The Agrinautica

   Special thanks to the lovely and delightful gratefuladdict (even if she was a bit saucy!) and LJ Idol Season V Winner boxsofrain for their guest entries here to keep me afloat 30 in 30-wise while I was in the land of no internet (AKA San Francisco).
   For some reason I've always found SF particularly hard to find wifi in. The June before last I spent half the month on a roadtrip around the entire United States and was STILL able to find wifi and make an update at least once a day (even in the middle of Iowa). And yet when last year's road trip took me through SF I couldn't for the life of me find a wifi connection I could get on. Same with this time. Maybe it's because people in SF are TOO tech savvy and know to make their networks secure and/or charge vagabonds such as myself for access to the good stuff.

   Anyway, notwithstanding that the lovely ladies updated you more or less on my adventures over the weekend, it was so awesome that I feel the need to make an update of my own about it. Tomorrow I'll hopefully get back to the story of the Spain trip (and you all will hopefully not have completely forgotten about it).


Awesome Weekend in the Bay Area

Friday - Left Orange County straight from work at around 3:45pm. GPS originally estimated my arrival at 10:20, but after some excruciating traffic it was finally pointed at 12:30am ):

   Purpose of the trip was to visit my friend Alex(andra) -- and yes, she is an ex ... technically. We only dated for like two weeks in 1998 or something. We've been friends ever since, and sometimes have been known to go on "Not Dates," which are, you know, not dates. In fact, after Kristy broke up with me in 2007 we hung out for like a week straight, and when Alex broke up with her douchebag boyfriend of three years we also hung out a lot. We've kind of been eachother's fake significant others whenever necessary. (Also I worked for her mom's law firm for a short time and her mom was the most evil boss I have ever known)
   Alex broke up with her boyfriend of a year or so just before I left for Spain, so, clearly, we needed to hang out.

   So I finally arrive around 12:20 at night. We were going to go to a party in Daly City, so since I was running late I just went straight to the party and met them there.
   My first thoughts were just how hipster everyone at the party looked. We have some hipsters down here in OC but not like OC, where practically everyone dresses like a hipster. It's silly.
   First noteworthy anecdote: So presently Alex excuses herself to go to the bathroom and leaves me with her roommate. Her roommate immediately starts in with asking me if I'm a communist, because I have pictures of my halloween costume on my myspace that she apparently saw. Despite my best efforts to avoid a discussion about politics she insisted on talking about how great communism is. Finally I obliged her and said that I don't think it can work because some people won't work as hard as others and people will be bitter towards those who don't pull their weight or just not work very hard because they don't have to etc etc..
   "Well, I think it only works on a small scale, small communities of people that work together..." says she
   "Well, yes co-ops and kibbutzes work but you're saying you don't think communism works on a national level?"
   "No I think everyone should be organized into small self sufficient communities"
   "So San Francisco and Los Angeles should be organized into small self sufficient communities?"
   "Yes!"
   "How are the people of Los Angeles going to get the food and water they need then?"
   "Well... I think there should be a lot less people. I think a lot of people should be sterilized" Says she with complete seriousness. I mentally declare myself to have decisively won the argument. Shortly later I see Alex and excuse myself to go talk to her. Also during this discussion the guy the roommate was talking to fled.


Saturday - Alex and I walk down to Burlingame's quaint downtown area and have breakfast at a lovely little diner. We pop into the library to buy tickets to see Alcatraz on Sunday and after some other errands are on our way to the Marin Headlands just north of the Golden Gate.
   There we caught a tour of a nike missile silo, which was pretty damn awesome. They had old missiles which they'd actually bring up the elevator and elevate into the launch position, and we got to go down into the hanger where six more missiles were hanging out... pure awesome.
   Then we strolled around the headlands, which were beautiful. There were a lot of abandoned bunkers and things to investigate.

   After that we had a delicious dinner at a Puerto Rican place called Sol Foods in San Rafael. I very strongly recommend it to anyone who happens to find themselves passing that way!!

   We then returned to Burlingame and watched Spinal Tap for awhile because it had come to Alex's attention I hadn't seen it and for some reason we deemed it necessary. Then Alex's friend Stephanie swung by and we all went out to the local bars.
   Funny Anecdote 2: some real creeper was creepily talking to Alex when I got off the phone with Stacey and came back to them. "put your arm around me!!" whispered Alex to me under her breath. I casually did so and within thirty seconds the creepy fellow was excusing himself. Silly.
   Eventually we lost track of Stephanie and we'd later find out that she wound up getting arrested. Oops.


