Visitors

Sam's sister Tina arrived yesterday with her husband and daughter. They drove up from Las Vegas with his Mom. They can only stay a few days but it's always great to see them.

We BBQ'd last night and stayed up late talking and reminiscing. Tonight we're taking Nicole, whose birthday is Sunday, to her first baseball game. Adam has tickets to see his Nationals lose to the Dodgers.

Meerkat Manor

If you enjoy animals and haven't been watching Meerkat Manor I highly recommend this show.

Airing on the Animal Planet network Friday nights you can jump right in even if you've never seen an episode but I gotta warn you, once you catch one episode you'll be hooked.

Meerkat Manor follows a family of Meerkat's known as the Whisker's clan. A group of biologists from Cambridge studied the family for 10 years chronicling their lives 24 hours a day and somehow cleverly thought it would make a great series.

Boy were they right, Meerkat Manor has drama, comedy and a cast of characters you'll quickly become very interested in.

Heat Wave

When the thermometer on Saturday said it was 119 degrees outside I thought it was broken.

Then the news confirmed it. Yesterday it hit 117.

To say it's been pretty uncomfortable would be an understatement.

This and That

It's been a lovely week.

Sunday we had a wonderful picnic with friends at Will Rodgers State Park.

Wednesday was Stephanie's 19th birthday and her boyfriend Jordon joined us to go out to dinner. Steph wanted to go to PF Chang's and then we came home and played games.

Today the boys and I went down to the Long Beach Aquarium. After enjoying the acquariums we walked across the street and had a long lunch at Bubba Gump's. I'm still stuffed.

Andrew has been working just about every day as an umpire at the summer baseball tournaments which has provided a chance to see some folks we haven't in a while.

Steph's really enjoying her job at Camp Kinerate.

I was able to get an article and a column done this week so now I can focus on reading and getting a couple of reviews done.

Back to Reality

That happy I had a great vacation glow followed me through the entire week. I was dragging a bit Tuesday but determined to tackle getting caught up on various domestic chores, like laundry and shopping, so that I could just sit down and work for a couple of days. It was obvious that Sam and Andrew made some effort to clean-up after themselves while I was gone, which was a pleasent but welcome surprise.

We knew we needed to replace our air-conditioner this summer so while I was gone Sam dealt with getting prices and stuff and he'd arranged to have the work done Wednesday and Thursday so that took place while I made some order out of all my notes and transcribed some of the tape's so I could start writing up some things.

By Thursday I was ready to start writing and I got the three most pressing articles written up, at least in draft form. Friday I had promised to help out at the rink for a little while at the LA Open but when I got back I dropped the boys off at the movies with a friend and did a few corrections, polished up the articles and sent them off which left me with a nice sense of accomplishment. I should easily get at least one more article done next week but I've got to finish reading a book and do that review too and that has to take priority.

Andrew had a blast at OZZFEST. Sam's dad Mel was kind enough to take Andrew and his friend Daniel the weekend I was gone. All week we got to hear about how awesome it was. Andrew's working at the baseball fields this weekend, they've got a tournament going on and he's working all day today and tomorrow both in the concession stand and as an umpire.

Stephanie was reassigned at work and put in charge of a group of 4th and 5th grade girls. It's hard work but she's enjoying it and each day we look forward to her recounting little tid bits about her day. I'm glad she's making time to have some fun with her friends too though.

Tonight my friend Gary is hosting a small get together to play Harry Potter Scene It which should be fun. I've never played one of the Scene It games before.

More Trip Recounting

Above is Adam in the Metro station near our hotel.

We woke up in our hotel room Friday morning with aching calves. I have no idea how far we had walked in total over 12 hours the previous day but according to how my legs felt, it was a lot.

We didn't have to leave the DC area until about 3:30pm so after packing up and storing our stuff in the car trunk, Adam and I checked out and jumped back on the Metro to go down to the Smithsonian. We got there shortly after it opened and spent the day exploring the American History Museum.

When it was at last time to say good-bye to DC we headed for the Hunt Valley Inn outside of Baltimore for the annual Shore Leave convention. Adam has joined me for the last few years when I've attended this convention and once again we had a great time and enjoyed sharing several memorable experiences.

Friday evening was the usual presentation by the editors at Pocket Books about what's new and upcoming from the Star Trek fiction line. As usual my note taking skill couldn't keep up with all the information that was being presented but I taped it so I had all the material I would need for articles and columns over the next few months.

Another Friday night feature at Shore Leave is an event called "Meet the Pros". Basicly all the authors in attendence line a large hallway outside the two main convention rooms, each at a table and you wander around chatting and getting books signed. Adam and both got a few things signed and by then it was late so Adam headed off to bed and I hit the bar to track down some friends and get caught up on their news.

Saturday we attended a number of panels devoted to the books, or various subjects that interested us. There is always so much to choose from at Shore Leave. Among the guests this year were Conner Trinneer from Enterprise and Jamie Bamber from Battlestar Galactica (he's even cuter in person). There were a number of other SciFi guests too, including several of the actors from Stargate, a show I've never gotten into to, but they were guests I've seen and meet at other conventions with the excepetion of Tony Todd who played Klaa in Star Trek V.

