Summer time and the driving was easy… (TMTOMH)

Summer reminds me of fun trips our family took when the kids were little…

Hawaii…we went with other families, usually three other families whose dads played golf…the guys teed off very early in the morning and got back to the hotel around noon… after golf we had to toss down a few Chi Chi’s at the 19^th hole…the kids didn’t do much except sit by the pool drinking virgin (they tell me) Bloody Mary’s and other ‘virgin’ exotic Hawaiian drinks…we never found out until days later at check out time they had charged the drinks to our rooms every day…no dumb kids in our family…

Motor homing…at other times we traveled in our 28 foot long OpenRoad self-contained motor home that was a life saver...the girls went to the bathroom every 15 minutes…it slept all of us but was a wee bit cramped…I would take off in the early morning while they were sleeping to get a head start on driving, usually about 300-350 miles a day…we stayed in campgrounds for two days in a row then in a motel for the third day, so the girls could wash their hair…it was a big thing, and still is, they had to have perfect hair even though we hardly saw a soul except at restaurants along the way…when we skied in Mammoth they had to wash their hair in the morning before skiing for the day and then again after skiing before we went to dinner…and did I ever tell you I had to carry their skis and boots all the way to the slopes…yup, I did! The skiing experiences we had are for another blog…I can’t wait to tell you how much the girls loved Peppermint Schnapps…They MADE me buy hollow ski poles and fill them with the stuff…

Camping in California and Utah…
I remember we drove VW Vanagons…a 1971 and then a 1981…for every day driving …they were perfect for our family size…but they were slow as hell…no power…maybe 70 horsepower… we took the V-Dubs on little trips and we sometimes towed our little boat or a VW Bug…the bug was handy to tow along so after settling in a campground we could go to town…(I mean that literally)...I vividly remember driving in first and second gear on the long incline before Las Vegas on our way to central California fishing lakes and State Parks…fishing with kids was always fun…(at least I thought it was)…as a kid my dad and I fished often and I caught my share…with the girls I spent all my time bating and re-bating their lines, untangling lines, de-hooking and re-hooking their lines…what fish we caught had to be cleaned and de-gutted and we’d have a few trout to cook on the Coleman stove…I soon stopped fishing with most of them, except Leesa and Sarah who loved it…they learned to do their own thing while I napped or read a book...and they carried their own poles and tackle boxes...Now THAT was the life!!!

Hell-icopters

Thanks to Julie for ‘things to blog about’ sent to me in February.

In the mid-sixties I was employed by Rossmoor Corporation in Laguna Hills, Leisure World, as a landscape draftsman. Our team occasionally flew to Walnut Creek, CA and New Jersey (other Leisure World locations) to lend a hand in their architecture department. We’d take Los Angeles Airways helicopters from O.C. airport to LAX and then on to our destination.

This aircraft flew only a few thousand feet off the ground north to LAX…they were military helicopter converted to seat around twenty passengers, the doors did not seal when in the air and the noise was deafening…fortunately the ride took about twenty minutes with no beverage services and no peanuts…my rides were always to Walnut Creek and when we arrived in San Francisco we were driven to the offices there…

I’ve never been a big fan of flying in airplanes, much less in helicopters…I remember reading the emergency card that said: ‘emergency flotation systems would keep the helicopter afloat long enough for all the occupants to evacuate in the event of a water landing’…I didn’t remember too much water between O.C. and LAX…

Shortly after getting back from my second trip North one of L.A. Airways ‘copters’ fell out of the sky in Los Angeles somewhere…Then maybe a few months later another fell in an abandoned school yard in Buena Park, or near there…perhaps a year later the third of L.A. Airways’ ‘copters’ fell on to a street in Norwalk…newspapers were quick to point out that the last crash was the third of four that L.A. Airways owned… and then they went bankrupt…

I had not flown in between the three crashes and I happily lived ever after…

You couldn’t pay me enough to fly in a helicopter again…

Camping resort? Cold hot dog? Canned fresh?

OK, this is supposed to be my Friday off but had to come in for a few hours and while searching my computer for a word document I needed I found a list of special effect words...oxymorons...they cracked me up and for a cheap thrill I posted it...

