Thursday, April 28, 2005

What to write tonight?

What to write about tonight?

That is a fascinating question for me gentle readers.

My drive into work was a breeze this morning and I have no idea why. It should have been a mess with a heavy overnight rainfall to contend with. I cruised along at freeway speeds all the way to my exit.

The drive home was the usual slows and goes. There was no problem or other troubles.

Maybe the drive home was heavier because the people wanted to get home early so they could catch President Bush's news conference. I was not in that group.

I did plan out how and when the office will observe my birthday in May. Since my birthday is on a Saturday, we can celebrate on any day.

I was thinking about the woman who flirted with me yesterday again today. I wonder if we should invite her to the birthday cake cutting or not. She is fun to be around but I would run the risk of rejection and that would be really bad.

Alertnatively, I could seek out one of my female co-workers who worked with her and learn more about her. That would be safe and I have no bruised ego or feelings. Of course, my interest in her could always get back to her and everything could just blow up in my face.

This is an interesting problem for me.

I'm certain that I can formulate a solution if I just approach this as a simple military task, sort of like following the Principles of War by Sun Tzu or U. S. Grant's Wilderness Campaign of 1864 [you really have to know your history again].

And, no, I was not serving with Grant, contrary to some opinions.

I saw in my online news service that Tom Cruise is dating Katie Holmes. She is about twenty years younger so this sort of lowers the age limit for me and expands my field of choices somewhat. Positive developments for sure.

So gentle readers, I will leave you with my best wishes for a dry, sunny, and warm weekend. I will be back with the weekend update on Sunday.

Be well and stay happy.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Driving to work - Part Dos

Today was a much better day to drive to work gentle readers.

I went to a breakfast meeting and so had to take a different freeway to go to the meeting venue. The different freeway was like night and day compared to my regular one.

The drivers did not use their cellphones. The drivers did not change lanes and weave like rugmakers and when they did change, they changed in an orderly manner.

It was like watching the Scots Guards, Potsdam Guards [you really have to know your history for this one], or the Marine Corps Drill Team [my personal choice] on parade. Everything and car was aligned and perfect. Traffic was actually not painful to be in for a change.

As soon as I returned to the Westside, traffic and driving went to hell in a Prada bag. The crazies were changing lanes without looking out for other drivers. I suppose these crazies are assuming that since they are on the Westside in a big, new, gas hog SUV, everyone will look out for them.

News flash - it don't work that way friends.

Traffic was slow because three crazies had rear ended each other, probably because they were not paying attention to the task at hand or the traffic. No surprises so far. The crazies got out of their crumpled and now formerly shiny new cars and SUVs to exchange information.

Unfortunately, these mental midgets decided to stop their vehicles in traffic instead of moving out of the traffic so the rest of us could get past.

These three crazies were just another dead solid, perfect reason for adding a huge tank car full of chlorine to gene pool so we can clarify the species a bit.

My work day was mostly eating today. I had a breakfast meeting to start the day. It was yummy, hot, and fresh [scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, fruit, o.j., Danish, and coffee]. About an hour after I got back to my office, we had a going away lunch [fruit tray, vegetable tray, deli tray with bread, and yummy cookies] for one of the staffers who is leaving this week.

Burp.

Then, I had my ego massaged nicely when a former worker came to the luncheon and she shamelessly flirted with me all lunch long. If nothing else, this was a real no-calorie, no-fat, no-sodium, no-cholesterol treat for me.

But, then, every guy likes to have an attractive woman flirt with him.

Dinner was a real let down for me. I was alone as usual and I had a dull ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread because I was not very hungry. I did eat healthy so that was a minor plus.

The Big Guy called me this afternoon to tell me that I missed the best of the Super Chocolate Power Hour radio show last night. The radio show is broadcast from Chapman University [http://www.chapman.edu] and is put on by the Big Guy's friends Rob, Derek, and Coulter. You can pick it up by going to the University's web site. They broadcast from 8:00 to 9:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesdays until the end of the semester in late May or early June.

Life happens.

I was busy writing my blog to those few, those happy few, those band of bloggers instead.

Oh well, I am off to do some reading on some new material for my dissertation that I downloaded today.

Be well and stay happy.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Comments

You know, of course, gentle readers, that you can make a comment if you are of a mind to do so. If you find any of my ramblings interesting, amusing, or more fascinating than watching paint dry, please let your friends know of Balancing Checkbooks so they can share the reading enjoyment.

Be well and stay happy.

Driving to work

My drive to work this morning, gentle readers, had all of the precision and order of a cavalry charge mounted on drunken elephants.

It seemed as if other drivers were out to crash into me today. I was nearly run over as I entered the freeway for a starter. This was clearly a sign of things to come for me.

I had gotten on the freeway in good order and was trying to change lanes as the traffic flow slowed down. A driver in a pickup truck was speeding and almost hit me . I saw the truck coming and swerved back into my lane.

The clown in the truck was weaving between lanes like a rug maker. Each effort was but an infantile, pathetic, futile attempt to advance his position in traffic. In the end, the truck was behind me at my exit. The exit is a one lane roadway because of construction. You can be sure I took my sweet time getting off of the freeway.

Just before I managed to safely reach the exit, I was nearly run out of my lane by a maniac who was driving with absolutely no regard for the law. The maniac was merging into my roadway so, under the law and common sense, I had the right of way. I guess I was not driving fast enough for the maniac who had to roar past me on the right hand side, driving over the emergency parking in the process. I think we had less than 12 inches between the two vehicles and one error would have been a disaster for both of us.

