dorothy likes her cheeseburger "animal style" and since we split that meal, I discovered that I like it that way, too!

Dorothy started her night driving shift at Barstow, and unfortunately ran into heavy rain around Bakersfield, but she's a good driver, and handled it just fine. With our detour through Zion and all the delays on I-15, we only got to Atascadero at 11pm. Bob was nice enough to wait up for us, and helped Mandy and I get settled into our room. We injected ourselves into their lives for two weeks, and they were very gracious hosts. I shared coffee and his usual scrambled eggs and salmon breakfast with Bob before his work every morning. We picked up Mikele from her work at Cal Poly, and took her for a birthday lunch at the Apple Farm restaurant in San Luis Obispo. We went for lots of dog walks around the lake at Atascadero Lake Park, and checked out the flamingos and turtles at the Zoo, on our way by. It was nice to see the lake filling up again.

Bob was nice enough to take some time off work to play with me. We ran some errands, like getting Mikele a birthday present of a patio furniture set for their new and beautiful backyard patio. It was fun packing all that furniture carefully into the bed of Bob's pickup, and we were proud that we got it all to fit for a single trip home. We played disc golf at the local Heilmann park, in light rain, and enjoyed every minute. We walked the Avila Beach Bob Jones Trail, and then rushed back in time to pick up Mikele for lunch at Splash Cafe in SLO.

I was very nervous about leaving Mandy at my sister's house, while we drove to Disneyland for two days, but Tim was there to feed her in the mornings and evenings, so I took a deep breath, and off we went. We had a wonderful time! Brighton proposed on Saturday night, and we met them on Sunday morning to celebrate. Marissa was in shock to see all of us greeting her in the morning, but she handled it so well. I enjoyed meeting a bunch of their close friends, and hanging out with Marissa's mom Jodi. Most everyone headed home on Sunday evening or Monday morning, but Bob, Dorothy and I stayed for a day at the California Adventure park, and had a really fun time. We had to leave before the park switched over to their Halloween party mode, but it was fun seeing everyone coming into the park in costume. We grabbed dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory nearby in Fullerton, then hit the road for the four hour drive home, and made it to Atascadero at midnight.

Our drive back was more direct, with fewer traffic jams, just the one in Las Vegas during rush hour. Waze did a pretty good job of routing us around that, through surface streets. Dorothy found us an awesome dinner place in Cedar City, called the Pizza Cart, and a great lunch place in Grand Junction, called Bin 707. We managed to hit a storm that aligned itself along I-70 from Green River all the way to Denver, but all it did was drop some rain on us. All in all, a very pleasant trip.

Kristan's Birthday

What a beautiful sunrise this morning! Kristan would've turned 64 today. I didn't plan any kind of memorial dinner or other get-together this year - not because I didn't want to, but mostly just because I'm feeling overwhelmed by current events. So, I'll just take a moment now, to celebrate the day she was born. She packed so much into her unexpectedly short life. I will always be thankful we found each other.

East Coast Adventure

I flew into Baltimore on Friday, to keep my brother-in-law Bob company over the weekend, after his business trip. The plan was to rent a car, drive to and explore Philadelphia for a day, then drive to New York City to see a musical. It all went swimmingly well!

We found a few nice restaurants in Philadelphia, explored the City Center, peeked in at the Liberty Bell, toured the Ben Franklin Museum, and scored some tickets for a guided tour of Independence Hall, where our country was formed! 

In New York City, we went for a few walks through Central Park - what a gorgeous and well-designed park, with so many interest areas! The park was very quiet in the evening, during our first exploratory walk. I kept remembering scary scenes from various movies, especially poor George Segal in "Where's Poppa?" that I saw so many years ago! But we had no such adventures, thankfully.

We toured the American Museum of Natural History, and walked to Times Square - twice, once with Alicia Keyes singing live, while walking home from seeing The Book of Mormon at the O'Neill theater.

Back in Baltimore before our flights out, we stopped by the Inner Harbor for a couple of hours, and enjoyed the local waterfront points of interest, including a very special short visit on board The Pride of Baltimore II, and a pleasant chat with one of the crew members. One thing I miss about the years I lived in San Diego, was all the sailing I did - crewing, teaching, racing, and day sailing.

