Rest In Peace, Ace

Ace, our dog of almost 13 years, was laid to rest on Friday March 21st, 2008. He leaves behind a family that misses him terribly.

I've mentioned Ace in several of my posts, and if you have ever been to my house over the last 13 years, you have certainly met him. He was a large and friendly dog that my wife and I picked out from the local animal shelter approximately one year before our first child was born. It turns out that his other siblings were not able to be adopted, as all of them were sick. We were lucky that we picked him out of the litter before the vet had a chance to look at him.

During the early years of his life, he provided my wife with both companionship and security as our children were born. She wasn't ever worried about being home alone while I was at work, so long as Ace was around. Later on, he was a friend and protector of our children.

During his last year of life, we saw his health steadily decline. His hearing deteriorated quite a bit, and his bouts of nervousness increased. Near the end, he had an eye infection in his left eye that he just couldn't seem to shake off, despite medication. His appetite was a mere fraction of what it used to be. Finally, he lost his footing with his rear legs and hips, and went to the floor. After attempting to get him up and mobile that day, and after several trips to the vet over the previous two weeks, my wife and I decided that it was time to let Ace go.

I have never owned a dog from puppyhood through death, so taking him to the vet on his last day was a new experience for me, and for my kids. The vet and techs were very understanding and helpful. It took four of them to get Ace out of the car and onto a stretcher, such was his lack of mobility. He never made a peep, and seemed content and ready.

After we said our goodbyes to him, I held him as they injected him with the sedatives that would release him. I can only hope he understood how much all of us loved him.

The old cliche goes, "you don't know what you've got until it's gone". I find myself "seeing" him out of the corner of my eye sometimes, only to realize upon further inspection that it was a blanket or shadow. I have to battle to not leave the back door open for him, and still expect to see him first when I come home from work in the afternoon (he was always the first to greet me). I miss his company in the mornings when only he and I were awake in the house as I prepared for work.

Rest in peace, Ace. We love you, and you will never be forgotten.

Mammoth Lakes Vacation - Part 1

Wow, have I been slacking off on the blog lately, or what? I've been very busy at work and at home this last month, so please pardon the virtual dust gathering around here.

For our family summer vacation this year, we decided to rent a trailer and go camping up in the Mammoth Lakes area. There are many of campgrounds in the area, and quite a few activities to keep us busy.

Our trip up was fairly uneventful. We a made a quick stop in Lone Pine to stretch our legs, and take in the beautiful view of Mt. Whitney.



After that brief stop, we grabbed lunch in Bishop and then made our way to Mammoth Lakes and our remote campground. The wilderness up there is just pristine, with jaw-dropping views surprising you around each new bend in the road.



I took the kids fishing for the first time, but we were skunked. From what I understand, it is best to avoid the easy-access lakes, as they are fished heavily. Even though we didn't hook up anything, the kids had a good time trying their hand at it.


It was odd seeing Mammoth Mountain without snow, as I had never been up in this area during the summer. It is a truly beautiful area, and I bet we make our way back up here sometime in the near future.


I'll have parts 2 and 3 coming up in the next week or so. To see more photos from this picture set, click here.

Rocky Mountain National Park

A few weeks ago, I went on my annual business trip to an industry conference. The last few years, the conference has been located in areas without much to see or do. This year, however, the conference was located between Denver and Boulder, Colorado.

While there, I maneuvered us to a few dining establishments I can heartily recommend. On the higher end, for good steak and a very nice selection of beers made on location, visit the Chophouse in Denver or Boulder. Nearby is the Wynkoop Brewery, Denver's first brew pub (try Patti's chili beer, Railyard ale, and the stout)!

Whereas the eating was good, the highlight of the trip was the extra day spent visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. The main road which traverses the park from one side of the continental divide to the other is called the Trail Ridge Road, and is the highest continuously paved road in the US. At it's highest point, we were well over 12,000 feet and above the treeline in the tundra environment.


While there, we saw a bit of wildlife, including marmots, mule deer, and elk.



We drove to the continental divide, and took the obligatory touristy picture, and then made our way back to the airport.


Upon arrival at the airport, we discovered that our plane was delayed. Once the plane finally arrived, another pilot had to be found, and we ended up arriving back home at around 3:30 AM. Good times! Peter's kindergarten graduation was that same day, so there was no rest for the wicked...

Too see more pictures, please visit the album.

New Board! 6' 5" CI MSF Bonzer

It has been a while since my last surfboard purchase, and for good reason - I've been very happy with all of my boards. However, while checking out craigslist.org one day, I came across what sounded like a very good deal.

