Christmas 2008 – Winter Plants

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Winter can be cold and dreary in the northeast, where my parents live.  Sure, there are some sunny days, but much of the time the weather is cold and cloudy.  I’m not much of a winter person – I love the California coastal weather.  As the years pass, my parents are, less and less, winter people.  They love the weather in California.

Decades ago my parents closed in their back porch.   The room is not large, but it’s wonderfully cosy,  There  is space for a small dining area, comfortable couches, stereo speakers, and many plants filling the large windows.  It’s like a solarium.  They spent a lot of time there, particularly in winter.   It makes you remember that there are still growing things in the world – memories of California, Italy and Hawaii.

Here are three plants, nestled comfortably against the window, getting some sun.  The left one is a rosemary bush (I think ) with a few purple oxalis that managed to sneak their way into the pot.  The center plant is a miniature rose.  The right plant is unknown.  It was blooming outside in the snow and my mother dug it up – she thought it deserved to live.  My mother can grown anything.

 

 

Christmas 2008 - Plants in Winter

Christmas 2008 - Plants in Winter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   

amarez-mszv

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Christmas 2008 – Harbor View – Oyster Point, California

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Last Christmas, before I flew to the northeast US  to visit family, I decided to do a “park, sleep, and fly” , since I had to get to the airport so early.  It’s a wonderful thing – you pay for a hotel room for one night, at a hotel near the airport.  The hotel keeps your car, takes you to the airport, and picks you up.    I love it. 
                            
I stayed at a hotel that was a little bit fancy,  a business hotel where I got an excellent weekend rate – The Inn at Oyster Point – http://www.innatoysterpoint.com/ .   The inn has a view of the Oyster Point marina in South San Francisco – http://www.smharbor.com/oysterpoint/ .  I didn’t even know that South San Francisco, an industrial town south of San Francisco (good name!)  had a marina!  I also forgot that people decorate their boats for the Christmas holidays, just like they do their homes. 

Here’s a view of the marina, at night, from my hotel room.   It was magical.    I had a wonderful time.

Christmas 2008 - Harbor View - Inn at Oyster Point

Christmas 2008 - Harbor View - Inn at Oyster Point

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                           
                   
                
amarez – mszv
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Merry Christmas

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Merry Christmas to everyone. 

Point Reyes Seashore - look in the distance

Point Reyes Seashore - look in the distance

 

 

If you click on the picture, you’ll see land, barely visible, in the distance – very mysterious.

Maybe it’s not land – maybe it’s a ship.

 

 

 

 

Amarez – mszv

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Travel Retropective 2008, Part 2 – Point Reyes

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I went to Point Reyes for my birthday in February, and stayed at the Point Reyes Seashore Lodge, in Olema.  It was a magical trip.  I love the Point Reyes seashore – it’s one of my favorate places in the world.
Point Reyes Seashore Lodge

Point Reyes Seashore Lodge

                   
                    
             
Here is a view of the hotel and the neighboring restaurant from the road.  The lodge is at one of the entraces to Point Reyes National Seashore.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Point Reyes National Seashore - Chimney Rock area

Point Reyes National Seashore - Chimney Rock area

 
 
 
 
 
Could a trail be any more beautiful?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                            
 
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Amarez – mszv

Travel Retropective 2008, Part 1 – Disneyland

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This was a year of short trips. In June I accompanied a family member to an ALA (American Library Association) conference in Anaheim, California.  So, for the first time in my life, we went to Disneyland, very convenient as our hotel was across the street from the park.

Disneyland was oddly fun!

Disneyland Fantasyland Castle

Disneyland Fantasyland Castle

 

 

 

 

 It’s hard to get pictures without random strangers in the background, so I had to be creative.  Here is a view of the castle that is different from the one we usually see.

 

 

 

Disneyland Tomorrowland from the Monorail

Disneyland Tomorrowland from the Monorail

 

 

You get good views from the Monorail.  The Monorail is fun, but it’s doesn’t have the same “wow” factor that I think it had in the 1950s.   Today, it reminds me of other forms of mass transit.

 

 

 

Disneyland Mickey's Toontown

Disneyland Mickey's Toontown

 

 

This section opened in 1993, but it’s based on old Disney, the original cartoons – very creative.  We loved it.

 

 

 

 

California Adventure Entrance

California Adventure Entrance

 

 

California Adventure is the Disney theme park that is across from the original Disneyland.

 

 

 

 

California Adventure - Hollywood

California Adventure - Hollywood

 

 

I liked the Hollywood part of California Adventure.  It seemed right that it was fake because, well, Hollywood is fake!

The front building is “real”, the back section is a picture on a flat surface.

 

 

 

 

 

Disneyland entrance - bench

Disneyland entrance - bench

 

 

Isn’t this bench clever?  I love the Mickey ears.

 

 

 

 

 

Amarez – mszv

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Walking in the Palo Alto Baylands

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Last weekend (and the weekend before) I felt better, so I went for a stroll in the Baylands Preserve in Palo Alto.  (Aside – recovery from knee surgery takes longer than one would think!).  The Bayland Preserve is one of the parks that ring the San Francisco Bay.  The goal is to have the entire bay ringed by parks and a walking trail, but we aren’t there, yet.