We had a lot of fun in a short time. Hurricane Matthew brought us a lot of rain, but we didn't mind much. We had a few driving adventures on and off I-95 and the New Jersey Turnpike, and around New York City in the rain the night we arrived - with the many car, truck, bus, taxi, and pedicab drivers and bicycles, all juggling for position, around the many construction projects, and the many pedestrians!

Places we liked in Philly:
Davios Northern Italian Steakhouse on South 17th St
Green Eggs Cafe on South 13th St

Places we liked in NYC:
Angelo's Pizza on 57th St
Park Cafe on 8th Ave
Amy's Bread on 9th Ave
Applejack Diner on Broadway

September visitor

My big sister just left, after a nice two week visit. She has had low energy for awhile, so we kept it low key and stayed flexible. We went for lots of breakfast / walk outings. We watched the english BroadChurch detective series, and a bunch of movies on Netflix and Amazon. We got out to the theater to watch the latest Star Trek movie. We even got out for a road trip to enjoy Breckenridge for the day, with a breakfast stop in Idaho Springs. We rode the gondola up to the base of the mountain, but realized there were no interesting walking trails, so we spent the rest of the day enjoying the town, having lunch, checking out a few shops, especially the rock shop!

Back from Florida!

I spent last week in Florida with my Dad and Adele. I found a nicely priced Spirit flight, but had inadvertently booked on the redeye, leaving at 11pm and arriving at 5am, ugh. I picked up Dad after I drove up from Ft. Lauderdale in the morning, and took him to Sara's Kitchen, a nice place near him, that I found by looking online. We both liked it. My cousin had also come down from the north to visit with us, and with Uncle Bill's close friends. Dad hosted a special dinner for us visitors, and a few of his closest friends. I didn't get much walking done, as it was either too hot, or raining, or my plans didn't agree with my host's schedule for her security system. My sister asked me to send her some of Dad's etchings, so I spent some time at the UPS store - it's nice that they will pack up artwork safely for a small fee. It was a pleasant enough trip, but I'm glad to be home, where the humidity is a lot lower most of the time.

Devil's Head Lookout

Just finished a fun short hike up to Devil's Head fire lookout station! Such a delightful trail, with lots of shade. There is still lots of debris lying around, from the F1 tornado that came through here last year. Ranger Bill had a little story about his experience during that storm. We saw lots of beautiful wildflowers along the trail. It was nice to see them sprouting up, between all the trees that were felled by the tornado. A small testimony, to the hardiness of nature. 

I used my Theodolite iPhone app, to identify some landmarks off in the distance - Bill thought it was pretty cool. It's kind of the poor man's version of the fancy sighting guide he uses, to spot fires from the lookout station. There are lots of really beautiful large rock formations in this area. Mandy made it all the way up the 150 stairs by herself – albeit with some trepidation and shakiness, after she could see 50 miles between the stairs, toward the top – what a trooper.  

There is a beautiful vista view from up there, of Denver to the north, the front range and plains to the east, the rocky mountains off to the west, Pike's Peak off to the south, and some interesting weather (thunderstorms) moving through our area nearby. We had a pleasant lunch in the meadow below the lookout station, and were visited by a handful of persistent chipmunks.

Demoing St Jo

I know they think of it as signs of progress, and that I'm surely repeating myself, but still, I am so sad, to see the old St Joseph Hospital being demolished, across the street from Hot Cakes Diner. I have so many bittersweet memories of being with Kristan there, for so many different reasons, from big things like open-heart surgery, down to the toe infections.

Here's the view that really tore at my heartstrings. I've walked down that particular hallway so many times…

So many good memories of the lighter moments, and of going out to check on Mandy, bundled up in the car on those subfreezing winter nights, or to take her for a walk around the block at 3am on a balmy summer eve. The end of an era...

Going away party

My coworker and friend John made arrangements for a going-away party. He scheduled it a week after my last day, to avoid conflicting with a bunch of other layoff happy hours. It was nice, to be able to say goodbye to the people who came, that I hadn't made time to see before I left, and to get a few more signatures in my going-away picture book. I asked the waitress to take this picture, of the early-arrivers.