Now, I was in, what I thought would be, the relative safety of the surface streets with their much lower speed limits and traffic lights. As usual today, I was wrong again.

The traffic signal had changed to green so we could move forward. I was in one lane and moving out nicely when a large lunch truck pulled out of a side street and cut right in front of me. The truck wallowed through the turn like a wounded whale. I was almost tempted to look for Captan Ahab since it was a large white truck.

The woman driving the lunch truck had no clue how to safely operate the truck or even the barest understanding of the rules of the road and traffic laws of the great state of California. This woman drove as if she owned the road and that I was there at her sufferance.

I have no objection to those that drive fast on the freeways, the Princess and the Girl Friend drive fast all of the time, so long as they drive by the rules. By this, I mean signaling a lane change, or driving with the speed of the traffic flow and not slower or faster, or passing when there is room for both cars and it is safe to do so.

The object lesson from these three events was to make me wish I had a weapon with me. For an instance, I felt like blowing their vehicles to kingdom come. I would have been doing society a major favor by doing so.

My weapon of choice would have been a .50 caliber machine gun with a full nine yards of ammunition in the box. The .50 caliber is an old weapon system from before World War II but it is very effective and would serve my needs completely.

Blam-blam-blam-blam-blam-blam-blam. And people wonder why there is road rage and car to car shootings on the roads in Southern California.

Work was nice today.

A vendor called this morning and invited me to go to a breakfast meeting tomorrow. The free food is yummy in the morning but the drive to get to the meeting site is ugly. The subject matter, business process improvement through technology, sounded interesting for me.

Normally, I would have blown off the meeting because of the short notice. I am going because one of my big bosses thought I should go. Always a compelling point. The other reason is that I can use some of the information in my doctoral dissertation. I can make a connection with another subject matter expert who can probably show me other highly useful data.

Now, is that slick or what?

Anyway, I need to get on with some other things tonight before I make it an early call for lights out.

Be well and stay happy.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Mondays happen

Guess what gentle readers?

Mondays happen.

And so too this Monday happened for me. I can't say that very much happened today for me.

I was productive in the office and almost finished up two projects. I should finish them tomorrow if I can get my hands on an editable copy of a key file that I need. I have a copy, but, since I don't have Adobe Pagemaker on my PC in the office, I can't edit the file .pdf file.

The building next door's renovation is moving along in what seems like fits and starts. It looks like the workers are getting ready to remove the large, roof-top air conditioning units in the next day or so. They spent a good part of the day cutting away at supports and piping.

I was surprised to see one worker digging away at the roof with a pick. I guess he was trying to punch a new set of holes in the roof. That makes no sense to me.

What do I know about construction? Not very much. I do know how to finance construction though.

I found out that one of my peers is leaving the bank at the end of the week. I will miss him and I hope he has a good run at the new location and, as we used to say in the Fleet [U.S. Navy], smooth seas and a following wind.

Life moves on as ever.

I was going to call the Girl Friend today but decided instead to focus on finishing up on the work at hand. I can call her tomorrow and make plans for the weekend. I want to go see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this weekend. The trailers looked interesting and it seems like it ought to be funny.

By the bye gentle readers, it safe for you to post a comment or ask a question. If you do, I will try to answer it in a timely manner. I am off to do some other stuff right now.

Be well and stay happy.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Weekend Update

Hello gentle readers.

I trust you all had a fun and enjoyable weekend. I did.

Just to make you all feel much better, I did not have great beach weather this weekend. It was sunny and windy and cool from the clouds on Saturday so I had to wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt under my sweatshirt when I was out reading. It was not much fun for smoking a cigar in the breeze.

I also did not do an awful lot of things over the weekend.

One of my big projects was cleaning my desk. It was about four years overdue for a general cleaning and discarding of unnecessary junk and stuff that accumulates like weeds. I now have a clean desk.

Excellent.

I also found my old passport that I thought I had lost. Now, I can apply for a new passport, once I get some photos taken of me. I am planning to take some trips overseas and I will need a passport.

I don't plan on leaving the country until 2006. My plans are still up in the air. I could visit China, South Africa, or Europe. The trips to China and South Africa will be killers with a thirteen or fourteen hour non-stop flight ahead of me.

I probably will have either seen the film or saw the film and did not like it. I plan to bring books, lots of big books that will take forever to read.

The Big Guy and I had lunch at Fatburger today. He needed to borrow two of my DVDs, High Noon and Sanjuro so he could study for a final in one of his film classes. I drove out to drove the DVDs off and then we went to lunch.

Normally, we love Fatburger but this time the server did not bring us the correct order. It had been a while since we had eaten at this Fatburger so we should have paid more attention to our order.

The Big Guy thought it might have been a sign for us to cut back on the size of our portions. He could have a point there and we do tend to pick the larger sizes. For my part, I tend to have a lighter breakfast and dinner when we go out for lunch. I think that helps balance out what I eat.

On the subject of food, we also planned our next trip to the Original Tommy's Hamburgers in downtown Los Angeles. This is sort of like a hamburger pilgrimage for us. I think we will be going there over Memorial Day Weekend.

We are also going to Morton's that weekend for the traditional Chuckay Dinner. I will be bringing the Girl Friend to Morton's with me. It will be the first time the Girl Friend and the Big Guy have met. I gave the Big Guy the option of inviting a friend of his like Rob or Evelynn.

If things go badly, I still have the Morton's steak to provide me with complete comfort and sustenance.