I called the person offering the board for sale, and after talking with him a bit, it sounded like just what I was looking for: a Channel Islands Merrick Singe Fin (MSF) which had been retrofitted with Bonzer side bites. It was in almost new shape, and was the same dimensions as my MSF.

So, I decided to sell my MSF first, chip in a little bit of extra cash, and then pick this one up. Here she is, in all her beauty:

Top side with nice slob job resin tint

Dimensions

Bottom

Close up of fin cluster

Bottom view from the nose

Translucent fins from Rainbow Fin Co.

Near the end of my photo shoot with the new board, Ace came on out and decided to get in on some of the modeling action. What a ham...

Ace seems to like it as well

I got her all waxed up this morning and just need a bit of juice to try her out on some "waves of consequence".

Baseball Season - Tournament Wrap-up

Turn out the lights, the party's over...

The AA tournament is done, and the Raptors finished in 4th place. We had a tough seeding draw (4th) which saw us face the Iron Birds for our first game. The teams were randomly seeded, and the two teams (out of six) which are seeded first and second have a tremendous advantage, as they get a by in the first round of the double-elimination schedule.

We lost our first game against the Iron Birds, and headed down to the loser's bracket. There, we faced the Storm and won a tight game with a 5-4 score. All 5 of our runs were scored in a single inning, and our pitching proved fairly solid throughout the game.

Our third and final game found us facing the Iron Birds again. Their star pitcher was untouchable, and the Raptors struggled at the plate. We scored a single run off of a single hit, and that was all she wrote.

So, the season is no over and we get to relax a bit until soccer season starts sometime near the end of summer. I was very pleased with the improvements my son made over the course of the season, and he really enjoys just playing ball with me outside. We've scheduled a few Padres games this summer, and both of us are looking forward to them!

Thursday Afternoon Surf Report

Swamis - March 10, 2005

I've been able to get out in the water these last three days, and the conditions have been pretty decent compared to the lull we've experienced the previous week. On Tuesday , the sky was overcast and the wind was almost nonexistent, dishing out waves that were glassy, peaky and extremely fun. Wednesday and Thursday saw the sun make an appearance - unfortunately the wind also showed up and the waves were not nearly as nice as on Tuesday.

I've been surfing my GH canard quad fish and loving it. We'll see if we get some of an expected southern-hemisphere South swell early next week. If we do, it might be an opportune time to try out my new board (pictures and more information coming soon)!

Baseball Season - Regular Season Wrap-up

The Raptors finished up three games over five days, with one win, one loss, and one tie. Our overall season record ended up being 13 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tied - not too shabby!

The Thursday night game was against the Storm, and our offense struggled early. However, we scored a few key runs late in the game, and after 4 & 1/3 innings of play, took the lead 4-3. Time was called due to the 2 hour limit during the regular season, and the team left happy.

Saturday's game against the Bulls was problematic. Alan had a very tough time getting pitches over the plate, and our offense was quite lackluster. We ended up losing 9-4, and hoping for a better performance during our last regular season game and tournament.

Monday night's game found us facing the Iron Birds again - the same team which has beaten us twice the last two games we have been matched up. The Iron Birds have one very good pitcher, whom they pitched for a single 1-2-3 inning. However, their other pitchers are nowhere near as good as the #1. So, after he left the game, the Raptors jumped all over the Iron Birds and put together a nice eight run second inning. The game was called at the two hour time limit with a 10-10 tied score.

The Raptors looked a bit rough defensively during our final game, which worries me. We will face the Iron Birds (again) for our first tournament game, and I am sure that their #1 pitcher will be out in force. I can only hope that the Raptors put the bat on the ball and do their best. Due to pitch counts, I don't think the #1 pitcher will be able to stay out the entire four innings needed for a regulation tournament game, so if we can keep the Iron Birds in check until that time, we may have a chance. It's all about the pitching...

So, wish the Raptors luck tonight as we begin our post-season journey - we could use it!

Score cards for the final three regular season games are found below.

Baseball Season - Week 8 Wrap-up

Week 8 found the Raptors facing first the River Cats on Thursday, and then the River Dogs on Saturday. Did the Raptors continue their torrid winning streak, or would they fall down as the regular season nears its closing? Read on for details...

Our Thursday game against the River Cats saw an explosion of offense, as the Raptors scored 12 runs in 3+ innings. The game was called in the top of the 4th due to the 2 hour time limit on AA games. Our two pitchers did fairly well, and the Raptors ended up only allowing 2 runs to score.