Therese arranged for a delicious cake, with an edible picture on top, of the Juno launch on August 5, 2011 that I supported from our Denver launch support center. The Juno satellite has made a 5 year journey, and is currently making its rendezvous with the planet Jupiter. I'll miss being a part of all the ULA launches, but I'll especially miss those planetary missions, which last so long, and are so exciting to read about.

End of Days

July 14. My last day of work, after 42 years of a full-time software engineering career. As I walk out of my exit interview, which was really just a half hour of out-processing - turning in stuff, and signing a won't-sue clause, in exchange for a promise to be paid a nice severance - I'm thinking...

Free! Or adrift? Time will tell...

Anniversary Dinner

Today's been rougher than usual, and to be honest, the usual day lately is already fairly challenging. I got an email from the Washington Park Grille, offering a free anniversary dessert. Part of me wanted to have cereal for dinner, and curl up in a ball. The Dad in me said, "Free?? Go get it!" And a big part of the rest of me just wanted to get out and do something special in honor of what would've been Kristan's and my 30th wedding anniversary. I'm so sorry/sad we didn't make it to this moment together... But I know she would've loved the Alaskan salmon - it was delicious! The EAP counselor I talked to a couple of weeks ago, reminded me to keep both grieving and mourning, as long as it takes to heal, and tonight I guess I'm doing a lot of both. The Key Lime Pie is also amazing, by the way...

Laid off after 37 years

I am so glad I don't have to be telling Kristan this. After 37 years of amazing experiences with this company, and the really great people I've worked with, I was notified I'm being laid off in two weeks. I had agonized throughout April, over whether or not to volunteer for layoff, and finally decided not to. One of the important factors, was that I realized I was in the group of employees being targeted, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise. But it was still a huge emotional and even physiological shock, to experience the notification personally. I had to avoid coffee for the rest of the day, for fear of over-stressing my fast-beating heart. I doubt I will look for another job, especially considering the circumstances - I'm a well rated software guy turned manager, with a good salary, that will be hard for other companies to match. This feels like the right time to start focusing on having a personal life.

Cherry Creek Farmer's Market

Really enjoyable, beautiful, fun day! Started at Crepes 'N Crepes with my niece Dorothy, had a delicious breakfast -- café lattes, followed by a Florentine crêpe and a chorizo crêpe. Moved on to the Cherry Creek Farmer's Market, and bought Dorothy a bunch of fresh food to take home to her roommates. Walked a couple miles along Cherry Creek in the midday heat, but ended that early, since I'd forgotten to bring water for Mandy. Stopped back at the farmers market, for some cherries and delicious tamales to go. I think K would be proud - I'm actually getting fresh food to take home! :-D Relaxed at home for a little while. Had fresh tamales for lunch. Backed up several mobile devices, including Kristan's old iPhone, and cried over some of the pictures and videos I found there. Watched a corny but fun sci-fi movie called "The Core".  Met up with my neighbors at Chatfield dog park, where our dogs had a wonderful time. Went to dinner at 3 Margaritas, and had a delicious enchilada and taco combo, and yes, a frozen strawberry margarita. Got to bed relatively early, for the first time in a long time.

Bike Race at Denver City Park

We saw bikers, geese, and wolves at City Park today!

The Blue Saints

One of the things I brought back from Dad's, is a 1968 vintage vinyl record album, a recording of The Blue Saints, the explorer post stage band that I belonged to in the mid 60s. We had an amazing adventure during the summer of 1967, when our leader, Dr. Hugh Upton, chartered a bus, and arranged for us to tour across Canada, playing at concerts and dinner dances along the way, to Expo 67 in Montreal, where we played for several days, before returning back through the United States, with one final amazing concert to a large theater full of listeners at BYU in Provo, Utah, before we got home to the bay area. This album, even though I missed the summer of 1968 tour, has a great emotional value to me, because it's what we sounded like, and I'm so happy to have it back in my hands. Now I'm experimenting with my USB turntable and the Audacity software again, for the first time in years, as I attempt to transfer the music from the LP album to digital form, so I can listen to it on my Sonos system or iPhone.