The week ahead looks pretty good. The Girl Friend is on the calendar for some up close and personal time on Saturday. That is always very good. I think we will probably go see a movie and then grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Be well and stay happy.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

California to add 12 million more people by 2030

California is projected to add some 12 million people to the state's population by 2030.

GASP.

The increase will bring the overall population to close to 50 million. That, dear readers, is a very sobering prospect.

At first, I figured I would be gone to the promised land or wherever I will end up; but then I realized the population would increase gradually and I would be likely to be here for a good part of the growth.

Oh shit.

My mind raced at all of the possibilities, each one worse than the one before it.

Where will all of these people live? The average rental in Southern California is almost $1,500 a month now and more people will make it only more difficult.

The freeways, and that's almost as big an oxymoron as military intelligence, are crummy right now as it is. With maybe 8 million or more additional cars, there won't be any room for the new cars on the roads. Driving fast will mean speeding along at 20 mph/32 kph instead of the usual 75 mph/120 kph that I can drive at today.

This news almost makes me want to move some place where there is room like Wyoming or Montana or New Mexico or Utah.

With a population of 50 million or so, California will be larger than many countries. Our economy, measured by the state's Gross Domestic Product and if ranked as a nation, would be seventh largest in the world.

Maybe we should secede from the Union. Then, we could make Arnold the Governator our new Presidentator. Scary thought isn't that.

I think I need to go sip some fine single malt Scotch whisky now and chill out. I hope you all have a great weekend gentle readers and I will be back here on Sunday with a weekend update.

Be well and stay happy.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Tsunami Alert - maybe

Hello gentle readers.

I can't tell you how surprised I became over an article on potential future tsunamis in Southern California when I was reading the local newspaper yesterday. I can't tell you how surprised I was because I wasn't very surprised.

The article postulated that Southern California could face a tsunami anytime in the next two or three hundred years. Well, that's a big load off of my mind since I don't think I will be around for all that long and I plan to be buried on higher ground in the desert. Fat chance any sea water would ever reach me.

Then, the big news flash cause of the potential tsunami [drum roll], it's caused by an earthquake.

Wowie kazowie, there's real news.

I mean, it's not like we have never had an earthquake in Southern California before. We are close to a major fault line that is almost 500 miles /800 kilometers long. The last time the San Andreas Fault popped a big one; it leveled San Francisco in 1908 [I think] with a 9.0+ on the Richter Scale.

It seems I live at the beach [but you knew that]. I am close to a underwater canyon that could collapse in a major earthquake. The collapse would cause a small tsunami wave to hit the beach communities where I live. Fortunately for me, I wisely decided to not live right on the beach. I live at the top of a hill about 3/4 mile / 1 kilometer from the ocean. That 200 feet / 60 meter elevation should keep me high and dry.

So, I am pretty safe unless I happen to be down by the ocean at Fatburger picking up a couple of Fat Cheeseburgers and Fat Fries. In that case, I'll just grab the hot, blonde, counter person/shift leader with the bright red lipstick and give her a big hug and kiss goodbye as I suck down the burgers. An excellent way to go out.

Earthquakes happen here and it is a price we pay to live in Southern California. Where else will you see young women roller blading in booty shorts and tee shirts on New Year's Day in the northern hemisphere?

Besides, I have my earthquake supplies on hand and I can last for several days. The menu is not the greatest but it is food after a fashion. I have a current supply of cigars on hand.

Of course, I would probably be cut off from the Internet so that would mean a temporary suspension of the bogs. That would be really sad for me.

I am off to recheck the expiration dates on my cans for food now.

Be well and stay happy.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Stupid Pigeons - Part Dos and Other Events

Hello gentle readers.

I have some updates on previous subjects of the old blog for you edification and gratification.

It looks like the building maintenance guy got to the pigeons and cleaned out their nest yesterday. It was gone this morning went I left for work. I hope they had not progressed to the point where there were eggs in the nest.

Oh the plus side, there is little likelihood of any more pigeon poop on my car and on the car park floor where it can get picked up on my shoes and tracked into the place.

I did see one of the pigeons in the car park when I came home tonight. I suppose it will leave sooner or later.

I think I mentioned the building next to my office building that is undergoing a total renovation. I had commented that it was a semi-unique building in Los Angeles, if that is possible in this land of plastic and paste. The building had a unique random geometric design that wrapped around the middle floor.

I was bothered by the fact the workers had carelessly knocked out two panels so they could dump the debris out into the parking lot below. The design was largely a mosaic pattern of individual tiles or stones so it would be close to impossible to match when the renovation was completed.

I don't have to worry about that issue anymore. Last week, while I was off at the beach, gazing at hot young women in belly shirts and booty shorts and wearing bad tats, the workers at the renovation knocked the entire design off of the building so there is nothing to match anymore. It is all so much colored rubble now.

The building has lost its uniqueness now. It is just a forty-five year old, three story building. Sort of plain and simple, like much of Southern California architecture today; I think the building's soul must be wandering in building purgatory now.

Maybe it will have a spectacular rebirth in a couple of months. I will keep you all close to the building architectural loop.

The office seemed quite today and more organized or, just possibly, I was busy with a project that has a short deadline. I seem to work well in this type of an environment with a fair amount of pressure to finish the project quickly.

Anyway, I feel good and the Laker's basketball season has mercifully come to a fitful conclusion. Only four and half months until the NFL is back on television.

On the subject of sports, I want to give a shout out to Arsenal for making it into the FA Cup [Premiereship League soccer finals] in England. The final match should be a good one against Manchester United.

