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| Before |
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| After |
It finally happened; I took a two-week vacation. Since beginning with the DMV in
2009, I have not had any extended time off, so this was the first opportunity
to tackle some home maintenance/improvement projects that have been piling up
over the years. The biggest
project was repairing and rebuilding the deck. I am not an experienced carpenter, so while I was confident
I could come up with a solution that would – at the very least - be an
improvement, I was not sure how it would really turn out. Fortunately, with the help of some
borrowed tools, the project came out better than expected. It looks great, Justine is happy with
the work and… I still have all ten fingers. Project accomplished.
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| Handiwork Detail |
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| Carpenter's LUnch |
This vacation was also an opportunity to spend time with Mia
who was returning from 9 months abroad at Oxford University. We had a great time, squeezing in a few
fun outings in between my chores.
With Julie and Raf, we spent a day at the beach in Santa Barbara then
had dinner with my Mom at Harry’s Plaza Café. The “Omaha” (an
open-face prime rib sandwich) was as good as ever, but the price is now up to
15.95. I can remember when it was a mere 3.95, and that my friends in an economics lesson in the time-value of money.
And surprise, surprise – wonder of wonders; Julie took us to
a beach unknown to me in all my 51 years of SB experience! This is an amazing beach – secluded yet
relatively easy to access, not overcrowded, beautiful cliffs, a moderately wide
sandy beach, smooth bottom for wading/body surfing, and we even found a spot of
shade that lasted all day. How did
I not know of this spot before? It
is my new favorite beach! The only
drawback is that there is not much in the way of surf – but that is a blessing
in disguise as it makes the spot unattractive to REAL surfers. On the other hand, they do allow horses
on the beach so we returned a week later with Justine and her Mare. That is the only way I have ever gotten
Justine to the beach! I am not
going publish the name of this beach on the Internet, because - even though I
know nobody is reading this blog -
I don’t want to be accused of letting the secret out. But… if you have a burning desire to know, contact me
directly and I will clue you in to the location of this wonderful – secret - spot. Hush!
The highlight of the vacation was a Musical Saw Lesson from
David Weiss, the premier saw-ist in LA.
Mia has wanted to learn to play the saw for some time. While in England,
she bought one and attempted to get some sounds out of it, but it proved
difficult. Through a mutual friend
I had known of David Weiss, who besides playing saw, is the principal oboist
with The LA Philharmonic – quite an accomplished musician. We were able to arrange a lesson
for Mia and I was allowed to sit in (yay!). It was really a kick!
The lesson lit a spark for Mia and she is now diligently
practicing. She is committed to
learning this instrument but it really is quite difficult to get a musical tone
and accurate pitches. But I DO
hope she continues to master this – because I would really like to record some
duets!
During this vacation time, I had parked the RV in a State
parking lot where I have a monthly pass.
The lot is under the freeway and it is where I normally park my commuter
car, the Subaru. I was concerned
that the RV, parked continuously in one spot for two weeks, might draw some
unwanted attention and be ticketed or towed. However, the parking supervisor
assured me it would be OK as long as the parking pass was properly
displayed. Still I was a bit wary
– who knows who you can trust at the DMV (where so much inaccurate information
abounds)?
I also had some concern when a security guard told me that
homeless people camp out in the lot on the weekends. It is nice and shady and otherwise protected from the
elements under the freeway. Also,
I suppose that since it is State property, the Sacto City Police do not have
jurisdiction there. All-in-all, a
nice spot to hang out if you have nowhere else to go. Because of all this, I was afraid someone might be hanging
out and just decide to break into the camper. After all, it would be even nicer to hang out in a nice cozy
RV… But luckily, all was well when I returned. Dolphin Manor had not been vandalized nor otherwise
accosted. Phew. Honor among thieves, I guess. “One of us, one of us.”
Yes, I am one of them.
Home sweet home.
Now, back to work!
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| Home 1, Calabasas |
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| Home 2, under the Cap City Fwy, near DMV HQ. |
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