On Saturday, we faced the River Dogs. The River Dogs won the end of year tournament last year, and have some experienced pitchers on their team. I had a feeling that the game would be a closely contested match, and was right. The Raptors scored 7 runs off the River Dogs first pitcher in the first two innings. Our first pitcher allowed 3 runs over the same span of time. The River Dogs' second pitcher only gave up one run over the final 2 innings, with a total of 8 runs for the Raptors.

Alan pitched the final two innings for the Raptors, and pitched extremely well, allowing only two runs. We've been practicing a bit, and it is showing. He is now throwing much more accurately, and there is some definite "pop" to his velocity.

Thus, the Raptors go 2W and 0L for the week, and 12W and 2L for the season so far. Score cards are below for those interested:

Baseball Season - Week 7 Wrap-up

Week 7 has come and gone, and the end of the season looms ever-closer. Will the Raptors develop any solid pitching before season's end? Will our batters get comfortable hitting off of kids instead of the pitching machine? Time will tell...

Our Thursday game found us facing the Bulls again, and also saw the performance of our last potential pitcher. He pitched the first inning, delivering 2 strikes out of 30 pitches - not exactly the balls-to-strikes ratio a manager dreams about. However, some timely defense and a runner thrown out by the catcher while trying to steal second salvaged that first inning, after giving up 3 runs. Alan came in to pitch the 2nd and 3rd innings, throwing 12 strikes in 46 pitches, and giving up three more runs. Obviously, I am hoping that our pitching improves over the next few games we have left! While the pitching struggled, the defense looked better, with another base runner caught stealing at third in the second inning. Furthermore, our offense really cranked it up, scoring 16 runs as we cruised to victory.

Saturday saw our fortunes turn South as we played the Iron Birds. Our pitchers actually did much better, both pitching two innings and throwing 16 strikes out of 40 pitches and 17 strikes out of 56 pitches respectively. However, the defense was very flat, giving up all of our seven runs due to throwing and fielding errors. Our offense was no better, as 11 out of our 12 outs over the four innings of play were due to strike outs. We lost 2-7, and our record now stands at 10 wins and two losses. We'll be focusing on throwing and fielding during our two remaining practices.

Score sheets for both games are found below.

Peter's Stitches

My youngest son, Peter, has had a very rough week. After 6 days of a low grade fever, the docs put him through a battery of x-rays, blood tests, as well as miscellaneous probing and prodding. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and put on antibiotics, and on Sunday was feeling back to normal.

So, Sunday afternoon we were over at our friends' house when Peter and his amigo/partner-in-crime decided to play tug of war with an elastic exercise band (the kind used for basic resistance exercises). As should be expected by parents in situations like this, one of them is guaranteed to let go, and Peter was on the losing end of the *snap* that we heard out in the living room.

Peter let out a scream of pain and anguish unlike any I have ever heard. It was a completely new type of scream, if you get my gist. You would classify it with the tags "what the ^$%!", "extreme pain", and "mom, help".

We ran to the next room, whereupon he jumped into his mother's arms and proceeded to cling tightly to her, as he continued to howl. Oh yeah, and he was bleeding all over her shirt and there was blood all over the floor. Nice.

The handle from the other end must have hit him on the left part of his chin, cleaning splitting it open and leaving a nice, gaping wound. Can't fix that one with a band-aid and kiss - no way, no how.

So, off to urgent care. Three hours and seven stitches later, and the ordeal was pretty much over. The bleeding stopped by the time we arrived at urgent care, which was a relief, and Peter was a champ getting the stitches.

He gets them removed today, as his pediatrician doesn't want to leave them in too long to help prevent scarring ( "No, not the face!" )

"It's OK dad, chicks dig scars!"

Baseball Season - Week 6 Wrap-up

Week 6 saw us play a single game on Thursday against the River Dogs, as the Saturday game was rained out. We have missed only one game due to rain this season, so I can't complain too much even though I want the kids to get all the practice they can before the tournament at the end of the season.

So, Game #10 saw us facing the River Dogs for the second time this season, and we expected a good game. Our offense really came alive, with the boys hitting off the pitching machine well for the first three innings. We scored 3 runs in the 1st, 4 runs in the 2nd, and three more in the 3rd. When we switched to kid-pitch, our team scored 1 run in the 4th and 5th as well - not too shabby!

The defense was very tight this game. We had three pop outs, one of which by the pitcher going backwards towards the shortstop position, stretched out to his limit. Our team (away) only got to pitch for one inning, which was a disappointment. I still have not gone through all seven of the kids who want to pitch, needing one more inning before I start back at the top of the rotation.

We now transition to full kid pitch, and the pitching machine stays in the equipment container. After 10 games, we are 9 and 1. The score sheet for game #10 is below.