On a related and passing note, I wonder what will happen to Manchester U if American Malcolm Glazer goes ahead with his plans to purchase the club. I should ask a proper English sports fan I suppose if I want a good answer.

Moving along with the blog, it looks like I should be off doing something useful and productive now. I do consider this useful and productive but others could argue it isn't.

So gentle readers, be well and stay happy.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Stupid Pigeons

Hello gentle readers.

I hope your Monday was excellent for you. My Monday was the first day back from vacation Monday so you just know how well that went for me.

I live in a building where the car park is on the first two floors. The space where I park my cars is on the floor with the largest amount of exposed pipes. The pipe layout is full of bends and turns and joints. A couple of pigeons are trying to make it their home during breeding season.

This morning, I came out to my car, clicked off the alarm and got in. I looked out over my hood as I turned the engine over. There were the pigeons sitting on my hood close to the wind shield. I assume the pigeons were having just a fine pigeon chit chat as I drove out of the building and headed off to work.

One pigeon flew off as I began to accelerate away from my building. The second bird just turned into the created wind and spread its wings. It stayed on my hood for maybe a quarter mile until I made a turn and then picked up speed. Finally, at about 40 mph or 65 kph, the lift generated by the wind from the car's movement caused the pigeon to lift off involuntarily.

I don't think it was ready for lift-off because it sort of wobbled off and over my car. At least neither pigeon pooped on my car. At times like this, I could develop a real fondness for a hungry cat or two.

When I got into to work today, I had a couple of voice messages from Friday and a little under 30 emails to go through.

Most of my day was spent on the telephone. One of the big topics of the day was how does it feel to be back at work from vacation. That sort of struck me as being a silly question; everyone seems to feel crummy coming back to work from vacation unless you have the relationship partner from Hell or demonically possessed children. Then, work may seem like a sanctuary.

I had a favorable reaction to shaving off my moustache from the office staff today. The Girl Friend was puzzled at first when she saw the missing moustache but quickly accepted the new look. She said she liked me either way.

My drive home tonight was near legendary. I left the office about a half hour later than normal [because of phone calls] and yet I got home in just under an hour. This has been my personal best drive home time yet. I just wonder if traffic was light or if everything was going my way and The Force was with me tonight.

Oh well, I won't worry much about why I got home sooner than I thought I would. I will accept the results and go with the flow.

I got an email today from the Princess saying she was coming home on vacation in July for eight to ten days, depending on when she can get out of Atlanta. I know I will see her when I pick her up at the airport and when I take to the airport at the end of her stay here.

I mentioned the Princess' visit to the Big Guy when he called to tell me about his latest examination grade from college. He is doing extremely well and getting excellent grades. I suggested to him that he has about two months to help clean up his sister's room at his house. I don't think that was what he wanted to hear from me.


It looks like now is a good time to call today's blog to close.

Be well and stay happy.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Belly Shirts and Booty Shorts and Bad Tats - the Weekend Update

Hello bloggers.

I have been off on my Spring Break and now I am ready to return to blogging on a regular basis and even doing some work.

It was last week, Thursday actually, when I reaffirmed my decision to live in Southern California and to live at the beach. I went to my home version of the coffee store I visit every day at work. Since I had no reason to be anywhere soon, I took my daily paper with me so I could drink my coffee while I read the newspaper.

I was just finishing up reading the sports section when a young, tall, tanned, and blonde woman entered the store. She was wearing a red cotton belly shirt that stopped about four inches above her navel, she wore a silver navel ring as well. She had no visible extra poundage anywhere. Since it was cool, she was showing that she was not wearing a bra. It was obvious because she jiggled when she walked in her high heel sandals.

Her booty shorts were low cut to start with and barely covered her butt. Actually, it looked like the last inch or so of her butt escaped being covered by the shorts. Life was very good, more like excellent, for your humble writer.

I noticed she was wearing a rock big enough to choke a small dog on the third finger of her left hand. It started me wondering how her husband felt or would feel if he knew that she went out dressed like that.

Then, I mentally shrugged and went on with the business section of the newspaper. I had enough excitement for the day so far.

I had lunch on Thursday with a former co-worker at his new job. The main reason I met him for lunch was that he was working out at the beach and it was a short drive for me into his new office.

We had a pleasant time. The restaurant we went to had a really hot, blonde hostess that stopped by our table all during lunch. I am fairly certain she was not stopping by the table because of me; I am old enough to be her father. I think my friend will do well in the new job. He will have to learn the new company's culture and processes. But, once he figures that out, he should do very well there. He will be making a step up in the organizational food chain at the new job since it is at a larger company than the one we both worked at.

Anyway, Thursday was a day for blondes it seems.

Friday was car trouble day. I have two cars but can only drive one at a time. I prefer to drive my Honda Prelude instead of my Nissan Pathfinder. My preference is now supported by the sound economics of the Honda's very superior gas mileage. I decided to take the Pathfinder when I went out to see the Big Guy for lunch.

The Pathfinder wouldn't start so I had to call the Auto Club to jump start a dead battery. I settled in for a wait after I made the phone call.

The tow truck came in about 15 minutes and it was operated by a young, slender, single [no wedding ring present], woman with short brown hair. She was more my type; I prefer brunettes actually.

I had actually entertained the idea of asking what she did when she wasn't towing cars until she took off her jacket. She had tattoos on the length of both arms and I would assume on other places as well. I don't mind the minor tats like a butterfly or heart young women seem to have now. I just draw the line when the tats go much beyond that.

Needless to say, I have absolutely no idea what she does when she isn't running a tow truck. Maybe she gets more tattoos.

