My mom and dad came to visit from Atlanta. They enjoyed spending time with me, and I got to go to some of the local attractions that I wouldn’t otherwise go to. The San Mateo County museum was particularly interesting. It had exhibits on ‘The California Dream,’ the gold rush, the great estates, the shipping along the coast, WWII and Japanese interment, surfing, and a mishmash exhibit of different cultures that had moved to the area.
I had a great time with Fred and Karin. We got to eat at all the places I loved, and they enjoyed them as well. They lamented that there was no Burmese place in Birmingham, because they liked Rangoon Ruby so much. I have to admit that Rangoon Ruby is my favorite restaurant, so I can understand their lamentations.
We went on a great hike in Rancho San Antonio, and got a great view of the bay.
We also went to Oakland and got a good look at the bonsai garden there with Karin giving us a guided tour of what all the techniques were that were being used and a good bit about the history of the garden.
The kitties have been so happy since we’ve gotten back. They were also really happy with the nice presents my parents got them.
Steph and I took a few days in Cuba after the Mexico trip since we were so close. It turned out pretty well, and I’m really glad we got to see it before a lot of the new construction completed. The city was an interesting mix of semi-new and old things. There was also a huge mix of well kept vs. not, and little of the kept state had to do with age.
The place where we stayed was very nice, Casa Densil. The owner Ezio, was nice and helpful. The rooms he had were full of what I would consider antiques, but they were the kinds of thing that people there were used to using everyday since they hadn’t been getting many imports. The cars were somewhat as we expected, with the 50’s taxis. There were also a number of newer cars going around from the 80’s and 90’s. Most of those cars were European or Asian, none from the US of course. The food was pretty good. We went to a Swedish Cuban Fusion place for the first two nights called Casa Miglis. The second night we tried to get into the top restaurants, but they were fully booked. The second rated restaurant was in an interesting building. It was an old shopping mall that had the bottom two floors completely empty. It was clear by the nice marble everywhere that it at one point had been upscale. The restaurant was on the third floor, but there was no signage for it. The only thing that gave it away was a guy standing out front that said we were in the right place when we looked confused. I don’t think he worked there, just hanging out. Many of the streets had people and families just hanging out on the sidewalks. There wasn’t really internet or TV so that is the primary pass time, sitting around and talking. The communities seemed pretty strong. We noticed one night there squares where buildings had been torn down and park benches installed on the concrete slabs. They were full of people on tables, which we found odd since there wasn’t internet. We didn’t ask but I’m pretty sure they were setting up local networks for file sharing.
The flight back was rough. The flight from Cuba to Cancun was delayed by 3 hours, and then the flight from Cancun to SFO was delayed by 15 hours. Not the longest I’ve had to wait for a flight, but still rough. The kitties were so happy to have us home.
Steph and I joined a Diver Dan’s trip to Mexico. There were two locations for the trip: Xcalak, close to Belize, and Puerto Aventuras.
Xcalak was a really nice beach area, and the dive shop was pretty, but we got there at the same time as a group of new interns. The DM’s were trying to get everything ready and teach the interns at the same time. We had a great guide Mathias, and he was able to keep things going mostly smoothly for us. The first day Steph got sick after the first dive and we went back in. The second day we did a nice first dive, then tried to exit the barrier reef. During the exit the boat was hit by a massive wave that washed over the deck. Most people were knocked from their seats, and much of the boat gear was knocked overboard. Steph and I were hit hard by the wave, and we kept our seats, but to our detriment. Steph got cuts on her hand from holding hard to the bench, and I got cuts on my leg from hitting against the same bench. We circled back to pick up the first aid kit from the waves, and got a bit patched up. Steph went diving with a rubber glove on, filled with antiseptic. I stayed on the boat and helped pull things out of the water. Steph’s dive computer was gone for good, but its depth sensor had just broken anyway. Not a huge loss.
The place we stayed, Casa Paraiso, was really nice. I liked the view, and they had clearly put a lot of effort into making it really nice, despite not being able to get all the best materials.
We then trecked up to Puerto Aventuras and got situated. The next day we got to start the cavern diving with Under the Jungle. Our guide was the owner Natalie. This was the real reason Steph and I had come, and it was amazing. The first day we didn’t get the good light effects, since it was cloudy. We did get nice light effects for a few days we were there. During the cavern dives we were paired with Pej, the 6’5″ guy and his wife Lili. They were a fun couple to talk to, and Pej might listen to more audiobooks than I do.
We had a great time on the beach, and found a swim up bar. I love swim up bars, disproportionate to how fun they actually are. We ended up there two nights of the time we were in Puerto Aventuras.
I found this somewhat derivative of Small Gods, but it had enough of a twist that it was good unto itself. I really liked it. The end was a good twist, and I do wonder where the world goes after the end of that book, so it could be interesting.
We had an offer accepted on a house!
The house is 314 G St. in Redwood City. It is in one of the best areas for us, and it was a really nice house. There isn’t much we’ll need to do before moving in either. I think we can get a pretty much move in early January assuming we get people to fix the few things we want done quickly. It is going to save me more than 30 minutes each way on my commute, and Steph now has a 5 minute walk to work.
I decided to do a 3D VR model of the house so we could place furniture. I’ve build in all the furniture we currently own, and I’ll be putting in a lot of the things that we want, but don’t currently own. The big public areas are the biggest unknown as they do have a lot of doors and windows, so placing is tricky, but very manageable. I’m really happy with our purchase.
Lindsay set up a white elephant gift exchange for our friendgroup, and we ended up doing it at George’s. It was a lot of fun, and there were plenty of troll gifts. I was glad that the gift I got was the only one to be stolen 3 times. It was a Pusheen beanie, with the cat ears sticking up when someone was wearing it.
We then started singing Christmas songs, and it was a great time. I was so tired, and a somewhat drunk, but it was still fun to cuddle with Stephanie on the foof and sing. She was getting tired too, and was the one driving, so we headed out a little early.
Stephanie and I went to Atlanta for Thanksgivings week. We were only there Monday to Friday, which was just about the right amount of time. I was able to talk with my parents, and I got lucky in getting a gift for my dad that he really liked. My mom also appreciated it. We played codenames, and I think they liked it.
Fred and Karin showed up on Wednesday, and we got to talk a lot about many things. They will try to come out and visit early next year. It is possible they will combo it with another trip they are planning to Oakland. It will be nice to show them around, and I think they’ll enjoy it greatly.
One morning we hiked Stone Mountain. Stephanie seemed to enjoy the activity. I certainly liked it, and the view was a lot clearer than I was expecting.
Other than that it was mainly lots of eating and chatting. We enjoyed Holeman and Finch. It had really tasty food as usual.
I really appreciated how Stephanie interacted with my family nicely, despite it being overwhelming for her I’m sure.
It's an Exciting World 