Donning His Armor

As the time to do battle on the fields of war approaches, the resolute knight dons his armor, making sure each fastener is snug and secure. For he knows that his armor and wits are all that protect him once he takes his place.



With a determination forged out of his years of training, he goes about his duties as if the whirling maelstrom about him is nothing but a gentle breeze.


Look into his grim visage and tremble, ye who would challenge him!

Baseball Season - Week 5 Wrap-up

Spring break was over as of last week, and baseball is back in full swing with two games. I always worry about those first couple of games after spring break, as the kids tend to take a mental and physical break during their time off from school. I held practices during the two weeks off, including two sessions of batting practice, to try and minimize the disruption.

So Monday night, we found ourselves playing the River Cats again. Unfortunately, of their 12 players on the team, only 6 showed up. We decided to put three of our players in their outfield when we were up to bat, switching them around as needed by the batting order. As I feared, the players were very rusty. We still won with a 14-10 score, but it was not pretty.

On Saturday, we faced the Storm. Let's just say that of all the managers and teams we play, the Storm is the team I like to beat the most. I'll just leave it at that, and add that we beat them 14-4 with a very solid performance from our team. Defense was spot-on, and the kids had a couple innings where they knocked the ball around the grass real nicely.

So, half way through the season we are 8 and 1. Not too shabby! Score cards for the two games mentioned are found below.

Tuesday Afternoon Surf Report

The last week or so has seen some significant swell in the water, however the wind in the mid-day has not been kind. Today I noted that the wind seemed to be letting up a bit, and decided to take my newly repaired GH quad canard turbo fish out for a spin.

Let's just say that whereas the waves were good, I was not. Having not taken out the fish in several months, nothing felt quite right. It is a lot shorter, wider, and thicker than my thruster, so I knew it would take me a bit of getting to know it again.

At least the weather was beautiful! As I waited for another wave, the sun broke through the marine layer and it appears as if it is here to stay for the rest of the day. Nice!

Baseball Season - Week 4 Wrap-up

Week 4 featured a single game on Monday night, before spring break kicked in. We played the Iron Birds, and it was the first game featuring kid-pitch in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings.

It was a close fought game, with the Raptors taking an early lead. At the end of the 3rd inning, we were up 5-3. After the 3rd inning, the pitching machine came off and the kids took the mound. In the 4th inning, my son took the mound and gave up 1 hit, hit one batter, struck out three, and gave up no runs. Things were looking fairly good so far.

The tide turned in the 5th inning with our next pitcher, when the Iron Birds struck for 3 runs, going up 6-5. We were not able to pick up any more runs, and hence lost our first game taking us to a 6-1 record. Despite a lackluster offensive performance (which is to be expected in the transition from pitching machine to kid pitch), it was a good defensive game and a decent premier of our three rookie Raptors pitchers.

Our score sheet for the game is found below.

Tallships in Oceanside Harbor

In mid-January, I learned that two tallships would sail into Oceanside Harbor and provide tours for folks who wanted to look at the ships. So, I took off from work after a half-day, and brought the whole family down to the harbor.


We walked out to the end of the North jetty, and watched the two ships make their way into the harbor. The first ship fired off a canon as it entered the jetty - thankfully, their aim was horrible!


After both ships had docked, tours were provided by the crew of each ship, which actually live aboard the ships. The quarters appeared to be quite cramped, and the lack of personal space would take some getting used to, I imagine.

We went with our friends, and all the kids had a great time - I think they may have even learned a thing or two! Below, Peter and his buddy Andy take a quick break aboard the Hawaiian Chieftain.

Baseball Season - Week 3 Wrap-up

Week 3 has come and gone, and the Raptors are still undefeated with a record of 6 wins and 0 losses. Monday night's game against the Storm was a test of our patience as the opposing coach went extremely slow the entire game, limiting us to four innings of play rather than the usual six. He also appropriated two additional outs through extremely questionable calls/decisions, and we gave him an additional at bat later in the game as well. We managed to come through that game with an 8-6 win, so we chalked it up to experience.

Our Saturday game found us facing the Bulls again, now having faced each team in the division at least once. It was a beautiful day out (as may be deduced by the photo above), and the Raptors had another great game. The final score was 23-5, and featured a veritable barrage of offense from the Raptors. My son went 5 for 5, with 2 singles, 2 doubles, a triple, 2 runs scored and 4 RBIs. Every player had a hit, and our defense was fairly solid as well.

With the end of game #6, we now prepare for kid-pitching. The next five games will be three innings of pitching machine, with the remaining three innings kid pitch. The final third of the season will say "adios!" to the pitching machine, with all innings now pitched by kids. Good pitching really dominates at this level, so it will be interesting to see how our team fares. It's my goal to get as many of the kids on the mound as possible for experience. Right now, I'm looking at pitching six out of the ten players on the team, so it should be interesting!