Sunday - Had breakfast in Mel's Diner in SF, which I'm told is an SF institution. One of my favourite things about traveling is eating all the best local food :d
   Alex and I caught the boat to Alcatraz, and it was pretty neat. We poked around the island for about three hours. Unfortunately it began to become apparent that Alex was coming down with a caugh.
   Ate on fisherman's wharf. I had some kind of tasty shrimp stir fry. :d

   And then around 5 I think I finally headed out, arriving home at around 12:15am.
   Today reportedly Alex has a fever of 102 ):

   Thursday evening after French class, Aimee from my French class and I caught up with Aaron, Gabi, and Aaron's friends Mark and Jeff at the Lazy Dog Cafe in Huntington Beach. Then we proceeded to Mark's house, where we hung out, played some Cranium, and started watching Blades of Glory. Maybe its because I'm quickly becoming a crochety old man, but these silly slapstick comedies really don't do anything for me (as opposed to hilarious British productions like Hot Fuzz which are brilliant).


   Friday morning I passed the state pesticide Applicator exam, officially giving me a License to Kill!
   Spent the rest of the day studying for the LSAT (I've got work off until after the LSAT this upcoming Saturday)
   Friday Evening Gabi and Aaron were visiting Tatooine Riverside County over the mountains east of OC, so I just hung out with Mark. We went to the legendary only-dive-bar-in-South-County, called Muggs Away or something (famous for mass mooning of the Amtrak train that passes by, on a specific day every year). It was.. divey. Full of drunk old people really.. I'm not sure but I think my old track coach was there..
   Then we went to Hennessey's bar in Dana Point. I'd been hearing about it for awhile but never actually been there. It seemed pretty cool.. really big and with everything from a room for dancing to the latest beats to a outdoor patio with firepits and another room with a live band.. so whatever you're in the mood for they got a place. Unfortunately, however, drinks were outragiously expensive. I'm told its the only bar in South County actually worth going to though.


   Saturday was pool party time, despite the rain. Mark's parents have a big house they've been trying to sell with no luck (the real estate brochures call it an "equestrian estate"), so Aaron, Gabi, Mark, Aimee and I, later joined by Jeff and Aaron's little brother gathered there for swimming and hot tubbing, grilling hamburgers, and such. Apparently I am inherently awesome at Wii golf, kicking everyone's ass (I still think "wii" is the most unfortunate name ever conceived for any object).
   The highlight of the evening, however, turned out to be hide and seek, which we played from abour 12:30am to 3:00am. We played with all the lights out, except the fire, which was the start/finish point. As the house was almost entirely devoid of furniture or personal possessions, one had free range of closets and nooks and didn't have to worry about breaking things while running around. The goal was to make it back to the fireplace before the seeker (who starts there) finds and/or tags you; so one would hide as best the could until the seeker had missed them and moved to another part of the house, and then make a mad dash for it. It was brilliant fun and I strongly recommend it as a party game whenever feasible.


   Sunday I drove Gabi up to LAX in the morning, then went to the memorial for Joey Hanzich. He died last week unexpectedly in his sleep due to myocarditis, a heart condition which accounts for 20% of sudden deaths among young adults, apparently. Hanzich had graduated from Harvard and Cambridge and was now attending Yale Law. To say we expected him to be extremely successful is an understatement.
   Since I've graduated, three people I went to school with have died. One of a motorcycle accident (whom I barely knew), and two now suddenly in their sleep of previously unknown causes (the other being David Allweiss, leukemia no one knew he had, he had just gotten married). While obviously these people aren't a statistically significant representation of causes of death, its scary to think that the overwhelming majority of people in the samplegroup I belong to die unexpectedly in their sleep. )=

   It was excellent, however, to see everyone from HS again, some 70+ of whom turned out for the memorial. Seems like everyone with a poli sci degree works for a non-profit now.
   Anyway, from there I joined Alex Hughes in feeding ducks with her niece.


   This morning (Monday) I picked up Alex Majcher from the airport. I'm just an airport shuttle apparently. (=

   Yesterday I went to Taco Tuesday at Fred's with Alex, Matt, & Matt's friend Nicole. When we got there they weren't seating people for another hour (?!) but permitted us to loiter by the bar. Fortunately my friend Lily was working, and helped us sneak our name in asap. As always, it was a jolly time and all of you who missed it suck. (=

   Today I accidently got exposed to unfortunate amounts of pesticide. )= And then I was thirsty all day because I used literally the last of my money on lunch (and had to borrow a quarter from Bob at that!), and while getting a nail removed from my tire after work the tire guys pointed out that a different wheel was weirdly wobbley and should be checked out with maximum asapness.