Mold? Allergy? Both?

I got an appointment at my doc's office, to talk about my mold exposure in Florida. They have a new doc working there, and I like her a lot. She was conversant on the mold topic, and the herbal supplements I'm trying. I've got swollen turbinates! Or something like that. And some inflammation in my nose. And probably pneumonitis. Ugh. The good news, is that it might be more about me being allergic to Dad's dust, then any kind of serious mold issue. She prescribed a nasal spray and an antihistamine. She also recommended Chamomile tea with honey. Yum. And told me to use the steam shower. That sounds great. She doesn't have to tell me twice!

Starting supplements

I've decided to start taking some supplements that are supposed to help me deal with a mold infection. I don't know if they will help or not, but I doubt they will hurt. Here is one of the websites I'm using for a reference:

http://m.wikihow.com/Naturally-Recover-from-Toxic-Mold-Exposure

Vacation's over

I took some time off, to be with my sister and her hubby, who came to visit. We had our fun in the Denver area for a week. Then we flew together, to see my dad in Florida. We spent most of our visit, cleaning up his condo, to make it more livable for him. Dad was very gracious, about letting us take his really old electronics to Best Buy for recycling. I was really careful, to make sure there was nothing in those piles he would ever want to use again. I should've been more careful to protect my lungs, because I could smell there was some kind of mold in the air. Now I'm dealing with a lung contamination that's causing me to cough all night, instead of sleeping. If it doesn't get any better soon, I'll be seeking medical attention. The reading I've done indicates that the mainstream medical community hasn't a clue about dealing with mold. So I may be seeking alternative treatment.

Recovering from a bug

I'm finally recovering from some nasty bug that hit me Monday afternoon. Sheesh! Severe chills, headache, dizziness, awful nausea, muddled thinking, low grade fever. Curled up in a ball for 36 hours, and could barely move to take the dog out. Couldn't even think about food or drink. Back to work Wednesday, nausea still lingering, but improving a little each day.

Time to think

For the entire month of April, I get to think about what I want to do with my immediate future. The company has a standing invitation for any of the higher level employees to volunteer for layoff, in exchange for a slightly enhanced layoff benefit. There is a part of me, that wants to jump at the invitation to have so much free time, that I probably wouldn't know what to do with it. But then, there's the other part of me, that loves being a part of building and launching rockets, and wants to stay on board, to continue the regular income, and to help keep the company going in a successful direction. Decisions, decisions...

Awesome day

What a delightful day with my friend Jennefer! The day started with a yummy breakfast at the Cow Eatery, and a long walk through Morrison, then all the way down to Bear Creek Lake and back. We saw lots of birds, and passed a herd of white tailed deer. We had walked over six miles, and we were ready to eat again! We made our way over closer to downtown Denver, and had a delicious lunch at El Noa Noa, on Santa Fe Drive.

Then we headed over to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and watched two IMAX movies. We saw a 3D space documentary, which was very fun and informative, then ran through the Chocolate exhibit, with our free 10 minutes between films, and went into the next movie, about how airplanes have changed our world. That one was narrated by Harrison Ford, and did a really nice job, of showing how the shorter travel times, and better accessibility to remote places, has changed everything.


We weren't ready to end our fun day, so after that, we took a very relaxed evening walk around the lake, snapping pictures of the beautiful post sunset sky, lots of geese, the lake, reflections, the Pavillion lights.






The Pavillion building at the lake - never seen it lighted before - with the American Flag waving beautifully in the lights nearby. 









Pretty moon over the lake, and downtown Denver in the background.








I just loved seeing the lights reflecting on the lake. I've tried achieving this kind of picture by using the watercolor filter in Photoshop, but this one just came out that way on its own. Makes me smile to look at it.





After our walk, we still had energy, and hunger pangs, so we headed off in search of food. We found a great, but very busy, place called Humboldt on 18th Ave, and had a really delicious dinner. I remember taking Dad and Adele there a few years back, when it was called "Strings," and it was great then, but it's even better now.

Omigosh. This day will be hard to beat!