A bit of time off

When I was hired by LPI (a bit over 2 years ago as I write this) I didn't know that one of the benefits that the entire company enjoys is a week off around each Independence Day -- that was a really neat surprise! So, this is my week off -- yippee!

However, I am at home and a bit bored. There aren't enough funds in the bank account to fly somewhere and stay at a hotel, NCL doesn't have a ship in CA right now, and with $4.25 gas, a road trip would surely break the bank. Besides, Angela is working this week (but only through tomorrow and then will have a four-day weekend). I'm sure we'll be able to do something fun.

Thank heavens there is no yard work to be done -- we tackled the front yard a week ago -- the evening before I left for San Francisco to attend the PCBC show. Angela and I knocked it out in about two hours! I would have loved to have the Mexican gardener do it but he has not showed up for weeks and everything was really overgrown.

My trip to SF was interesting and productive. I like to attend the Builders shows because the exhibitors are my potential advertising clients. I told my boss that I could find a hotel for $89/night. I should have researched this a bit more, because my hotel was built in 1918 and located in a rough and seedy part of SF called the Tenderloin district. I took the subway from and to the airport, and either walked or took a bus or street car to where I needed to go. I am happy to report that I returned home Friday evening unscathed.

Angela and I worked for hours in the backyard on Saturday, felt too wiped to go to church on Sunday, and that evening had the other Maloy's (and ALL the dogs: Duke, Lollie, Maggie and Mimi) come too - note that is SEVEN dogs. I told everyone that I hated dogs. I really don't -- I'm just a grumpy old man. We had a nice dinner (my son makes fantastic guacamole), played 'The Great Dalmuti', Ping Pong, and just enjoyed each others company. I could not get to sleep and was up til 2:30.

Yesterday I woke up at the normal 5:45 or so, showered and worked on getting our bills and deposits into MS Money. Then around mid-morning I decided to play one of the video games I got for fathers day from Jon, called Wave Race - a jet ski game. It made me so nauseated that I had to stop, but that nauseated feeling never went til I went to the gym later in the evening - ugh.

That brings me to today. I wanted to watch Vertigo - the Alfred Hitchcock movie from 1958 shot in San Francisco because part of it was shot in the hotel I stayed in last week. This is a very good movie!

Next I will be writing a letter to the Mesa Police Department to let them know that the photo radar ticket I received makes it impossible to tell who was driving -- it could have been Mike, and in my case (since I am a twin), a photo does not prove my guilt. You can see photos of the alleged offense at: http://www.violationinfo.com/. The notice# is 0140800197091 and the pin# is 1210.
I will let any interested party know if this ticket gets dismissed later in this blog.

Pretty exciting life, eh? These are the things I end up doing when given a bit of time off!