Here’s a map – http://baynature.org/places

Some pictures

Palo Alto Baylands Park

Palo Alto Baylands Park

 

 

You can see Bxybee park in the distance.   The poles are part of an outdoor sculpture. 

 

 

 

 

Palo Alto Baylands - Great Egret

Palo Alto Baylands - Great Egret

 

 

The bird is a Great Egret, a member of the heron family.

 

 

 

 

Great Egret at Sunset

Great Egret at Sunset

 

 

This one is from my camera phone.

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Baylands.

Amarez – mszv

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Fall – where I live

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This is Fall, where I live.  It rained yesterday, but it’s sunny today.  It’s not warm enough for swimming – well, maybe if the pool was heated!

My Pool in the Fall

My Pool in the Fall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some trees change colors, and some don’t.  Some deciduous trees keep their leaves.   Most of the trees and plants are not native to California (just like me!), so the effect can be a little strange.  It’s so wonderful, but at the same time you look around and ask yourself “where the heck am I”?

Fall - Trees and Plants

Fall - Trees and Plants

 

 

 

Even now, in Fall, something is blooming – the bush, below the trees, has little blue flowers. 

I love where I live – San Francisco Bay Area, south of San Francisco, coastal California.

 

 

 

 

 

mszv – Amarez

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My Weather Station

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I wanted to get myself a treat, so when I was in my local Longs Drug Store (sells way more than drugs) I ran across an inexpensive portable weather station.  The weather station consists of two parts: a wireless thermometer that you leave outside, and an inside unit.  The inside unit displays inside and outside temperature, the date and time, and min and max temperature.  There is a backlight and an alarm feature, which I don’t use.  The inside and outside pieces can be separated by a maximum of 100 feet, 30.48 meters.

Weather Station

Weather Station

 Here is a picture of the weather station.  As you can see, the inside and outside pieces don’t register exactly the same temperature.

I put the outside device outside, near my door, hidden by one of the containers of my container garden.  The outside device will run a little warm because it’s next to a wall, protected from the elements.  I get no end of pleasure looking at the inside and outside temperative!

 

You might wonder – why do I bother?  I can open my door and see what the weather feels like.  I’m in and out all the time.  I know that, but I love looking at something that reinforces my addiction to the wonderful and magical weather where I live, the San Franciscso Bay area (not SF itself), northern coastal California.  The temperature doesn’t vary all that much, which makes it so  comfortable.  I love seeing how it cools down at night, even during the warm season.   The weather station doesn’t report humidity, but if it did, I’d see that the humidity is generally low.  I love California.

amarez – mszv

Knee Surgery – I love my Cane!

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I had knee surgery on Thursday, October 16.  I thought it was arthroscopic knee surgery, but it turns out that the arthroscopic part was for diagnosis, and the rest was regular surgery, darn it!  I’m not into medical terms, or medicine in general, so my translation of “arthroscopic” means “you heal faster”.   OK – just to be thorough – here’s a link, from medline plus – http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002972.htm.   I got squicked out just by reading the article!

I’m in the process of getting better.   Even though it was “regular” surgery, this is not expected to be a long drawn out kind of recovery.  Two things I really like are the following: artificial ice and my cane.

Artificial Ice.  I decided to ice my knee myself, instead of renting the “keep it cool” medical device you plug in.  The big breakthrough –  the blue stuff you put in a cooler, when you are going on a picnic.  At Walgreens I bought an artificial ice pack designed just for knees.  The freezer part has the liguid suspended in little globes on a sturdy piece of plastic.  Even after you freeze it, the sheet is bendable.  It comes with a velcro cloth pack.  You stuff the sheet of artificial ice into the cloth pack and attach it to your knee with the attached velcro strap.  The “ice” pack is easy to use and really swell.

I like my cane even better.  I got my cane at Walgreens, the same place I got the artificial ice for my knee.   I’d give you the brand name of the cane, but I took off all the tags.  My cane is a marvel of design – light aluminum,  adjustable, sturdy tip, padded handle, a strap, and it’s a pretty bronze color.  It’s so well designed that it fits over a door knob or the back of a chair, without falling off.  This is not the type of cane that you see on television shows like House, a cane just for pretty – this is a cane you can use.   I’m going to keep my cane in case I ever need knee surgery again.

Here’s a picture of my cane.  I shot it from the door of my place.  My cane is resting against the railing of the second floor walkway. 

My Cane

My Cane

 

 

 

I love my cane!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

amarez – mszv

MBA – at the mall!

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It’s a bit of a trend – business schools with their own campus, either on the main campus, or at another location.

The business building at my school was old and creaky, though the university campus was very nice.   In January 2007, we moved to a new space, at a downtown mall!  You can’t just wander into the school area, from the shops at the mall, though we are in the same huge building as the mall.  As you can see, there are some great views of the mall from the business school “campus”.

View of the shopping mall

View of the shopping mall

 

 

View of the shopping mall from one of the corridors of our new location, taken through a glass window.  The business school is in the same building as the mall.  Our space – classrooms, offices, breakout rooms – is very nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it’s funny.

Regards,

amarez – mszv