Anybody Know How To Turn On The Oven?

No I am not going to stick my head in it, but I am going to have to cook dinner for myself for the next few weeks. I am going to be living the bachelor’s life at home while Bonnie is working onsite for a work project during most of July.

Bonnie is a grant Administrator for the Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation. (I think it would be easier just to say “World Peace”). Anyway, starting this year (and every year thereafter) the program brings kids from around the globe (they have to be under 25 and they can never have been in the USA before) to San Diego for 3 weeks of classes, lectures, team building and of course some fun stuff too.

Bon will be moving into the dorms (at San Diego State University) with her crew this weekend and will be there for 3 weeks. She says I get to visit. Visiting Bonnie in her college dorm room is what got me involved with her 30 years ago. Might be fun again…who knows.

By the way, although we are still in "stealth mode", the company I am working for launched a web site to help us attract new staff.

A New Toy

Well after six months of living in Southern California with only one car, Bonnie and I finally broke down this past weekend and bought a second car. The best part is that it was for me! I don't know what lucky start I was sleeping under, but I got to hit the Bose store two weeks ago and the Saturn dealer this past weekend.

We are now the proud owner of a 2007 Saturn Sky Redline. It is a Chili Pepper red, extremely fast two seater sports coupe. No storage at all, but that is why we have the Honda Accord.

So now Bonnie and I are both happy, she has a car to drive to work and run errands afterwords, and I have a sporty new convertible!

New Toys

Well I finally talked Bonnie into visiting the Bose store with me again. It was a shopping frenzy! This time I purchased the various bit and bobs required to bring Bose sound from the Main System into the master and guest bedrooms.

The master bedroom already had a WAVE Radio, so we just needed to connect it to the rest of the system; I did this with an AL8 System which means that I did not have to run wires.

In the guest bedroom/office, we added a RoomMate so we can have music in there while we work. I used an additional AR1 wireless receiver to make the connection to the new wireless link in the rest of the house. Once we move, the RoomMate will be migrated to the kitchen, and the guest room will be its own WAVE Radio.

Both the bedrooms got a new remote, which is truly amazing. It let’s you choose what you want to hear, be it an album, the radio or a themed collection of music stored in the Main System.

Now Bonnie can watch a movie in the living room and I can listen to Jimmy Buffet in the office. Of course, we can also set them all on the same stream and listen to Jimmy buffet in every room in the house!

So what’s next? Well I have to wait until we buy the house we are shopping for, but I already have big plans for speakers in the back yard and in our bathroom! Wohooo

May 5th On The Border

Since I now pretty much live on the Mexican border, events like Cinco De Mayo (May 5th) get a lot of attention. There will be several major parties in and around San Diego tomorrow. Lots of margaritas and cold Corona will be consumed. It is only a shame that a frost a few months ago did so much damage to the local lime crops. For the last few weeks it has been very difficult to find the large juicy limes I prefer to use when making my favorite adult beverages.

Meanwhile, allow me to use my blog to dispel one popular American myth. Cinco De Mayo is NOT Mexican Independence Day, that day is September 16th. Although the day does have historical reference; on May 5th, 1862 a small group of Mexican soldiers fought and defeated a much larger and better armed garrison of French army troops. The day is celebrated to commemorate the brave act of these soldiers, very much as we “Remember the Alamo”. Unfortunately as is often the case, the Mexicans won that battle but lost the war.

Now that we have that out of the way, I can happily provide a weather report for Cinco De Mayo in San Diego. The weather will be: Chili tonight, but hot tamale!

Hunter 460

A friend sent me a link to a upcoming TV show called Fearless. The show is going to be about a couple who sail around the world in their 2000 year Hunter 460. What makes this interesting is that the 460 is the same boat that Bonnie, I and so many of our friends have enjoyed playing on all over the Caribbean.

Our boat is named the BlackSheep, and it too was manufactured in the year 2000. Unlike fearless, we did not outfit our boat for the open ocean. Instead we made sure that it had more important things for our kind of sailing, like a blender, a good place to store wine and speakers that can bring music to the bow (for late night dancing on the deck).

Alas, now that we are living in San Diego, we are no longer able to use the boat. If you know of anybody looking for an AMAZING DEAL on a wonderful sailboat, please let me know. You can see all the specifications here.

Meanwhile, here are a few more pictures just for fun....

Play Ball

Last night Bonnie and I, along with my little sister Martye, went to see our new home town team, (the San Diego Padres) play ball against the Diamondbacks. Unfortunately, after 12 innings our team lost the fight. But we had fun anyway.

It was a chilly evening for our first ever visit to Petco Park. We had dogs, drank beer at crackerjacks and in general did all the kinds of things that one is supposed to do at a ball game.

Martye did notice how much the team mascot, a monk named "The Friar" looked like the "Pizza, Pizza" guy from Little Ceasars.