Jumbo shrimp
Taped live
Alone together
Working vacation
Pretty ugly
Head butt
Customer satisfaction
Death benefits
A definite maybe
First annual
Adult children
Alone in a crowd
Almost surprised
Authentic replica
Boneless ribs
Awfully good
Chocolate vanilla wafers
Artificial grass
and my favorite new one: Disposable products with a lifetime guarantee...

Last man standing...Woods Wins

I only could watch the first three holes of the playoff yesterday and wanted Tiger to win but didn't want Rocco to lose!

A lot of friends and I who played in a tournament yesterday rooted for the underdog and the big dog...some of the guys Tivo'd the playoff and didn't want to know who won...I called home and wasn't too surprised that Bum had been watching it on TV...my cell was on speaker phone as she told me and the rest of my foursome that Tiger had won...

Yesterday was our 46th Wedding anniversary which we celebrated on Father's Day...

p.s. Our team came in 24th out of 36...(Too many old guys in my foursome)

For Julie and Gina...first car

You were asking for a look at my first car?
A real beauty, eh?
It was a 1949 and I bought it with my own money, $50 cash around 1957...had to work two weeks to save up that much...
I spent another $50 and had it painted fire engine red at Earl Scheib's, then another $100 for a new black convertible top...

I always wanted to take it down to TJ and have it tucked and rolled but I never got around to it...well, to tell the truth, I had friends who wanted to go down there with me, and while my car was getting Tucked they had
'other' ideas, which didn't mean just drinking beer...so I never went...

It wasn't that hot of a car in those days but probably worth $15,000 or more today...
The De Soto car company went out of business around 1965...

Gentlemen start your drivers!

What a fabulous minor headline in the sports section of the L.A. Times this morning...
In case some of you have forgotten, the U.S. Open begins this morning in La Jolla...

Have you or haven't you?

I, too, stole this idea from my friend Julie who stole it from her friend Sarah's blog.
It's a list of 200 Have or Have Nots.The things in BOLD are the things I have done.The others I have not...
1. Touched an iceberg

2. Slept under the stars

3. Been a part of a hockey fight (when I was a cold little kid in Canada)

4. Changed a baby’s diaper (wish I had a dollar for every time)

5. Watched a meteor shower (yes and from hills in Laguna Hills)

6. Given more than you can afford to charity ( if you count 'donations' to St. Catherine's school in Laguna)

7. Swam with wild dolphins

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a tarantula

10. Said “I love you” and meant it ( of course )

11. Bungee jumped (and never will)

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise

15. Seen the Northern Lights ( hundreds of times in Canada...breathtaking!)

16. Gone to a huge sporting event

17. Climbed the stairs to the crown of the Statue of Liberty (been there but didn't go up)

18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables (yup)

19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope (at ten years old I had a 3" refracting telescope...Sunny also has one )

20. Laughed in church (Catholics are good at this)

21. Had a pillow fight (hasn't everyone?)

22. Bet on a winning horse

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (never in a hundred years)

24. Built a snow fort (in Canada? ya think?)

25. Held a lamb (do lamb chops count?)

26. Gone skinny dipping (I can't remember)

27. Taken an ice cold bath ( people who say they've taken cold baths lie about other things too)

28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar (not counting children, right?)

29. Seen a total eclipse (moon and sun)

30. Ridden a roller coaster (ONCE)

31. Hit a home run (at a park? No)

32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (Bum made me do it)

33. Adopted an accent for fun

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (only my mom's, in Montreal)

35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment ( when children were born, wedding day, grandchildren's birthdays )

36. Loved your job 90% of the time

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Watched wild whales (when they cruise by Laguna and in Maui)...are there 'tame' whales?

39. Gone rock climbing (why?)

40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach (last time we went to Hawaii and with a full moon)

41. Gone sky diving (again, why?)

42. Visited Ireland

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited India

45. Bench-pressed your own weight

46. Milked a cow

47. Alphabetized your personal files (one day I will)

48. Ever worn a superhero costume (not counting honeymoon night?)

49. Sung karaoke

50. Lounged around in bed all day

51. Gone scuba diving

52. Kissed in the rain...(probably, but I am not a duck...when it rains I go to a bar)

53. Played in the mud (my mom didn't allow it)

54. Gone to a drive-in theater (years ago and I LOVED it there)

55. Done something you should regret, but don’t

56. Visited the Great Wall of China (was going to go but not now with all those earthquakes)

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class ( I didn't but Sarah did and after I asked her once to show me what she learned...(below the belt and hurt like hell!) I never asked her again...