Picture of the Day

   I've got a new camera! As father-son Father's day bonding we went out camera hunting and dad got me a new Canon Powershot A710IS (with possible contributions from Dad's Dad?) !

   To celebrate, I am going to afflict you with some un-LJ-cut photos from my first day of cameraness!

Chickens roam our yard


Chicken permits me to pat her.


I am Borg!

And a few more

   Last Week I stayed in San Diego until Wednesday morning. This allowed me to go to Taco Tuesday at Fred's not once, but twice.
   During the day I met my friend Liz from high school and her roommate Mallory for drinks. I didn't realize they had Fred's in mind until we got there, but hey I'm not going to say no to the $2 margaritas.
   Later that evening Kristy & I had already planned on going to Taco Tuesday at Fred's, and so we went. This time in addition to the margaritas we had delicious $2 calamari tacos. Then Kristytoes and I went to The Aerobar, which is this quaint little bar near the airport. It was strongsauce.

   This Weekend Kristy & I went to the San Diego zoo to see the hoglets -- three week old little African Red River Hogs. They were definitely cuties. We also found the Turkmenistani Caracals quite wakeful, and had to put up with certain other onlookers repeatedly remarking on how "cat-like" there were -- I wanted to throttle them while yelling "they ARE cats you nimrod!!" And the Ratels were cuties as usual but every 2 minutes a new onlooker would show up and say "oh look a skunk!" Kristy & I think there should be a "no dumb people" day at the zoo or something.

   It turns out there are several of this Fred's place around, so I decided I needed to check out the one near me in Laguna Niguel. So I was able to roust up Eric Talevich (AKA citizene) and Alex Hughes for the adventure.
   While waiting for a table I ran into my old friend Veronica Borrowdale (whom I met at the UCI MUN conference 2001). Since her friends already had a table and a half in the back corner she welcomed us to join them and we thus bypassed the huge wait. Inside I ran into my friend Lily, whom I went to both HS and Davis with.
   After we had our fill of delicious tacos and margaritas (and chips!), Eric, Alex, & I went to a nearby bar where Alex had a friend working. Eric & I beat Alex at a game of pool but then she won the second one.


Picture of the day

Rocketing hoglets at the San Diego Zoo!!
You're gonna have to deal with this huge picture, because they're too cute to reduce!

   So yesterday, Thursday, was the much awaited Flogging Molly (& the Vandals) show at the OC Fair. Earlier in the week Allie (Bloomquist) had called to invite me to attend the show with them (her and Amy Bartrum), to which the answer was a firm heck yes. As I was preparing to leave for the show, my friend Hannah (Westergard) called to invite me to the fair with her and her friends that evening.
   When I arrived at the fair both Allie and Hannah were far from ready so it looked like I'd be lollygagging by myself for a bit. However barely had I stepped out of my car then I ran into Jamie, which was awesome because we've been meaning to hang out for awhile but it keeps falling through. She and her friend were awaiting more of her friends so I hung out with them for awhile.
   Unfortunately the Pacific Amphatheatre in which the show was happening had assigned seating by section, and the fascists wouldn't let me sit with Jamie and her friends because I was assigned to a different section. )= So I stood by myself for awhile but then the ubernazi security people told me I had to keep moving as long as I wasn't at a seat -- one couldn't stand around. So then feeling very persecuted and oppressed I slowly paced back and forth while watching the vandals. Shortly however I met up with some other disgruntled youths who were not subjecting themselves to assigned seating, preferring to roam freely along the walk way, and I joined their noble cause of trying to start a mosh pit on the walkway.
   We had some good times but the fact that literally if at any point both our feet were on the ground and not moving at the same time we'd be sternly told to keep moving got pretty old. Eventually Allie and co arrived so I had to leave the nomadic adventurers, but they'd eventually join me and Allie and co.
   So Allie had her boyfriend along, as well as some other guy and Amy and Amy's mother, Dr Bartom (don't dis, everyone thinks she's hip -- she's also a teacher at Villa Park HS incidently). Shortly after we started trying to infiltrate the amphatheatre seating we spotted Alex Hughes, and we all managed to infiltrate that section and hang out with them. Eventually as I said the guys I'd been hanging out with earlier joined us there as well.
   And then Flogging Molly came on and verily they were excellent. It was weird to see them from an assigned seat (we were all standing at our seats the whole time though) rather than somewhere where one could freely rock out and mosh about.
   When "If I Ever Leave This World Alive" came on Allie, Amy and Amy's mom had their arms around eachother and I knew they were thinking about Eric and it was sad. )=

   After the show ended I caught up with Hannah and we hung out for a little while. Also ran into Jessiska (afoxygoddess) exiting the show.