Aint' It Grand

Well I can no longer say that I have never seen the Grand Canyon. Last weekend Bonnie and I, along with her parents (Barbara & Jerry) took a helicopter tour of the canyon. A bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to the airstrip, where we were checked in and weighed. I am pleased to note that they were discreet about everyone’s weight, but they did need it to calculate total capacity for the helicopter. I know do that none of us weigh 275 pounds, because if we did we would have had to pay for to tickets!

The fleet of Helicopters at Maverick Tours was nice, new, and very high tech. Most of the ‘bubble” was clear so we had amazing views as we traveled. First, we flew across Nevada, then circled around Hoover Damn and then finally landed in the canyon itself.

After we got back from Nevada, my sister Martye came to visit. Bonnie, my sister and Bonnie's folks went down to Mexico and had a fun day.

Happy 90th GrandMamma!

Last weekend I traveled back to my boyhood home of Madison Florida. It was a quick trip; on Friday I flew from San Diego to Jacksonville and then rented a car and drove into Madison. Early on Sunday morning I reversed the process.

Why the pilgrimage? Grandmamma Eckert’s 90th birthday party of course! A chance to join in the celebration of the life of an amazing lady, not to mention a chance to see my brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and all the rest of the family and friends who attended the gala event. GrandMamma is shown here, flanked by her two kids (Buddy and B.J.).

An industrious decorating crew (B.J. Martye, Nate, Mike & Gwindy) turned the fellowship hall of our small community church into party central. Given that Grandmamma shares her birthday with Pattie’s day, you can imagine the theme! All very green.

It was certainly great to see the whole crew. As you can see in the photo my brothers and sisters were all there. Maybe we will all end up in the same place again without having to wait for Grandmamma’s 100th birthday.

A Traveling Jones

First let me say that I know it has been a long time since I have made an update to the blog. My fault to be sure, but I the new job has had me running like you would not believe. Out of the 8 or 9 weeks that I have had this job, I have spent at least 6 weeks traveling. This will slow down soon.

Meanwhile I am able to visit with Bonnie each night while I was on the road via my SightSpeed account so I did not get to lonely for her. I just call her in the video phone from my computer, not quite as good as being at home, but one does what one can. I am really missing the family and all my friends, San Diego is a long way from home.

By the way, Bonnie landed her dream job at San Diego State University. She starts on Thursday, and we are both very excited about it.

In other news, we took the Volkswagen (2003 Passat) in to get an oil change and they wanted another $1,000 for repairs. We had gotten rather sick of pumping money into that car, so we are now the proud new owners of a 2007 Honda Accord.

More news as it happens, I promise to update regularly!

George Gets a J-O-B

After about 14 years on the road, Bonnie and I have decided to settle down and get ‘real jobs’. My last day at the client here in Seattle is Friday December 22nd and then Bon and I will pack up the car and head down the West Coast to San Diego.

Once we get there, I have a new job that starts on January 2nd, and Bonnie has interviews lined up as well. My new job will be Marketing Operations Director for a small startup company with customers around the globe, so I will be traveling quite a bit.

We will be living in an apartment for about the first nine months while we learn our way around the city. The complex looks pretty nice, and we are looking forward to getting all our furniture etc from Atlanta shipped over. It has been quite a while since we have seen ‘our stuff’.

So we start the New Year with a new opportunity and high hopes for a prosperous future.

Here’s wishing you all a healthy and happy holiday and an amazing 2007!

Turkey Day in Atlanta

I know it is a bit late, but I am posting pictures from our trip to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. It was an excellent trip, and everyone had a great time.

Since Bonnie’s folk’s house was already pretty full, we took advantage of a kind offer and stayed at our friend Ruth’s condo in Buckhead. It was very nice. Not only that, we drove Ruth’s very cool red pickup while we were there as well. What a deal.

The day was warm and beautiful; (unlike the weather here in Seattle); we spent most of the day out on the back deck (the picture is Bonnie's dad, Jerry).

Thanksgiving in Atlanta is always great, as we know we can count on seeing lots of family and friends. This year was made even better by the fact that Bonnie’s Uncle Michael (and wife Allisanne plus daughters Moli & Mandy) came down from Wisconson. Moli’s mom was not too pleased that I started her daughter's training as a bartender, but Moli cleared $31.00 in tips and had a new drink named after her!

The Orange Moli

In a rocks glass, with ice, add:

- 2 oz Mandarin Vodka

- 2 oz Club soda

Squeeze in a slice of fresh orange

and stir

Where in the World Are We Going?

One of the things that Bonnie and I like about my job is that we never know where it will take us, or when. I got word this week that my assignment in Seattle will be wrapping up just before Christmas.

