I know, its been a while

It's been like two weeks since my last post, but you're gonna have to get over it - I've been busy.

Well, maybe not busy the whole time. For three days after my last post, it was business as usual; some dingus messes themselves up, I fly them to some lovely and exotic destination like Phoenix. The most memorable thing was the x-ray I saw of a patient who fell of a horse. It wasn't so much the fall that did them in as the sudden stop at the end.

So that's why one leg is now two inches shorter...

The next big sequence of events started on the fourteenth, when I was announced as Chief Pilot for Eagle Air Med. This was expected, but not for another few days at the earliest. As the Chief Pilot I needed to attend the monthly staff meetings, but these were on what were originally my days off, so I had to reschedule my drive to California and move a few commitments around.

Then Stacey got a flat tire. Apparently she had managed to cut the sidewall. No one in town (all two tire shops here in Blanding) had her size of tire, so the full-size spare was put on and the bad tire placed in the spare well. She had it replaced when she got to California (she headed out before me since I had the schedule change).

SHOUT OUT TO AMERICAS TIRE: they replaced her tire free, even though she hadn't bought the supre fancy warranty or whatever it was (it was on the car less than a year). They had her tire replaced on the rim, and the rim on her car in an hour free of charge. This is why we drive six hours just to find an America's Tire when we need anything tire-related.

The staff meetings went well, but I am now the seneca captain for the staff meetings, and I forgot what it's like to fly a Seneca in the summer over the desert - it was two days of getting my ass kicked by turbulence, definitely worse on the second day than the first (on the second day we also had a bitch of a headwind that just prolonged the misery).

As soon as the second day staff meetings was over, I packed a few things and I bailed for California. This went well, all I took was a thirty minute nap in Tuba City. And then I got to Barstow.

Initially I was doing eighty and my ETA of six-am was looking like it was gonna hold. And then traffic came to a standstill. It took twenty minutes of station surfing before I found out what was wrong: A fatality in the Cajon Pass. The 15 South was expected to be closed for a while. As it turns out, a while was three hours. Finally, after sitting for two of those hours with my engine off, I was able to continue. On the plus side, this delay was so long that it completely covered rush hour, so I thankfully didn't have to deal with that as well.

Once in OC, I had lunch with a friend, went to AFI to see one or two more, and headed over to Fry's. It has been forever since I was in there, and I forgot just how much crap they have in there that I don't need, but can't live without.

Initially I went in for a new headset for my laptop. While in there I conveniently remembered that I needed a laptop chill pad - I found a pretty sweet two-fan unit with a USB charging hub built into it. Shortly after that I remembered that Stacey's birthday was coming and I really needed a gift. That's when I picked up an XM receiver. They didn't cost too much, and she wouldn't be stuck with listening to the same songs over and over again on her iPod, so I grabbed it and checked out. The rest of the day was without event, though I did get to try a Captain's Mug, made especially strong for my altitude-earned alcohol tolerance. I don't have the recipe, but if there are comments requesting it, I will make it it's own post. Seriously though, people are gonna have to leave comments.

The next day was the whole reason we came to California - the wedding of a member of the CSUF/Softball gang. About six years ago, there were about six weddings that happened with people from this group (mine and Stacey's included). Not a whole lot has happened since - well there was the baby period when they were all having babies, and another wedding from the CSUF/S gang, but that was about it. The bachelor table had shrunk, but was holding a steady membership.

Then, one of the group members showed up at a camp out with a girl. Normally, this wouldn't have merited a second thought. But this specific bachelor had never been seen with a gal on his arm, ever. He talked about them, and we were pretty sure he wasn't gay, but we were kinda starting to think these girls were imaginary. Now you see why this was such a big deal. Anyways, we saw her a few more times (others probably saw her waaaay more than I, just because of work and such), she was well received, and became a regular attendee of the groups get-togethers.

Well, on Saturday they were married. We couldn't make the ceremony (cause I needed sleep in the worst way), but we for damn sure were gonna make the reception. However, first it was time to meet a person that I had to reschedule with last time, and we had three and a half hours to sit and visit over beer and appetizers at the Belmont Brewing Company in Long Beach.

How I sit and "visit"

Afterwords, it was off to the reception; It was held at the Japanese Garden on the CSULB campus. Honestly, we had no idea such place existed, but you can bet your ass if we did, we would have booked it for our reception. You know, provided there was a usable church in the area...

I mean, just look at it...

...It's even got a waterfall...

...and koi in the pond (we were all given little bags of fish food to feed them).

The bar was soft (no hard liquor), but it was open. The modus operandi was to use sake in place of liquor for mixed drinks - sake-tini, sake-and coke, sake-beach iced tea, etc. I really didn't feel like getting the beer-sweats, so I went with the sake-beach iced tea. After downing four of them (you gotta get that pre-buzz going or it's all for naught), it was time to be seated, and a short time later the couple of honor arrived.

The fun table.

Our table. Note the dapper gentleman behind and to the left, deep in rhetorical conversation. (Oh, and that's the only pic of a sake-beach iced tea I have - the one in front of me.)

Stacey playing with the fans left for us at the tables (they're Japanese fans).

