Just returned from a holiday trip to sunny and warm San Diego. We had a great time visiting the (new to me) family. Did some tailgating at Qualcomm before the Christmas Eve Monday Night Football game Chargers’ win (23-3) over the Broncos.
Los Dos Pedros Taco Stand in La Jolla – surprisingly it was open late on Christmas Eve. Good food too.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without some garish inflatable decorations.
We also got our first chance to play on some friends of ours Wii. It was very odd. I think I may have permanently damaged my right elbow playing baseball on that thing. It was funner than hell though and now we want to buy one too.
On the ‘let’s tie all of these posts together’ view of life, I did get first class on the flight this morning from San Diego to Seattle. That rocked. Throw-in waiting at the two-story Alaska Airlines Boardroom between C & D concourses at SeaTac and it was a rather enjoyable morning. Unfortunately, driving 60 miles each way out to Palmer to pick-up the dog on icy highways immediately after getting off the plane sucked. But, the dog was very happy at Wetland Retrievers and I recommend them to anyone needing to board a retriever.
Leaving tonight for mildly cloudy Southern California for a week to visit the in-laws. Just arrived back in town this morning from Chicago after attending a family funeral. I’m rather tired of flying but this is the holiday season so traveling is basically par for the course here in America. Too bad we won’t be flying first-class ’cause that would have been awesome.
I never fully realized how much of a pain in the ass driving from South Anchorage out to mile 7 of Palmer-Fishhook Road actually is. Jesus, that took a long time. Thankfully the weather fully cooperated with it being nice and sunny. The dog enjoyed the trip, sitting in the back of the truck with the topper, a nice double-layer of doggie blankets underneath. I timed the drive out and back right too. Not bad traffic wise leaving Anchorage at 12:30 and returning at 3:45.
I was driving the opposite way from traffic but, jeesh, the trip comes to a complete stop once you hit the Glenn/Bragaw intersection. The highway narrows to two lanes each way right where there’s more traffic and actual stop lights. I would HATE (yes, it requires capital letters) to drive that every day like so many people. Make myself cry. 120 freaking miles round-trip! That’s insane! But, this was all for the dog’s benefit. She better freaking appreciate this when I have to do this drive again in two weeks to drop her off at Wetland Retrievers for two weeks of running around with other dogs while I’m at the in-laws out-of-state.
Photo from my last trip to Hatcher’s Pass which is at the end of Palmer-Fishhook Road.
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On a totally unrelated tangent, I read today in the Anchorage Daily News “that for the first time in the city’s recent history half of its students are minorities.” Evidently, the school district’s been tracking such stats since 1976 when only 13 percent of the students were minority. But, as Mark Twain said, “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” The increase appears to be based in part “from last year to this year in the ethnicity report can be attributed to new reporting methods according to federal guidelines.” But the Superintendent did say that the results “is a more accurate reflection of the [school] district.”
Even without the changes in statistical sampling, I think this is awesome. Living in a vibrant, diverse (in both cultures and thoughts) dynamic area is great all-around. Better restaurants. More interesting and varied job applicants and workers. New people with different ways of tackling problems. Sure it creates issues (short-term gain in crime rates given that immigrants tend to live, at least during the first generation in lower-income areas) but in the long-run, having a racially diverse community is only a positive. It shows to the youth that hating another person or disrespecting another simply on the basis of color or national origin is wrong. I’ve got no problem hating other people but at least hate them for a rational reason.
airplanes, holidays, vacations | operator101 | 
Sunday 30 December 2007 7:43 pm | 
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