The drive out to pick up the Big Guy for lunch and then to luncheon venue fully charged my Pathfinder's battery.

We ate at the Original Tommy's Hamburgers in Westminster. It is a form of burger heaven for us. Doug had a triple chili cheeseburger with chili fries and a large drink. I exercised an element of restraint with a double chili cheeseburger with chili fries and a medium drink. It was wonderful.

Then, we boggied off to DVDPlanet.com, which is a real DVD store, to buy some more DVDs.I picked up four DVDs including The Adventures of Robin Hood, Bad Education, and The Blind Swordsman Zatoichi. A rather eclectic collection of DVDs but it fits into my overall scheme of building a DVD collection that the Big Guy and the Princess can argue over after I am gone.

Saturday and Sunday were loafing days. I did some laundry and some cleaning around the house. I also smoked a cigar on each day as I read out on my balcony. I closed the sliding glass door to the balcony to keep the cigar smoke out. I might smoke inside if I was laying tile, painting, or hanging wall paper.

Let the different smells fight it for air superiority.

I got an email notice from the University of Utah that the 2004 Tositos Fiesta Bowl game where Utah crushed Pittsburgh was available on a commercial free DVD. I ordered a copy of the DVD for the Princess along with a new red, Utah tee shirt to view the game more comfortably.

So, there you have the second half of my Spring Break. Tomorrow brings a return to the usual grind. It will be interesting to see what has happened in the week I have been gone.

And I leave you, gentle readers, with my be well and stay happy closing.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Spring Break Update

It's still Spring Break for me in Southern California.

Well bloggers and gentle readers, this is my first Spring Break Update. So far, Spring Break has been very good for me.

I haven't shaved since Saturday when I was out with the Girl Friend. I will shave tomorrow because I am getting on the nasty side plus I am going out to lunch with a former co-worker from my current employer. Since we will be eating at the beach somewhere, I can leave the formal business clothes at home on the hangers.

Monday was a hair cut day for me. I went to see my stylist Michelle because my hair was getting long, well long for me, plus I had my close-up, as it were, with my extra role. I also like going to see her because she likes to run her fingers through my hair.

I had Michelle shave off my moustache. She did so with some reluctance. I don't see why she was so concerned about shaving it off; I can always grow it back in a month or so. Besides, Michelle says I look younger with it off. I agree with her.

I have noticed that she is very selective in whose hair she runs her fingers. I consider myself lucky.

Michelle would be a close to perfect girl friend except for the fact that she is very young for me, in her twenties, and wants to have babies. I don't want to have any more babies around unless they can be quickly handed off to their parents.

Babies are great and I think everyone should experience the joys of raising children. In my case, I have already experienced all of joys and other times twice with the Princess and the Big Guy. Changing used diapers doesn't get any better the second time or with the second child.

I have been working on my dissertation and this is no fun at all. I have managed to write about 15 pages so far and I am pleased with those results. I did spend some time on organizing the next chapter so hopefully that section will go better than the current one.

I went to the cinema yesterday. I saw two films, Sahara and Sin City.

Sahara is a POS film and I do not mean Point of Sale. I should point out that I am a really big Clive Cussler fan and have read all of the Dirk Pitt books along with the others he has written. Anyone who has followed Dirk Pitt will be sorely disappointed with this waste of celluloid.

There are major gaps in the plot line here. For example, the three actors are seen boarding a train from camels as it heads towards the evil chemical plant. The next thing, they are deep within the plant and there is no explanation of how they got there.

Maybe Scottie beamed them in?

Even seeing Penelope Cruz in a bikini just before the closing credits was not enough to save the film for me.

The Big Guy thought the only reason this film was made was so that Matthew McConaughey could play a "stoner Indiana Jones." After sitting through the film, I think he is right.

The other film was Sin City and it was one of those epic films that grabs ahold of you for the full showing. It is definitely worth seeing more than once. I think I may go catch it again this weekend. I had thought about seeing the new Woodie Allen film, Melinda and Melinda, but now I think I will pass on Woodie and go see Sin City again, it's just that great.

Since I am in Southern California and it is Spring Break for me, I think I will go head out to the balcony and smoke a cigar while I read something relaxing.

Be well and stay happy.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Reminder

Hola blogistas.

It is I, your duty scribe, with a Blog Spring Break reminder.

I'm on Blog Spring Break. That means don't look for some new half witty posting each night. I don't want you to be disappointed by popping in here and seeing nothing new.

My one big event for today was seeing the Bollywood film, Bride and Prejudice. Once you get used to big song and dance production numbers breaking out for no apparent reason, this is really a nice, PG rated film to see. The plot line is predictable and the dumb, clueless American manages to save the day, resuce the damsel in distress, and get married to the hottie in the last reel. Busby Berkeley would be proud.

Be well and stay happy.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Weekend Update

Hello gentle readers.

I know I used this topic title before but it works so well for the posting. I do put the posting up at the end of the weekend and it does contain a review of what I did over the last couple of days. I think the "Weekend Update" will become a regular feature of the Balancing Checkbooks weblog.

Mostly on Friday night, I slept. I had an early wake-up so I could make the 6:30 AM Saturday call for the student film I was playing an extra in.

I made it to the location in good time for my close-up. Actually, there was no close up. That was fine with me. I had seriously bloodshot eyes from waking up at 4:00 AM. That, plus driving into the rising sun did not make things any better for me.

It seems that there is a lot of standing around in movie making. One of the big activities among the crew was betting on who would show up on time and who would not. I'm not sure who was the big winner in the betting pool.