59. Been in a movie

60. Gone without food for 3 days

61. Made cookies from scratch (don't they come in boxes?)

62. Won first prize in a costume contest

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Been in a combat zone

65. Spoken more than one language fluently (in French speaking Quebec)

66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone

67. Bounced a check (not in a long time)

68. Read - and understood - your credit report

69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood thing

70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did ( grandfather on my mother's side was a mail man and he never went postal)

71. Called or written your Congress person (about landscape architectural licensing)

72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (not crazy about driving on it)

74. Helped an animal give birth

75. Been fired or laid off from a job

76. Won money ( a few bucks in Las Vegas, but not a lot)

77. Broken a bone (collarbone when around twelve...fell off a swing...I hate those things)

78. Ridden a motorcycle

79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph ( my '86 911 at 130)

80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing

82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

83. Eaten sushi (arigato)

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (only wedding announcement)

85. Read The Bible cover to cover

86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about (no luck with that in my household)

87. Gotten someone fired for their actions

88. Gone back to school (to UCI years ago for certificate in planning)

89. Changed your name (this is a secret...when we came to America I changed it from Pierre to Pete)

90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands

91. Eaten fried green tomatoes (with a wife from Arkansas, ya think?)

92. Read The Iliad (waiting for the movie)

93. Taught yourself an art from scratch

94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating ( fish are animals, aren't they?)

95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt

96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (sign language! happens all the time when I visit my Mom at the 'home')

97. Disappeared on me...

98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream (still waiting for that day)

99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care (my Dad early last year)

100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you (do Landscape plans count?)

101. Had a booth at a street fair

102. Dyed your hair (I've been dying it silver for years)

103. Been a DJ

104. Rocked a baby to sleep (a favorite thing to do)

105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours

106. Raked your carpet

107. Brought out the best in people (I constantly try to and have succeeded)

108. Brought out the worst in people (I'm afraid so...)

109. Worn a mood ring

110. Ridden a horse

111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap (I carved a snake out of a tree branch once)

112. Cooked a dish where people asked for the recipe

113. Buried a child

114. Gone to a Broadway play

115. Been inside the pyramids

116. Shot a basketball into a basket (but not my favorite sport)

117. Danced at a disco

118. Played in a band

119. Shot a bird (as a young lad and don't tell my grandkids)

120. Gone to an arboretum? ( used to be a favorite pastime for landscrapers like me)

121. Tutored someone

122. Ridden a train (from San Juan to San Diego)

123. Brought an old fad back into style

124. Eaten caviar

125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need (once or twice)

126. Ridden a elephant

127. Published a book

128. Pieced a quilt

129. Lived in an historic place

130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage

131. Asked for a raise

132. Made a hole-in-one (not yet)

133. Gone deep sea fishing (it's the main reason I love golf...fishing is not a sport, it's something you do when you're hungry)

134. Gone roller skating (as a kid)

135. Run a marathon

136. Learned to surf

137. Invented something?

138. Flown first class

139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite

140. Flown in a helicopter

141. Visited Africa

142. Sang a solo (in the shower, does that count?)

143. Gone spelunking (too claustrophobic)

144. Learned how to take a compliment (all the time)

145. Written a love-story (poetry to a special wife)

146. Seen Michelangelo’s David

147. Had your portrait painted

148. Written a fan letter

149. Spent the night in something haunted (our old El Caballo house was haunted with a friendly ghost)

150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane

151. Ran away

152. Learned to juggle

153. Been a boss (I love it)

154. Sat on a jury ( and sent the perp up the river)

155. Lied about your weight (on my driver's license)

156. Gone on a diet (tried the low carb diet and it worked great for a few weeks...then I got hungry again)

157. Found an arrowhead (in the desert...found two)

158. Written a poem (see # 145)

159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox

160. Gotten food poisoning (driving to Calif from Canada our whole family got it... in Albuquerque... from chicken fried steak)

161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission (in our young Catholic Club we once went to Pala mission and helped build adobe houses)

