Adventures

Busy Saturday

Saturday I did the ocean dive portion of the drysuit class. I must say I didn’t like it all that much. The being dry and warm part was nice, but the added complexity of the suit took away some of the enjoyment of the dive for me. I could see myself getting used to that over time, but I don’t think I’ll be diving enough around here to buy a drysuit. Most of the nice parts of drysuit diving come when you have a really nicely fitted one.

I started the drive to Monterrey around 5am, and got back around 1:30pm. There was a little break where Steph and I got to cuddle, then we headed out to Lost Colony and met up with people for grilling at Andrew’s. The food was excellent as always. We played a little Dead Mans Draw, and added a bit more complexity than what used to be there. It was a good time.

February 11, 2018 0

Escape from AT&T Park

Since we like escape rooms we thought it would be a lot of fun to do one of the larger escape room events. This one was Escape from AT&T Park in SF. We got into SF a little early. I missed the train at the last second because I was trying to buy a ticket, but I was able to meet Steph at the 4th and King station by Lyfting there. We met up with the rest fo the crew at the Little Skillet, and Steph got some food. We headed over to the park and hung out on the field while waiting for people. We split into two groups, one of 4 and one of 5.

The puzzle was split into 4 major sections. The first part was pretty easy, just a lot of little bits to it. The second part had us stumped for a bit, but the other group was the first in the entire event to get through it. The third part wasn’t bad, and we got past it very quickly. The final part was also a breeze for us, as we understood the style of the puzzle pretty quickly. The other group went down the wrong tracks and got stuck. They were on the final puzzle for a really long time, being the second group to get there. I prefer games where the puzzle is difficult even when you know how to solve it. Most games meed to have a lowest common denominator, such that knowing how to solve the puzzle is always the hard part.

February 4, 2018 0

St. Louis Trip

I flew to St. Louis to visit with Michael, and help him with his non-profit. I got in Wednesday Evening, with a uneventful flight. He picked me up from the airport and then went back to his place. The neighborhood was nice, and I was surprised how open it was for being pretty close to downtown St. Louis. I’m not used to seeing empty lots or large unused back yards to buildings.

I led a seminar for his non-profit for the next two days, and we hung out with his girlfriend Ala. She was very nice, although she came down with something and couldn’t spend much time with us. I walked around and got to see some more of St. Louis. The food was very tasty, but heavy.

The startup space here has been amazing. In many ways it is better than the spaces I’ve seen in the Bay Area. The price is certainly lower. We went to a startup meetup, and it was pretty interesting. The vibe was pretty much the same as the startup mixers in SF, which means I was uncomfortable the whole time.

Saturday we went around a few neighborhoods, a farmers market, and got lunch at a smokehouse. We worked for the afternoon and went to one of Michael’s friends houses for games. We played an interesting game called Clank which was a mix of Dungeon Quest and Ascension. I enjoyed it, but it took a lot longer than it probably should have.

Sunday we went to the Zoo and worked some more.

Sunday evening we played some Dead of Winter, and it was a good time. We won by a lot, just from getting lucky on the characters we started with.

Monday we went to a meeting for social work in Catholic charities, and it was interesting. Michael got a lot more out of it than I did, but I still enjoyed hearing about it. The thing that struck me the most was that they wanted to track their work and quantify their impacts, but that they were lacking a solid metric to base their measure of success on.

We got lunch at a brewpub and he dropped me off at the airport. All in all a pretty good trip.

January 29, 2018 0

Breakwater Dive

Steph and I did an early Sunday dive in Breakwater. We did one really long dive, probably close to an hour underwater, and going from the wall out to the metridium fields. The dive was pretty nice, and not too cold, since we were doing quite a bit of swimming. We saw a sea lion or harbor seal underwater, but it was just a large black object that went by really quickly. It probably had a three foot approach to Steph, but didn’t slow down much. There were also a ton of nudibranchs, but all of them were the white with yellow tips varietal. I also saw a few different types of crab, including a massive sheepshead crab. It wasn’t extended, but I assume it would be around 5 foot span if it did. The metridiums were pretty as always, and we got a little lucky to run across them, as we didn’t hit the pipe first.