In Bee News
   On Wednesday we responded to a call at the Disneyland Sheraton Hotel. They kept us waiting for twenty minutes and it wasn't until Jeremy announced that we were leaving in five minutes if someone didn't come tell us what was going on there. The Man promptly arrived and explained that he had been meeting with the owner-representatives. He showed us where there had been wasps nests, but painters had already removed them.
   It seems to me that if there's only one person who can tell bee removal people what needs to be done (and he was the only person who could sign our paperwork), and that is the same person who meets with the owner-representatives, the Disneyland Sheraton must have an absolutely cripplingly bottlenecked management hierarchy.

   While waiting in the lobby I read a copy of the Wallstreet journal that was sitting on the desk there. Did you know miners in iron mines make $50 an hour?! Some college students on the East Coast do that as a summer job. They work 16 hour days, but heck, thats $800 a day! I think I have a new plan for next summer.

   Today Jeremy (pictured here hard at work on Wednesday, note his dog) and I stopped at In-N-Out for lunch. There were some punk kids hanging out outside it. I casually took my hat off to itch my head as I passed by and sure enough they were immediately like "hey ghostbuster!" (mohawk = instant punk cred)


Picture of the Day

Returning home from work yesterday I felt compelled to rescue this bee that was drowning in my pool. In retrospect the picture would have been really awesome if I'd been doing a thumbs up. I'll try to recreate it sometime. See also THIS picture of bee buster Bobby on a roof, and THIS picture I took while leaving the fair.

Wednesday: Last Final
   Last Wednesday (03/25/04) I had my last final, ENL113A, at 0800. It was mad easy. Then I said goodbye to Kristy, and proceeded to sleep away the rest of the afternoon.


Thursday: The Journey Home
   Thursday morning my uncle Ben gave me a ride across town to the Davis Amtrak station for my 0725 Amtrak bus to Stockton (hour & 25 minutes). Waited there for half an hour and then it was time for the four hour, 26 minute, trainride to Bakersfield. Then the funnest part [/sarcasm] two hours and twenty minutes on a bus sitting next to a crazy guy down to Los Angeles' Union Station. Fifty-five minute wait thee and then hour and three minute train ride to Irvine station. Total time: 10 hours, 47 minutes.
   No I didn't time everything, those are the official times I was given.

   That evening I just loafed about at home and took it easy.


Friday: Return to Diedrichs
   Friday afternoon I went on some adventures with Shalane (impotent_dream). She's been drug-free for 66 days now and its so nice to have sober Shillelagh back and I'm so happy for her.
   She's in Mexico now for the weekend.
   I really like her latest drawing Fig. S20 (apparently thats even a bad scan). Compare to pre-drugs Fig. S19.

   Then my good friend Alex called and her and her friend Oi Kelly came to visit me. Our initial plan was to stop by infamous Diedrichs off La Paz to get coffee and then come up with a new plan and have adventures elsewhere. Arriving at Diedrichs at around 9pm, we ended up staying there until about 1am.
   At first there didn't seem to be very many locals there that I knew.. just this guy Ryan who works there and Tristan.. then Croat (inequity) showed up, and Cool Kyle, and MtHH (who was suprisingly agreeable).
   Then, most suprising of all, my cousin Holly (bobolly), and her boyfriend / our longtime family friend Eric Shamay (shamster) showed up; apparently because they were in the area and suspected correctly that they could find me there.


   Tried this "Cisco" alcohol Croat's been raving about. Tasted like utter crap but it did give me a rather pleasent buzz with no inkling of sickness its true (going down it felt like it was gonna make me sick though). How can you be hard core drinking something strawberry flavoured though?


In Other News
   Little brother Lance Corporal Fricke was just notified that he will be sent to Iraq as early as this Wedneday.

   Mother just got a new job working in the office of the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Communications at UCI.

   Eric (Lance Corporal Fricke) had actually just started working at mother's previous place of employment, The Yarn Lady when he got notified of his immenent departure. He promptly was like "eff that!" and after a career of one day retired from the Yarn Lady.

   I used my last package of Knox Gelatine trying (rather unsuccessfully) to spike my hair on Friday. I'm now on a mission to discover a more effective way of doing it, since spiking with the gelatine is just about impossible to do alone.
   I washed out my miserable attempt at spiking with gelatine after it had been in less than three hours and tried again with this weird gel Shalane's friend gave me and it worked pretty well. I want to experiment with murrey's wax and aquanette hairspray next.. and if I get desperate maybe look into this egg white thing.


Related
   A Year Ago Today: Taco Loco, Solomite Show, Diedrichs, & Denny's
   Holly's reference to these events
   Eric's reference to these events