My role was that of an older mall walker. The Big Guy had suggested I dress somewhat extremely to accentuate the older person caricature. I ended up in pink shirt and gray sweatpants. I affected a limp and walked with a cane to look more authentic. For the record, I do not have a limp and I do not need a cane. It is an antique cane that was my great grandfaher's I think. After I finished my appearance, I drove home.

While we were killing time, I did find out that the Big Guy missed out on a shooting session on Friday that featured Vanessa, the better of the two actresses in the film. The sound guy for the film said she was wearing booty shorts in the scenes.

After I asked the Big Guy what booty shorts were, I said, "Ahhhh...too bad I missed those scenes as well." Vanessa is majorly hot according to the almost all male crew.

I would tend to agree with them. I am older but not so old that I do not appreciate an attractive female of any age.

When I finished my breakfast at home, I checked my email. I had one from my friend Mad Max. Mad Max has been an Internet friend since the mid-1990s. We met on a film bulletin board that was run by Empire, an English film and entertainment magazine.

The Big Guy and I were the only regular Americans in the bulletin board. We both got booted off the board for a week for unBritish comments. I think it was the Big Guy's comment that "you [the UK] would all be speaking German now if it wasn't for us," in response to some cheap shot comment about the film Independence Day.

For the record, the Big Guy and I are both proud to be Americans.

More to the point, Mad Max and some of his friends have organized a web site, http://www.foureightfours.co.uk that is devoted to the cinema and film criticism. I visited the site and it looks interesting. So, here is a big Southern California shout out to Mad Max.

I watched Kurosawa's late masterpiece Kagamusha after my lunch on Saturday. This is a brilliant samurai film that ranks in my mind as being one of the very best if not the best. The thing that made the film even more enjoyable for me was that I had a good understanding of the historical context. The film takes place just before the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate in about 1600. Kagamusha also takes place at the same time as my current Korean historical drama serial, The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin.

Saturday was going to the theater with the Girl Friend night. She picked up the tab for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Bistro 45, in Pasadena. We went there because the theater is in Pasadena, convenient as well. Bistro 45 is one of those California French fusion restaurants. the food was really good and filing. The Girl Friend surprised me by picking up part of her dessert and eating with her fingers. She is usually so proper.

Moving on the play.

We saw the Pulitzer Prize winning play, Doubt. It won the Prize just this month. It is a one act play with only four characters. It revolves around a nun who is a middle school principal. The nun suspects the priest is involved with an improper relationship with one of the eighth grade boys. All she has to do is confirm her doubts.

Set in the early 1960s, the nun faces a dauntless task and is forced to enlist the aid of a very young and innocent nun. The nun is successful in the end but loses the battle to the Church when the priest is transferred to another school and parish.

The play is well worth seeing and it does raise some serious questions about how the Church has handled this problem and the problem's imapct on others invloved with it.

I was starting to drag from lack of sleep when I took the Girl Friend back to her house. By now, I had been up for almost twenty hours. The Girl Friend wanted to talk about serious questions that I had [a] no knowledge of and [b] no interest in discussing.

This was not what she had in mind. She also did not plan on me going home as early as I did.

Oh well, life happens.

And, I was really tired when I got home around 1:00 AM. I slept until almost 9:00 and felt much better for the extra hour or two in bed.

Sunday was a day for blobbing around. I wrote a couple of letters today and did some reading. I also spoke with the Big Guy. He called to tell me he had received his grade in his "New Asian Cinema" class mid-term examination. He was one of six students that received A's; about 20 students failed the mid-term. Dad was very pleased.

Oh yes, for the record, I do write letters.

I don't write with a fountain pen anymore because my handwriting is getting on the unreadable side now. Sometimes even I have trouble reading what I have written. Now, I just print it out and mail it in the snail mail.

I know that sounds so 20th Century but it is something I do when I want to make a clear impression of the recipient of the letter. Hopefully for me, I will make a favorable impression.

I trust you , gentle readers, had a good weekend. It was a wonderful Southern California weekend at the beach where I live; warm and sunny and breezy.

Someone has to live at the beach and that might as well be me.

Be well and stay happy.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

It's almost Friday

Hello gentle readers.

Today was Thursday and now it is almost over. This is good.

I spent most of my day in the office getting ready to go on vacation next week. I was cleaning up little nagging odds and ends today. I sent out an email notice to those I work with regularly so they wouldn't send me emails or leave less than cryptic voice mail messages for when I return to work.

My vacation is no big deal. I will be at home and I will be working on writing for my doctoral disseration. I won't bore you with the subject except to say that I find the topic fascinating. I hope my dissertation committee will agree with me on this count.

Since I am going to be writing all day long, I do not see myself as coming in here and tossing out more blog postings. I expect to make a posting or two but nothing anywhere near my regularly posting volumes.

The Big Guy would say that I have gone on hiatus with my blog for a week and that you will just have to hunt around in the archives to make up your own personal "best of Balancing Checkbooks" list. I think my March Madness related postings are particularly good.

On Saturday, I am playing the part of an "old mall walker" in a student film by Robin Brown. The company has a 6:30 AM call at a mall in Orange County. I will be getting up at 4:30 so I can be there on time and not kill myself getting there. The Big Guy called to tell me there was a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at the mall. Coffee Bean is where I go for coffee everyday at work. This was major pick-up for me.

Obviously, I will be in bed early on Friday night.

I need to take care of some things around here so I go do some useful and productive activities now.