One of the great things about Shore Leave is that it's an old-fashioned fan run con, not a money making venture so autographs with the guests are included in your registration fee, which this year did go up a bit to $55. To me however, it's a great value, I always feel like I've gotten more than my monies worth.

Saturday evening was the famous costume Masquerade. My favorites were the gigantic Borg Assimilated Tribble and the SW VII: The Purple Menace which was a little sketch that featured a jedi knight in a light saber dual in which he vanquishes Barney the dinosaur.

The Masquerade half-time show was provided by the Boogie Nights, a group of very talented performers who were recently joined by Keith R.A. DeCandido, an author I know. I have a whole new respect for Keith now after having seen him on stage in a jester's costume whaling away on his bong go drums.

Sunday we attended more panels and picked up a few things from the dealers room that Adam wanted for his weapon collection. He saves all year to blow some money at Shore Leave.

One of the highlights of Shore Leave each year is Mystery Trekkie Theater, which is where Bob Greenberger, Peter David and Michael Jan Friedman lampoon a trek episode to the delight of a very large audience. This year they did a take off on the TOS episode "A Private Little War" which was a riot.

They always begin with a little sketch, this years was a radio style little piece entitled The Fairy Home Companion. I kid you not there were grown men prancing around in fairy wings and antenea. When Corin Nemec(Stargate SG-1) emerged vamping it up for all he was worth, the crowd roared.

After the con ended Sunday evening Adam and we out for a nice crab dinner (how could you go to Baltimore and enjoy some blue crab?) and then we took in a showing of Pirates of the Carribean before collapsing.

Our flight home Monday wasn't until late afternoon so we payed a short visit to the harbor area in Baltimore before heading for the airport and flying home.

All in all a wonderful trip!

Sightseeing in D.C.

After the zoo, Adam and I stopped to have a bite to eat before taking the Metro to the International Spy Museum. Adam had seen a brochure for this museum at our hotel and thought it sounded pretty cool so we decided to check it out.

To be honest I didn't expect much but it turned out to be really great. The museum was much larger than I had expected and the displays and exhibits were fascinating and very well put together.

From there we got back on the Metro once again and headed off to Arlington National Cemetary.

I have vague memories of visiting the cemetary on a trip to Washington with my family when I was pretty young and it was a place I was looking forward to seeing. As we walked along the pathways between the gravestones, there was such a feeling of serenity and peace. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier we sat for a while in repectful silence as we watched the sentry.

We had originally planned to walk the Mall that evening and see the monuments at night when they are all lit up so when Arlington closed we headed back to the metro station and got off at the Mall but after strolling for about 15 or twenty minutes we both realized that we had had enough for one day. We'd been on the go at that point for 12 straight hours so we had a nice dinner and called it a day.

Great Trip!

To say Adam and I enjoyed our trip to the D.C./Baltimore area would be an understatement. We had a blast! It will take a few posts to tell you about all of it.

We arrived at the Washington D.C. airport (Dullas) right on time Wednesday evening. I'd been able to find direct roundtrip flights on Jet Blue for a great deal and we needed to rent a car anyway when we got there so for that price I didn't mind having to drive a bit further.

By the time we were in the rental car and on our way into D.C. it was dark and raining so we had a bit of trouble finding the hotel. Signage in D.C. isn't the best and I had to strain to see the street signs but we finally found the hotel and got checked in, grabbed some food and mapped out our plans for the next day.

It's tough to drive in D.C. so we had planned to leave the car at the hotel and just walk or use the metro, which worked perfectly. It was fast and easy, wish we had mass transit here, it would sure make life easier.

Knowing we'd only have two days in D.C. we prioritized what we wanted to see and first on the agenda was the National Zoo. We got there bright and early before the crowds and got to see all the big cats while they were playful and active before the day heated up. The cheetahs were just gorgeous. They have a very successful breeding program at the zoo.

Then we headed over to see the baby Panda, Tai Shan who was playing and climbing in his enclosure with his mother. There are few animals as cute as a baby Panda and we spent quite a while watching him.

We walked the whole zoo from one end to the other and then saw our favorites again on the way back to the metro station. More later I'm out of time for now.

Summer Fun

Adam and I are just about ready for our trip to Baltimore for the Shore Leave Convention. We leave early Wednesday morning for D.C. where we're going to visit the National Zoo on Thursday before driving to the Hunt Valley Inn outside of Baltimore on Friday. Then we've got three days of Shore Leave fun to look forward to before we fly home again on Monday.

Tomorrow I'll stock the fridge, lay in the pet supplies and do any last minute running around. The 4th we're just going to spend quietly and BBQ.

Andrew had originally planned to come with Adam and I this year but then he got a chance to attend OZZ Fest, which I know he really wanted to go to, so he and his good buddy Daniel will be spending a couple of days with my father-in-law Mel who has been kind enough to offer to take them and chaperone them at the day long concert.

This past Thursday and Friday Andrew participated in the college prospect camp at USC. He was one of two first basemen invited and it was a really great experience for him. He more than held his own against some of the top baseball players in Southern California which has got to be a big boost for his confidence.

I really need this break and can't wait to get on that plane and just relax for a few days. Stephanie is going to hold the fort at home for us.