Hail

Hail
Originally uploaded by /k.

Wow, March has really sucked here. Just when I thought the cold stuff was over, it hailed for 30 minutes yesterday.

I guess I should be glad it wasn't snow.

Governator in Beijing

Governator in Beijing
Originally uploaded by /k.

I was paging through my iPhotos today (to find a picture of the Zeker dog) and came across this sweet pic from 2001. Long before Arnold had political aspiration and when I was still working in Asia, you'd see stuff like this all the time. I think I took this photo near Beijing's airport, just because you never saw Hollywood actors pitching products in China. Japan, sure all the time; China no.

Little did I know that five years later, Arnold would be running the 5th largest economy in the world, I wouldn't be working in Asia and we would live about 25 miles from each other.

P.S. For those of you whose Mandarin in a little rusty, I believe he is promoting a local DVD player.

Carfire

Car on fire
Originally uploaded by /k.

Fun times at the coffee shop yesterday. It appears that some car overheated and then burst into flames across the street. The whole store went out to watch, and I got there just in time to hear some of the tires explode.

You don't get excitement like that at the office.

On The Tee

On The Tee
Originally uploaded by /k.

Got a chance to take a little vacation and play some golf with my college roommates this weekend. We were in Atlanta, so we chose Stone Mountain, which turned out to be nice choice. Stone Mountain is the Mount Rushmore of the South, with the portraits of Lee, et al carved into the side of the mountain. Although we never saw the actual portraits, I felt like we got our required Southern history lesson in.

Oh yeah, my game was crap. Few good drives, one nice putt and a terrible short game.

Winter Wonderland

Snowy Road To Cool
Originally uploaded by /k.

With the unseasonably (and un-California like) cold temperatures, this was bound to happen: it snowed here in the foothills. And not just a little. I am talking about several inches. Of course, this is better than Lake Tahoe (about 50 miles up Hwy 50), where some resorts are reporting over 10' of snow since March 1st.

This still sucks. Especially since I was racing my mountain bike up the hill in Cool this morning.

At least, the snow won't last. I hope. Last year on this date, EDH was 85F.

Starbucks Rodeo Protest

Starbucks Rodeo Protest
Originally uploaded by /k.

So I am in downtown Palo Alto this week and I see this techno van (see picture) parked across from the Starbucks. It's got three sides of full motion video going. Now, I just figure that this is some kooky promotion stunt, but no. These guys are protesting Starbuck's support of the Pro Rodeo circuit.

Yes, it's good to see that California is still a blue state. Cool van though.

Lost In The Supermarket

Ralphs
Originally uploaded by /k.

In the brutal world of the California supermarket chains, Ralph's has proven to be the slow, aging gazelle among the rest of the herd. So it was not entirely suprising that they decided to completely pullout of several Northern California areas (like Sacramento) earlier this year. What has been weird is the way they have done it.

Red Tag liquidation clearance sales. 20% off all meat. Closing parts of the store with strange curtains. Staying open past usual hours.

I took these pictures at the Ralph's near my house. It's eerie being in the store since only half of the aisles are stocked.

Not that any of this stops me from shopping there. Cheap liquor is cheap liquor, afterall. I just make sure and check the expiration dates of everything.