162. Been to the southern hemisphere (maybe, gotta check where Hawaii is)

163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks (we sit on boulders and watch ducks in lakes around our subdivision...not allowed to feed them tho) so I guess the answer's no)

164. Gone to the opera ( thankfully hasn't happened yet)

165. Gotten a letter from someone famous

166. Worn knickers (as a dorky little Canadian kid until I saw myself in a mirror, and told my Mom WTF)

167. Ridden in a limousine (on our 40th Annivesary gifted by the girls)

168. Attended the Olympics (1964 in L.A., Boxing)

169. Can hula or waltz

170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books (still have a complete set of the them)

171. Been stuck in an elevator

172. Had a revelatory dream

173. Thought you might crash in an airplane ( on the way to Las Vegas fifteen years ago, to a golf tournament, the rear exit door seal broke and down came the Oxygen masks...thought I was gonna die...)

174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert

175. Saved someone’s life ( rescued Sid last year in Hawaii when he fell into the jacuzzi...he tells everyone)

176. Eaten raw whale (no and not cooked either)

177. Know how to do needlepoint

178. Laughed till your side hurt (at Gina's blogs!)

179. Straddled the equator

180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing

181. Gone to a Shakespeare play

182. Sent a message in a bottle

183. Spent the night in a hostel

184. Been a cashier (in high school working at a garden nursery)

185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (and with the kids too)

186. Joined a union

187. Donated blood (three or four times a year...and platelets too)

188. Built a campfire (when Julie was a Bluebird and a Campfire Girl...I may blog it one of these days)

189. Have a blog (at about 125 now)

190. Had hives

191. Worn custom made shoes or boots

192. Made a PowerPoint presentation (many times to clients)

193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course (took a power boat class when we had a boat)

194. Served at a soup kitchen

195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube (never could do it)

196. Know CPR

197. Owned a convertible (my very first car was a 1949 De Soto convertible...bought it in 1957 for $50)

198. Found a long lost friend (Nope, but still looking for him)

199. Helped solve a crime

200. Fallen in love (many times with the same woman )

OK...that took a while..now tagging Gina and Glee, and Ange too, and Heather...

Welcome Dann!!!

Yesterday we had dinner with long time friends, Dann and Gail and Charlie and Glee...we've been getting together at least once a year for a "Gemini Dinner" and Christmases for twenty five years or more...we three guys are landscape architects and it so happens that our wives are all Gemini's...

the ladies usually exchange cute (they say) little gifts and the guys just sit there and laugh, drink and talk about our businesses...



Last night Glee mentioned the word "blog" and we talked about it for a while...then Dann asked what it was, how it worked, blah, blah...so today I dedicate and welcome Dann to the blogging world and hope he responds enthusiastically...but I doubt it...



Along with being a great landscape architect his passion is cars...we found out last night he just bought a (gonna be classic) 1954 Ford Ranchero which he plans on working on for the next decade or so...this new hot rod is in his three car garage along with parts from older Mustangs, as well as his two later model Mustangs, a motor home and I forgot what else...I assume it's a lot of crap...



Did I mention that Gemini's are quick witted, the life of the party and they like to talk???

It was a dark and gloomy day...

I'm not the only one suffering... but this morning I bought middle grade gas for $4.51 / gal

When I got to the office I couldn't help but notice dark and ominous clouds reflecting in the lake outside my window...

I could have taken it as a bad omen, but instead made a decision to close down the office on Fridays until business turns around...

I'll save on gas as well as toll road fees...

Clients all have my cell phone and e-mail if something important enough comes up to take care of on Friday or wait until Monday...I will decide if calls come in while playing golf on Fridays...the money I'll be saving will pay for a few rounds...

Not so gloomy after all...life is good...

An Open passion

The final day of the U.S. Open has always been played on Fathers’ Day, long before I became a father…Fathers’ Day and the U.S. Open have always been my favorite days of the year when the family gets together to eat, drink and be with family…and I love the gifts that are always so thoughtful and personal…

It’s not very fatherly or grandfatherly to watch the final three or four hours of this major championship with a house full of family, but I try to sneak a peek or two during the afternoon…and I feel guilty…

I will petition either the USGA or my family to hold the last day of the tournament on Saturday or, celebrate Fathers’ Day on Saturday next year…

OK, so I love golf…get over it