Kibitzer?

(Kibitzer) I heard it again today, NO it wasn't in reference to me...It was a colleague.

It is one of those words that I occasionally hear and that have never taken the time to truly understand. Until now.
*In any case, I strive to never ever be referred to as a Kibitzer.
In my book, it's a nice way of calling someone a cheating, meddling, un solicted advise wielding buffoon.

kib·itz·er

1.	a spectator at a card game who looks at the players' cards over their shoulders, esp. one who gives unsolicited advice.

2.	a giver of uninvited or unwanted advice.

3.	a person who jokes, chitchats, or makes wisecracks, esp. while others are trying to work or to discuss something seriously.

Big Ben from County Hall and Big Ben

Dad, I know you will appreciate this. A great photo taken by my good friend Martin. One of the webs original bloggers. A true Brit that has somehow found is way to Utah read more here. And of course a shot of my buddy Bentley ...also known as "Big Ben".

We are ok

Thanks to all of you that have expressed concern. The Santiago fire moved south and spared Irvine and any potential threat to Newport. We continue to have smoke but the wind is almost gone. Change is in the air and I can feel good weather coming. Fire status is here: oc register.

Difficult times; We have good friends in San Diego that have been evacuated and one of the skating coach's from the rink ALMOST lost his house up in Arrowhead. *** 9/27 Correction the house in arrowhead was spared :)

smoke pic

I took this shot right after the fire in Irvine broke out last night... Fire is now 8000+ acres and the smoke continues. So far it has not jumped into any of the large parks in Irvine. So we are safe.

Fire in Irvine

Last night at 6pm a fire broke out in the hills of Orange and Irvine. It is about 5 miles from here but the wind is driving it directly towards Irvine and Newport Beach. The smoke is thick and the ashes have fallen throughout the night. I hosed down the roof late last night and will be going out to do it again this morning. Hoping the air attack kicks some ass today.

This map is from late yesterday. According to the news this morning the fire is stretched all over the rattlesnake res area and south on limestone. The wind is SW which is directly towards Irvine's natural reserve and Newport's back bay.

yup- Fire

well that didn't last long...Malibu is getting hit. FIRE

Santa Ana Winds

So much for the cold temps of Winter...Its that time of the year again...Santa Ana Winds are kicking in. The winds can get dangerous but its no Tornado. Now Fire... That's the scary part. Let's hope the nitwits take the year off from playing with matches.

On the brighter side of things; This week we will be reaching into the mid and upper 80's - Time to hit the beach :).

weather changing

fall is upon us here - the heater actually kicked in last night...burr it was got down to a whopping 69 degrees in the house.

Most of the people that I work with are either based in Boston or Provo, Utah. Understandably...They do not exhibit much sympathy to my situation. All kidding aside it is hard to fathom living anywhere else. Visit the winter wonderlands of the US ...ok. Live in them, sorry no can do.

Mentioning Provo reminds me of something. On a sad note;50 engineers from our development team were let go this week. Outsourcing development to our Bangalore office is the culprit. It just doesn't seem fair but at the end of the day the cost is considerably less and the quality is on par. Man that sounds cold. And why in the hell am I talking about work on my blog...

Im out.

Campland the result

Well it was another memorable Indian Princes
s event down at Campland. I had a feeling we were in trouble when I heard someone mutter around the camp fire on Friday night " Sure glad it didn't rain" ... Ah yea, thanks. We woke up to a muddy campground and a dreadful morning of never ending drizzle. The girls all kept their spirits up through the wet morning activities...then Finally around noon on Saturday the clouds parted and it turned into a beautiful afternoon.



I took some of the afternoon to just hang out with the other dads . Playing Bocce . Don't be fooled our version is through trees, down cart paths, under motor homes. It's all good fun! Another tradition...Gary asks everyone to bring two bottles of their best Wine for wine tasting in the afternoon. Always a stellar event that ends up lasting into the evening. Who on earth brings nice bottles to these things? I can see a $50 bottle (maybe) but we have people cranking out the $500 bottles. I always noticed the crowd gets heavier when the expensive bottles start getting opened. It's like they come out of the woodwork. Anyway we ended Sat night with a guitar sing along and I really enjoyed spending the time with Madison and Mackenzie in my arms. Most requested song ...anything high school musical...of course.

























Mackenzie Saturday morning

Madison Saturday afternoon.

Indian Princess - Father Daughter event

Once again its time for the annual Indian Princess kickoff down at Campland in San Diego.

The migration begins today at noon. Madison has a skating competition tonight and will be joining me and Mackenzie Saturday morning.

This year I have been given the adult drinks and cigar chores.
1 Keg of Stella, A 5 gallon drum of Cadillac Margaritas and and endless supply of Ice, mixed with luggage, chairs, sleeping backs, cigars, bikes, razors and other items are all slammed into the back of the SUV - ready for take off.

Remove all the fluff and at the end of the day I really enjoy IP because of the time I get to spend with the girls. This is their final year. We know all of the ins and outs and are really excited for the trip.

Adios!

the door bell rang and a load of paper was there.

I tried to relax in the living room this afternoon. The table was set for 30 minutes of just Dad time; the girls doing the homework and Kim out shopping.

Then it started...

The non stop parade of loiters sticking and dropping cards on my front door. It won't be long before they are out their waiting for me to leave the house. You know... kind of like the scene as you try to walk down the street in Vegas. When that day comes we will be moving to a gated community.