Be well and stay happy.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Missed You Last Night

Hola blogistas.

I really was going to post last night but my life interferred. My life got a red card for being too complicated.

In truth, I did not get home from a meeting in San Diego until almost 8:00 PM. It took just over 3 and 1/2 hours to cover about 112 miles or 180 kilometers. Anyway you calculate my speed over the ground, I was not going very fast. Then, I had dinner and cleaned up afterwards. By now, it was well after 8:30 and bed looked really good to me.

On a side note, my meeting went well for me.

My drive to the meeting was exciting. One of our famous Southern California high speed freeway chases went right past me. I was driving along, minding my own business and talking on the cellphone with the Big Guy about DVD releases for Tuesday and a suggestion to pick up Sideways. I had planned to buy it already.

Then, chaos broke loose. The crazy driver went past me in the next lane over and all I could see in my rear view mirror was a horde of black and white CHP cars with their lights flashing and sirens wailing in pursuit.

It looked like a cavarly charge scene from a John Ford Western film starring John Wayne.

For a moment, I did not know what to do since this eventuality was never part of my drive training. We didn't have high speed freeway chases when I learned to drive. I couldn't move out of the way to the right since there was traffic there. Moving to the left and into the path of the crazy driver was out of the question. Slowing down did not strike me as being a good decision so I merely kept up my speed until the chase roared away.

On the plus side, I knew I could drive well over the speed limit since all of the Highway Patrol officers on duty in this part of the State were involved with the chase. So I was cruising along at 70 to 75 miles an hour for the next thirty miles. That was sweet.

I asked the Big Guy what to do in this situation. He didn't know beacuse it was not covered when he took driver's training.

This does give me the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the Hot Police Chick who lives in my building. You know, something like this, "Ummmm, what do you do when a high speed pursuit overtakes you on the freeway?"

The Girl Friend and I are going to the theater on Saturday. I found out what the play is about. When you have season tickets, you sort of lose interest in the play schedule. The play is called Doubt. The main character is a nun who teaches eight grade in a parochial middle school and has to confront her fears that one of the priests at the school in molesting a student or students. This is not a happy topic for sure. The play is a new one and it just won a Pultizer Prize this year. I have no idea what the category was.

Oh yeah, the Girl Friend is taking me out to dinner and I get to pick a place to dine since I know the area where the theater is located.

The last two mornings my drive into the office have been epic. The total time was only 40 minutes and that is borderline unreal.

The drive home has crummy but it was warm enough for me to pop open the sun roof and drive with the wind in my hair. This is why I live at the beach in Southern California.

I need to go pay some bills and other less than fun expenses now.

Be well and stay happy.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Milestone Day

Hello gentle readers.

Today was a milestone day for me.

SETI
I am a participant in the Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence [SETI] Project. I donate my personal computer slack time so that the Project can scan and analyze deep space radio signals. My personal search crossed the 700 searches marker this morning and I have used over 14,000 hours of time.

I would encourage those of you out there that have high speed connections to participate in SETI or one of the other worthwhile search projects.

Restaurant Review Update
Those of you who read last night's Weekend Update blog had the opportunity to read my comments on our [the Girl Friend and me] dinner experience at a new restaurant [Villa Sorriso] for us. I felt it was a disppointment but allowed that the restaurant might be new and was still getting itself organized.

In the interest of good blog journalism, I called the Villa Sorriso and asked how long it had been in operation. The hostess said almost a year.

That means my belief that the experience was poor was right on, dead-solid, correct.

I promptly deleted any reference to it in my PDA and I recycled their business card. I will consume their wooden matches in due course over the Summer when I am out on my balcony , smoking cigars.

Other Stuff and Events
My work day seemed to go bye fairly fast for some reason for a change. I guess I was busy with what I had to accomplish today.

I had thought that driving after the start of Daylight Savings Time would be a mess. Tonight, it was easy and I got home earlier than normal for a regular Monday. Maybe tomorrow will be crummy as usual.

I am certainly happy that I drive a thrifty, economical Honda Prelude instead of one of those gas hog SUVs. I checked my milegage today and I was averaging around 25 to 27 mpg even in highway and city traffic. With mid-grade gasoline at $2.69 a gallon, the Prelude looks even better.

In case you hadn't noticed, it is Girl Scout Cookie season. I had been nailed when I went to my local market the two prior Saturdays. It is hard to turn the Girl Scouts down when you come out of the market with a shopping cart of food.

I didn't want the cookies because of the sugar and other less than ideal foods. But, I bought a couple of boxes each time. I tossed the boxes to the administrative staffers at work. I think they liked the cookies although I am not certain. It was hard to tell if they liked the cookies over the feeding frenzy sounds.

I did this week's food marketing on my way home. Guess what, there were no Girl Scouts around when I shopped so I avoided the buying pressures.

Slick.

I was going to talk about some other thoughts that I had but they seem really dull and unimportant now. On the plus side, you get to read a shorter blog.

Be well and stay happy.

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Weekend Update

No, gentle readers, this is not Saturday Night Live.

This is my recap of the good, the bad ,and the ugly of the weekend.

The Good
It was a very good weekend for me. I got to spend some quality, up close and personal time with the Girl Friend for about half of Saturday, an excellent way to spend time.

We went to the Asia Pacific Musuem in Pasadena as she had suggested. The Japanese sword making exhibit was a killer and one that was definitely worth the walk about. I learned a great deal about sword making and how it fits into the Japanese culture. For those of you that are in Southern California, I would highly recommend it. You will have to hurry since the exhibit is closing soon.