This was not quite what we had planned, but, hey, that’s the life of a contractor. So we have put our plans to go sailing with friends Iain and Ruth on hold while we line up the next client.

So far no idea what or where we will be doing, but watch this space, I will let you know as soon as I do!

Vegas Baby!

It was Bonnie’s birthday this past weekend. As often as possible, we spend the weekend of her birthday in Las Vegas with our friends Leslie and Becky. To make it even more fun this year we were joined by our friends Kevin and Dane. Leslie’s sister and her husband (Lisa and Chuck) have a timeshare in Vegas, so they were able to join us as well. What a blast we had, the eight of us bring out the best (or worst) in each other. My sides are still hurting from laughing so hard all weekend!

So here are some highlights from the weekend. Thursday night we arrived and Bonnie, I, Leslie, Becky, Lisa and Chuck all met up at a seafood raw bar called AquaKnox. We spent several hours catching up. It was so good to see everybody again.

Friday we spent the day at tables in several different casinos including a couple that are going to be torn down soon. I like to bet on Black 17 on the roulette wheel, Bonnie, Chuck and Leslie like to play blackjack and we all LOVE to play craps. Back to the room for showers and a change into evening wear and then it was off to Paris (the hotel/casino) for where we were joined by Kevin and Dane (now there were 8 of us) for an amazing dinner at Mon Ami Gabi. From there it was back to the tables for an evening of gambling and laughter.

On Saturday, Chuck and Lisa had rented a cabana at the pool at the Las Vegas Hilton. The cabana was very nice with a big screen TV so we all watched football, drank and visited all afternoon. I will not try and explain what it was the Kevin did to earn $20.00 worth of tips from the folks around the pool. Some things that happen in Vegas need to stay there!

Saturday night, we all headed out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Il Fornaio. Good food, good wine; good fun. After dinner Leslie, Becky, Chuck, Lisa, Bonnie and I at see a show called Zumanity, which was put on by Cirque ‘de Soleil. (Kevin and Dane had already seen it. The show was amazing and VERY racey (not the kind of thing that you would take your mother to see)!

Sunday was a relatively quiet day, we slept late and gambled the day away. Kevin and Dane had to head home Sunday, so we told them goodbye and we look forward to seeing them over Thanksgiving. That evening Leslie, Becky, Chuck, Lisa, Bonnie and I had a nice dinner at Café Ba Ba Reeba, a Spanish Tapas restaurant (I initially only agree to go because I thought they were saying topless, but the food ended up being very good anyway). After dinner it was off to the Stardust Casino. The star dust is another one of the great older (read seedy) hotels that is due to be torn down. In fact it demolition starts tomorrow. You can buy items from the stardust in an online auction; click here to find our more.

Monday was Bonnie’s actual birthday. We had a delightful breakfast with Leslie and Becky at Bouchon. From there it was off to the airport to head home.

I can’t remember a better trip to Vegas. We had so much fun; I can’t wait for Bonnie’s next Birthday!

So Pretty It Hurts

Bonnie and I continued our Sunday hikes in an area called Denny Creek. We both agreed that it was the most beautiful hike we had ever been on.

The hike started out in a pretty flat and easy walk, and then we passed the part where the guide book said that most of the crowds turn back. The book, (which was a hand-me-down from our friend Iain), went on to say that the best part of the hike was up over the top of the ridge, a lake on a remote pass.

The trail ended up being a quite a bit steeper than we expected and we gave serious thought to turning back. However, as we were weighing our options, an older gentlemen came breezing past and talked us into going the rest of the way since we were so close to the top.

We finished the trail and ended up at a beautiful lake nestled in the cleft of the mountain. It was truly amazing. The hike down was just as tough as the hike up. By the time we got to the car our knees were aching. It is now Tuesday, two days later and we both are walking a bit slow, and wincing down the steps, but looking back, it was worth it!

Uncle Michael From Madison

We had our first family guest here in Washington. Uncle Michael (Bonnie’s Mom’s brother) was in town for a job interview. We really hope he gets the job, since he would be managing one of the biggest concert venues in the city of Seattle and I KNOW we would be plugged in for good seats (hint, hint).

Nice night out at Pasta Freska last night for dinner. Tonight we are having fresh salmon (from Pikes Market of course) and a good bottle of wine. We hope you get it Michael; the Northwest is an awesome place!

Rained In

It is Sunday, and Bonnie and I had planned a nice hike in an area of the Cascade Mountains called Denny Creek.

Alas, it has been raining all day, so we settled instead for a movie and a late lunch. We went to see the new Robin William movie, which we both quite enjoyed.

Home now for a leisurely Sunday afternoon:

Quiet weekends at home are nice…..