Score cards for games #5 and #6 are below.

Friday Afternoon Surf Report

I decided to hit the waves today on my lunch, even though we did get a very small amount of rain last night. My body desperately needed some water time, and I reasoned that not enough rain fell to actually flush the bad stuff from the storm drains into the ocean.

What a beautiful day it is! The waves were chest high, with a light onshore wind putting a bit of texture on the surface. My lack of surfing in the recent weeks made itself known by the fatigue in my shoulders and triceps as I tried to get back outside after catching my first wave. I felt like a newborn struggling to move across the floor as wave after wave of the set pummeled me. Leave it to me to take the first wave of a set...

I finally made it back outside with my arms burning and doing their best impersonation of linguini. I caught several more waves, all of them lefts that had a bit of juice to them and plenty of time to ride. At the end of my lunch, I was exhausted but had that "post surf glow". Nice way to finish off the work week!

My Dog + Rain = Sleep Deprivation

Our dog, Ace, is now 11+ years old. My wife and I picked him out of a litter of puppies from the San Diego County Animal Shelter, located in Carlsbad. As it turns out, he was the lucky one of the litter, as the others were put down due to illness the Monday after we adopted him. He had is share of health problems when he was young, but he bounced back nicely and he's been with us ever since.

He is a big dog. At around 115 lbs and tall enough to pick stuff off the dinner table, it is challenging keeping food away from this mutt. We had to put a lock on the pantry because he knows how to open up doors and took to browsing through the pantry and devouring a box of cereal or loaf of bread. To say that our dog is food-motivated would be an understatement.

Ace is part chocolate lab and part great dane. We did not know about the great dane portion of his heritage until it became obvious as he grew. About one year after we adopted Ace, our first child was born. 3 kids later, and Ace has been pretty good with all of them although he is a bit grouchier now than he was when he was a puppy.

I'm not sure how old Ace will get - he's got some serious gray around the muzzle, many fatty tumors on his back, chest, legs, etc., and he's definitely not as nimble or energetic as he used to be. From what I understand, the average great danes life expectancy is under 10 years. Since Ace is a mixed breed, I imagine that he is expected to supersede that number.

So, what has this got to do with the title of the post? Well, the last year or so has seen Ace change his behavior under certain circumstances. Now, whenever it rains, he gets extremely scared. He will come upstairs when the rain starts and start knocking stuff down, making a huge racket. He will go into the bathroom and use his nose to life up the toilet seat and then let it come crashing down. When you try and comfort him, you can feel his whole body shaking. When this occurs at night, well now you know where the sleep deprivation fits in.

We talked to the veterinarian, and he gave us two pills to test out. This medication is called Clomicalm, and cost us $6 a pill! Gah! Doing a little detective work, I have found that a generic is available online, which would be significantly less expensive. Let's hope that our vet is willing to prescribe the generic and fax Ace's prescriptions to the online pharmacist - otherwise we are pretty screwed.

If any of you have any other suggestions, I am willing and ready to listen!

New Year's Eve

Yes, I'm back from vacation and slowly getting back into the rhythm of actually having to work for a living. As I spent those two weeks away from work, I constantly found myself thinking, "I could really get used to this not working thing." Too bad the "no money" thing is more of an issue...

My wonderful wife gave me two tickets for the last regular season game of my San Diego Chargers. It happened to fall on New Year's Eve, so my mom and dad watched the kids while the two of us headed out for a rare day together.



We made it down to the stadium by 10:30, and met up with two of my nephews, my brother-in-law, and a few of his work associates to tailgate before the game. All of us were wearing our Charger jerseys, as one would expect!

We parked outside of the stadium and walked on it ($20 parking fee for stadium parking - le ouch!) as it was a nice day, and we parked close to a nice exit route to avoid stadium traffic when the game ended.

The seats we had were up in the View (aka Nose Bleed) level, but I was surprised that I really enjoyed watching the game from there. It was very easy to see plays develop, holes form in the line, and receivers break free from coverage. The only complaint I had with the seats was that we were in the sun the entire time. If I had brought a hat, it would have been fine.


The Chargers won the game, even though they pulled Rivers and Tomlinson out for the last part of the third and all of the fourth quarter. The Cardinals made a game of it at the end, however the home team prevailed and sixty thousand plus fans went home happy, as did we.


After the game, we picked up our children and headed home. There, we let the kids stay up until 9 o'clock to watch the ball drop in Time Square. After getting the kids to bed (party animals that we are), we shortly crashed thereafter. Happy new year!