For now they stick business cards, flyers, papers all over the front door. I don’t need a gardener, a massage, a housekeeper and I don’t want my address painted on the curb. I don’t want to change religions and I will never work with a Real Estate agent that goes door to door.

Gotta go I hear the dog barking… Gee I wonder what they are dropping off now?

G' Friends & wine - ~Carrie the blogger~

We had friend(s) over last night minus the Husband (bus trip). Kim and Carrie chatted up while I surfed the net and opened wine. While all that was going on the kids dressed in black and went out for a neighborly tee pee. They did a good job of hammering the house next door. I couldn't bring myself to look at John this morning as he went off to work. I went for the old phony important cell call trick and gave him a quick wave :)

Anyway Carrie is a fantastic writer and I showed her a few things about blogging. She hasn't wasted any time ...check it out over at http://themommuse.blogspot.com/.

cheers

Mackenzie Tennis and Madison Skating.

Z is still playing Tennis and doing very well with it. We have a membership at the NBTC (1/4 mile from the house) and Z is taking semi and private lessons. Z and I also enjoying hitting together...It won't be long before she is kicking my butt.

Madison is still going with her Skating - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday - She is up and ready to go for her ice time and lessons before School 6am. Madi has a group of coaches but is under the direction of Mr. Nicks. It is going well - She has mastered all of her single jumps and is now working on her axel.

I am very proud of both them ...I will post some new pictures.

Hi....

Wow a year since the last post ...Are you kidding me?

Life has been good and sometimes it has been hard. My Mum passed away a few weeks ago shortly after her 83rd Birthday. She never really recovered from a stroke last November and is in a better place now. We are all exhausted from the entire experience and ready to get on with life.

Summer is over...:( Madison and MacKenzie start School in a couple of weeks and we plan to soak up Socal and enjoy life. Every Sunday we enjoy going to our favorite beach Crystal Cove - Just no other beach like it in California. Great beach.

We are staying home until Dec then its off to Paris for Kim's 40th! All of us are looking forward to it (cept the dogs).

Speaking of... Emma is now 12 years old and hanging in there and Ben is two in November. Ben is all boy (90 lbs) and I love every minute of it.

I need to update the my photo website as well...look for some changes there in the near future.

fall

Well I guess I wasnt back afterall :)

It seems like summer is finally starting to end here. Its getting cooler at night and the mornings stay crisp. Frankly, I welcome the change. The girls have started 2nd grade at Pegasus and the routine is getting back to normal. It is also time to start up a new year of Indian Princess. This year we have switched tribes from the neighborhood tribe the "Runnamucks" to the tribe from the girls school "Sun Princesses". The first big event is next month at Campland on Mission Bay in San Diego. We are all looking forward to it.

im back

Im back from a blogger break. Oddly (or is it) I am also back from a business trip break. I find myself back in SF this morning for the annual LinuxWorld convention and team meetings.

Traveling out was actually a lot easier then I expected. My planning paid off (no liquids or gels in my bag) the line to check bags at Juan Wayne was huge. The security line was a breeze and the overheads were half empty. Also absent from the travel experience were the igits that board with coffee, water, 44 ounce cokes etc. all while talking on their cell phones.

Im off to work and will post more later

Bobs Hip and the heatwave

We are in Sacramento to help Kim's Dad with post hip surgery. Bob is home now and is getting around his house with the use of a walker. Never siezes to amaze me how they can replace a hip and 48 hours later the patient is walking around. It definately looks like he is on the road to recovery.

I like Sacramento and was looking forward to doing some activities with the girls but there is a record breaking heat wave going on here. Today it will reach 110 degrees. Thats not a typo I said 110 degrees. Basically we stay inside in the AC or go to the pool. Tomorrow we are going home.

Family on the move ..again

We are away from home again. Saturday we went up to Aptos for a wedding, Monday morning we headed to San Francisco and this morning we are heading to Sacramento to help Kim's Dad with post hip surgery care.

On Sunday, it looked like the fog was set in for the day but it cleared just in time for the wedding and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Congrats to Toby and Lansel! The Cantrell's were also there and it was good to travel with them. In usual form I handed out knick names (such as Corky) to people I really didnt know and generally got through the event without making too much of an ass of myself.

Yesterday we drove through Woodside on our way to SF. It was good to drive through the old place and to show the girls where I lived. Didnt spend long there and continued up to SF for lunch in China Town. After lunch we did the cable car thing down to Ghiradelli Square for some ice cream and rest. Spectacular day 80 degrees and views forever.

I cashed in some AMEX points and we are staying at the Fairmont. The view from our room goes from ATT park all the way to the GG. It literally looks like a post card window.



In typical fashion I arose early this morning (its now 6AM) and I am sitting in the lobby. They recently gave the lobby a much needed face lift and its looking good. I was enjoying the peace and quiet but a squadron of Japenese tourist just flocked into my area. Well thats enough for now I need to move out of this area before I lose my cool and its time to get ready to head to Sac. Cheers p

Chicken ?

For all your chicken jokes go here

IMAC

Finally broke down and got an IMAC other day - what a rocking machine. As everyone told me...it just works, everything is sooo easy to do. In fact they offer blogging on .mac and I may be ready to make the change.