Hike Two - Getting Better

Our next trip out, Sunday Oct 8th went much better. We knew what to expect so we got an early start. First we stopped by one of our favorite weekend breakfast spots, the pancake corral. This was the only real mistake we made, way too many screaming kids at that hour, and we also decided we did not need a big meal close to hitting the trail. Next weekend it will be an egg McMuffin in the car on the way!

Bonnie and I both picked up new hiking shoes (on sale!) and we were keen to try them out. We also added a few more items to our day pack: a flashlight, a signal mirror our Garmin handheld GPS and some extra batteries. We also signed up to get an annual parks association pass ($30.00) for the car so that we did not have to mess with paying $5.00 for a day pass every weekend.

We headed north to the Cascade Mountains total drive time was about 1.5 hours. The drive in took us through an absolutely beautiful valley, we have both decided that Washington is one of the prettiest states we have ever been in. We stopped in a local store close to the trail head and bought some food for the trail. Found the ranger station that was our marker and then the trail head.

The hike was very nice; 6 miles in total, up and back a trail that ran along the Old Sauk River; very pretty. The weather was nice as well, about 55 degrees, started out cloudy, but cleared nicely toward the end. The new hiking shoes were the bees knees! They have excellent traction and sturdy bottoms. Having said all of that, it felt really good to take them off and slip into our tennis shoes when we got back to the car.

A nice drive back home and we were back for along hot shower by late afternoon. We both feel like we are getting the hang of this and are looking forward to next weekend!

Sunday Hikes- It Begins

Bonnie and I decided that we wanted to start hiking on Sundays; there are hundreds of trails all around Washington State. Our first outing was on Sunday October 1st. We got a bit of a late start and did a bit of shopping before we left, which made it even later.

We stopped by the Sports Authority and picked up a "day pack". To the day pack, we added a small first aid kit, a couple of disposable rain ponchos and some parachute chord. I also added my own Swiss army knife (a gift from the team that I worked with in Guatemala) and some toilet paper.

Our first hike was up in the Olympic Peninsula. We did not plan very well and after a late start we ended up driving almost three hours to get to the trail head. When we finally got to Lake Quinault, we hiked for about 2.5 hours. The trail was really nice and started out through some old growth trees. Being from the East Coast, I have never seen trees so large; they were amazing. The second half of the hike took us along the shore of a beautiful lake.

A couple of lessons learned on our first outing. We need to start earlier and we need to plan the drive better. Also going to have to do something about hiking shoes, our regular walking shoes (sneakers) are just not rugged enough for the trail.

This Time Last Year

Today is September 29th and it has been a quiet but busy couple of weeks. I was talking to my old buddy Art Shand on the phone and I mentioned that I needed to write a blog entry, but that it had been so quiet that I did not have much to tell. Art suggested I look back to where I was exactly one year ago today and write about that…good idea.

On September 29th, 2005 Bonnie and I were in the Abacos islands, a small chain at the top of the Bahamas. More specifically we were in an area called Marsh Harbor, We had finished up a project in Ireland but for tax reasons were not ready to come back to into the USA yet. (There is a funny rule that says if you spend 330 days out of 365 out of the country you get a big tax break, we needed about 4 more weeks to make our tax break).

So the good news is that we spent 4 weeks on on our sailboat, The BlackSheep; the bad news is that 2005 was a record year for tropical storms and hurricanes. As a result we spent a lot of time in our slip at Boat Harbor. During our stay there, our normal Friday night hangout Sapodillas Bar was under major reconstruction, so we were diverted across the street to Snappa’s Bar. Fridays nights were always pretty much the same, dinner from the bar menu and cold rum drinks with our friend “Uncle Bob” Scott.

At Snappa’s, the island music or classic rock and roll which plays over a better than average sound system is nearly drowned out by the sound of the locals playing dominos. Strange to think that Dominos would be a loud game until you see the locals play. The force in which the local players (mostly men) slam the tiles onto the hard plastic table tops is amazing. During the first few minutes of your time at the bar is always a bit disconcerting since the sound of the dominoes closely mimics the sound of small arms fire. After a couple of cold rum drinks and good conversation, the sound just seems to fade into the background.

Discussions of this time last year would not be complete without a mention of the new friends Layne and Grant that made that trip. Grant is an amazing artist and he and wife Layne travel the island son their boat “Blue”. We had a great time visiting sailing and getting to know them. Funny how one can make friends almost anywhere…….

Growing Older But Not Up

Things change; I have to wear reading glasses now, and I notice it takes me a little bit longer to work out the kinks when I jump out of bed. I have also noticed I really look forward to naps on the weekends.

Bonnie and I went to a poker party last night (Bonnie is an excellent Texas Hold ‘em dealer so we get invited). I was standing in the kitchen between hands talking to two other guest. In speaking with them I realized that I had been married as long as they had been alive.

I still feel very young inside. When people ask Bonnie is she has any children at home she often answers “just George”.

I guess you could say I’m growing older but not up.