After the dive we walked along the waterfront to get crepes. I really enjoyed my pesto, tomato, and cheese crepe. The walk itself was much better than I would have thought, and something I’ll certainly want to do every time we go diving at Breakwater.

January 22, 2018 0

Skyline to the Sea

Stephanie, Adam, Tina, and I did part of the Skyline to the Sea trail. We didn’t do the part we meant to but we did about the same length we had planned. When we reached the trail from Big Basin, and then made a mistake. We saw a sign that said ‘Skyline to the Sea’ and just went off in that direction. We didn’t notice the sign went both ways along the trail. This meant instead of heading to the ocean, we were heading up the mountain. We made it up to the intersection of 9 and 236, but were unable to get an Uber or Lyft to come get us. We managed to get a ride into Saratoga, and hung out for a bit at Cinnabar, a wine bar.

Later that day we got dinner with George and Adam. The place was Adega and the food was pretty good. My favorite dish was the duck fried rice, and I think the sangria sampler was even better than that. It was a good day.

December 30, 2017 0

Wine Train

Stephanie, Adam, and I went on the Napa wine train that goes from Napa City to St. Helena. We got there a little early and decided to walk around the city for a bit after checking in for the train. We found a coffee shop and a charcuterie, that we stopped by again later.

We then went to the train and got on. The train was only half full at 15 of 30 spots taken. We got a nice breakfast on the way to the first winery, Domaine Chandon. They were a typical winery, and we got a nice tasting of some sparkling wine. It was a place we could go hang out during a work remote day, as they had a massive patio. On the way to the second winery we got a soup and salad. The second winery, Hall, was our favorite of the three. They were clearly about creating a good place to be, and it is a place we might go to hang out. The only issue being that it requires a membership to be in their hanging out area. They had art all around, with the most icon piece being a giant silver bunny in the front called ‘Bunny Fufu.’ Hall also had the best wine of the trip, by general unanimous agreement, 2015 hall terra secca cabernet sauvignon. We had a nice dinner on the way to the third and final winery, Inglenook. They had a lot of interesting old things: books, clothes, mechanical objects. They had also built a cave into to house their wines as they aged. We took the train back to Napa and had a nice desert. The wine and food was generally great. A few of the dishes and a few of the wines were fantastic.

We then went back to the charcuterie, and Adam got some food for Saturday. We went to Grace’s Table for dinner as it was recommended by Michelin. Adam drove us back and we went right to bed.

December 30, 2017 0

Paint Nite – Jelly Fish

Stephanie took me to a Paint Nite as her Christmas gift to me. It was at the Backyard coffee close by where we live. We got there, and the walk was pretty chilly, so we both got big hot chocolates. It was tasty, and I noticed Redwood Coast Cider was on tap. We got started and I found some reference photos for putting some kelp in the background and for the jelly. I chose the ones I’m most familiar with, the sea nettles that I see in Monterey Bay.

December 25, 2017 0

Karaoke and Board Games

George hosted a holiday themed karaoke night on Friday. Steph and I joined everyone for dinner beforehand at Pho Vy. We got there with George, Adam, and Tina. Then the holiday spirit arrived with Debby, Lindsay, Kevin, and Andrew wearing horrible holiday sweaters.

After dinner we headed to George’s to start the karaoke. I put on a few of my favorite Christmas songs. I like that many of the Christmas songs are for baritones, making it much easier for me to sing. The ones I ended up singing were, ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,’ ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,’ ‘You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch,’ and ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside.’

We also ended up pulling out some board games. Adam, Tina, Steph, and I played Terraforming Mars. I got a good start, but Adam pulled way out ahead with the milestones. Kevin, Steph, and I also played a round of Mysterium, and did really, really badly.

December 2, 2017 0

Newlywed Game

Steph and I joined Andrew/Debby, Lindsay/Kevin, Jamie/Leyan, and a couple from Lindsay’s former job for the newlywed game. Lindsay and Kevin’s roommate did the hosting job for us, and did much better than the previous two. We had a good time, and the food was amazing. We probably brought the worst showing, but only because everyone else brought phenomenal food.

Steph and I ended up losing the game. Lindsay and Kevin ended up winning. There were a lot of really open ended questions, and I always go way too off the beaten path for those. I look forward to playing again next year!

October 7, 2017 0