I had planned to have dinner at a seafood restaurant in Old Town Pasadena. When we got there, we discovered it had closed and a new one had opened in its place. We decided to be adventurous and try the new one.

The new restaurant is called Villa Sorriso. It styles itself as an Italian seafood restaurant. There is a good selection of salads, pasta. and seafood, all a la carte. The Girl Friend had scallops with a mushroom rissotto. She said she enjoyed her dinner, she cleaned her plate so it must have been good. I had seared Ahi tuna and steamed vegetables.

The Bad
I was disappointed with the overall outcome of the meal. The wait staffer was less than attentive when taking our order. I asked for a bowl of soup and got a cup of soup instead. I asked for four scoops of chocolate gelato for dessert and only ended up with two. That was a major, if not fatal, flaw for me. Those of you who know will understand. It also seemed as if there were not enough wait staff on hand for dinner. This struck me as being odd since it was Saturday night.

The Ugly
The biggest disappointment was that my meal was on the cool side, almost cold actually. The dinner plate was hot to the touch but the food was cool and cooling off rapidly. Cool is just fine for gelato but not the main course.

Of course, it is possible the restaurant is newly opened and is still finding its way around. I should have asked about that on Saturday. Oh well, unasked questions happen.

The Other Stuff
We did walk around for a while in the area. I can remember when Old Town Pasadena was borderline funky with an odd collection of small shops in a neighborhood that was in transition. Now, it is all yuppified with Gap, Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, and a host of other major retailers with outlets in the district.

I think the district has lost some of its charm.

Saturday was a day I was supposed to be able to sleep in on. Could I do that? No way, I was up at my usual time. Sunday was a little better but that was because I did not get home on Saturday until 1:30 AM and so sleeping in was easier for me.

Today, I went out to see my favorite son and drop off some material for him. We went to In-n-Out for hamburgers. I had a double, double cheesburger [two beef patties and two slices of cheese and one bun], fries,and a Coke. The Big Guy had a 3x3 [three hambuger patties and three cheese slices] protien style [no bun], a Spirite, and fries animal style [grilled onions, cheese, and 1000 Island dresssing on them].

Burp.

It was so tasty and filling.

It was sort of sunny this afternoon when I got home from seeing the Big Guy so I went out on my balcony to read the currrent issue of Business Week and smoke a cigar the Girl Friend gave me. The cigar was a Monte Cristo and really excellent. I enjoyed myself this afternoon.

On my way home from the Big Guy's, I stopped off at DVDPlanet.com and picked up a copy of the Throne of Blood. This is Kurosawa's version of Macbeth and it was done very, very well.

The Younger Brother [only brother] called me while I was out last night. He was having trouble with a recipe of mine. He asked me to call him if I got in before dinner time. When I caught up with him tonight, the recipe had gone well and his wife, who is not fond of fish at all, even liked the scallops. I felt pleased with myself for sharing it with him.

This about covers things for me. I hope you all had a great weekend like I did.

Be well and stay happy.

Friday, April 01, 2005

Last Night

Hello again gentle readers.

I wasn't here for my usual Thursday night posting.

Did you miss me by any chance?

I have a really good excuse for not being here. I was about 1/2 or maybe 3/4 of the way home when I remembered that I had not secured my office for the night. Banks are terribly kean on protecting information.

So, I got off of the freeway and went back to the office to lock things up. Nothing had happened. I suppose I could have just continued on home and hoped that nothing did happen. But, I was the good duty banker centurion and secured my office for the night.

By the time I got home finally, it was around 8:30 PM and I was exhausted. I decided to take a hot shower and then crawl in bed for a long restful sleep instead of regalling you gentle readers with my endeavors for the day.

For the record, in case you are wondering, I did lock up my office tonight before I bailed out and headed on home.

The Big Guy called me this afternoon after he had seen the new film, Sin City. He kind of liked it and kind of not liked it. I think it depended on the scenes and the characters from his comments. The big takeaways from the call were [1] to see the film with digital projection and that [2] Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis were not that exciting but [3] Mickey Rourke was brilliant. I think I may go see that film next weekend.

The Girl Friend called about our plans for Saturday. She wanted to remind me of an intersting museum exhibition at the Asian Pacific Museum in Pasadena [where the Rose Bowl and Tournament of Roses Parade are]. It is an exhibition of Japanese swords made by one of the last masters of the art form.

This is an intrguing option for me.

I do love Kurosawa films; I will be picking up his film, Kagamusha this weekend. Doug and I did enjoy Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2, Hero, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I have been reading about Asia lately including a fair amount about the Meiji Restoration Period and the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

I mentioned the exhibition to Doug. He did allow that the museum was on the approved museum list from his art professor. He was unsure if the sword exhibit was really art. I pointed out that these swords are selling for upwards of $35,000 each and the master can only make three swords a year. I said that takes them out of the weapons classification.

If you want to hack your enemy to death or do serious bodily injury, you can always go out and get a cheaper Korean knock-off. Better yet, use a chain saw made in China that you bought at Wal Mart and then toss the body in a wood chipper instead of the sword. You won't have to strain yourself so much.

The Big Guy and I are going to get together on Sunday for lunch at In-n-Out Hamburgers. I really like going there and I have not been to one since New Years Day. While I am out seeing the Big Guy, I will also hit up my favorite DVD store that is just off of the freeway and hardly out of my way.

That makes it a double play and that is all good.

So with this gentle readers, I am off line until Sunday sometime. I hope you all have or had an enjoyable weekend.

Be well and stay happy.