During the toasts a great blue heron had decided it was time for eating. He flew down to the water in the middle of the garden, stared down for a second, then proceeded to grab a big fish out of the water and fly into a tree where it ate the fish. About twenty minutes later the spectacle was repeated, but this time the fish was consumed on the water, for all to see. I really wish I had pictures of this as it was quite hilarious. Instead, here's a picture of their cake.

Picture semi-related.

Dinner was crazy good; steamed greens, salads, roast beef, salmon with a cream sauce, various breads, etc. Wine was free poured for the table, a really nice Cabernet Sauvignon. Actually, we were all a little surprised at how good it was. One of things I kinda laughed at (mostly cause I was buzzing), was that the bride and groom were well displayed for all to watch them eat. Awkwaaaaaarrrrd....

"Here we see the bride and groom in the wild, feasting on wedding buffet. The groomsmen and bridesmaids are hungry but they will have to wait their turn"

The first dance was a short time later, and I think enjoyed by everyone.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Protip: when you have a plant that looks suspiciously like marijuana, a bunch of buzzed smart asses, and the need to keep things "classy", you might want to think about removing said plant, or said smart asses start having waaaaay too much fun with it.

If it looks suspicious...

...Make a lapel-decoration out of it...

...And take a group photo with said lapel decorations.

We got to walk the entirety of the garden, and it was pretty cool. They have a zen garden, and some pretty sweet little secluded areas if you need a break or want to get a quick freak on (hey, I won't judge you, you know, any more than I already have).

Us not getting our freak on (blame Stacey).

The zen garden and Stacey (seems like one would negate the other...).

During our walk, I saw what I think is the classiest person I have ever met. They definitely stepped up their game, and set the class bar higher than it has been before.

That's a polo shirt and a clip on tie.

Not too long after that the cake was cut. I don't know why, but there seems to be some divergent curve bakers follow when making cakes for special occasions: The nicer the cake looks, the more it tastes like plain old cake (or even like straight up shit as I've found in a few instances). However, this cake was pretty damn good despite it's elegant appearance.

Use two hands! (that's a sex joke.)

The end was nigh when it was dark, and the bouquet toss was completed.

Ok...it's dark...

...Bouquet is tossed, and...

...fight's on!

The next day was Fathers Day. Not w hole lot happened: Brunch at El Torrito (hadn't done that in a looooong time, seems to be better than I remember), followed by a long BS session back at the in-laws, and in-n-out for dinner (animal fries FTW). Then over to Hero's in Fullerton for a Guinness with some friends before heading back and crashing for the night. Shit, I just now realized I didn't call my dad...whoops!

The next morning I left to head home at five. I didn't want to deal with rush hour, and would rather get through the California desert before it got uncomfortable warm.

Half way home.

About three hours into the drive, I got a text message from Stacey saying that the XM receiver I bought her wouldn't activate, as the receiver's ID was already shown as being activated. I was just starting to think how this was just awesome since the receipt was with me, and I should have known better since Fry's, awesome as they are, sticks used-merchandise out on the shelf for sale like it was new (this has long been a complaint of most Fry's shoppers). Luckily Stacey was able to make another call, and the people on the other end (presumably with XM) straightened it out and got her receiver working.

I got to Flagstaff in decent time (six-ish hours), only to find out that the 89 North was closed due to a fire. This meant having to add about another hour to the remaining drive since I now had to drive through Chinle to get home. After getting lunch (Taco Bell) and new wiper blades (the old ones were soooo worn out) I tried to stop at my usual brewing supply store, but they are apparently now closed on Mondays. They hadn't updated their website so I had no idea.

It didn't matter where in town you were, you could see the fire easily. Guess it was started by a dumb ass and a campfire, allegedly.

It wound up being a long drive home, but I made it, with day light remaining, and Stacey four hours behind me. As much as I enjoyed the actual stay in California, it was nice to be home after all the travel issues and such. I decided that I was just going to get Chinese food here in Blanding because A) It's honestly pretty damn good, and B) I hadn't had my Blanding Chinese fix in a while and had been jonesing for some.

Imperial Wok - that means it's good enough for an emperor! Seriously though, it's good as hell.

Today has been pretty easy; picking cherries in the am, and bumming around the house. The cherries I picked for California were partially ripe, some were even a little sour still. Now though, they are deep red, and are turning almost black. I picked a gallon, halved and pitted them, and froze them. I plan on fermenting them with apricots (when they're ripe) to produce an apricot-cherry melomel (mead made with fruit). I think I am going to do the same with the pie cherries when they are ready. I may send a few bottles of each out as well, we'll see.

"I'm gonna turn you into alcohol so hard!"

This morning our new weapon against these irritating little bastard biting midges (no-see-ums) arrived. It wasn't cheap, but we're really hoping it will help eradicate some of the population. It's a CO2 trap, burns propane to create CO2 and heat to fool the bugs into coming close, and once they get near the CO2 source, the internal vacuum fan sucks their ass inside and deposits them into a collection basket where they dehydrate and die. We also got an octenal attractant, as is listed biting midges specifically as a species that it was particularly effective for.

It uses fire to kill mosquitos and such. What's not to love about it?

Hopefully things will stay busy, just not as hectic. I think most of the major changes at work are through, so now it's just settling into the job. I will try to post more often, but I can't promise. Oh, and for the record, I saw another one of the CSUF/S group bachelors (one I've always seen sans woman) with a girl at the wedding. She seems like a really nice girl, and it would be really nice if the next wedding we went to was theirs.