Message 683

One last note about my trip to Matt's wedding. On the way home, Liz caught her flight a couple of hours before mine was scheduled to leave, and then mine was delayed a couple of more hours. Fortunately I was able to meet up with Matt's sister Robin and her boyfriend who were waiting for their flight back to Denver, and we had a chance to have a nice visit at one of the Phoenix airport's Starbucks. Last night Joshua came by to watch 24 with me. I thought it was the last episode but now I learn there is another one next Monday. Maybe it will be the last. Joshua had taken the day off and gone skiing and just got back in time to see 24.

Yesterday I finished reading The Big Short by Michael Lewis. It was very good and a worthy successor to Liars Poker, which was his first book that I read and was about his experience as a bond salesman in London after he finished Princeton.. I have also read Moneyball, which was about the Oakland As and applying the scientific method to evaluating talent for the baseball draft. I also have The Blind Side, which I will get to soon.

Message 680

I just got back from having breakfast with Reggie at Heidi's Pies. Vanessa was not there today because she and Julian took the kids skiing at Bear Valley. Last night I watched disk 5 of My So-Called Life, which is the end of the series. It is too bad that it was cancelled before the end of the first season. It is good that we have at least as much as we do. Now that I have seen it all, I give it five stars overall.

Message 679

Yesterday I finished reading The Economist and Science. In the late afternoon I watched the Stanford women lose the NCAA basketball championship to UCONN. I also watched the Sharks beat Calgary 2-1 to clinch their division title. Joshua showed up in time to watch after the first period to watch the rest of the game with me. Julian and Vanessa have taken the kids to the mountains to ski for their spring break, so I am having a quiet week at home. Yesterday was Caroline's tenth birthday, but I gave her present to her on Saturday night.

Message 678

Yesterday I spent most of the day at the Toyota dealer getting new tires and my 95k-miles service on the Sienna. It turns out that the check engine light that has been on for the past few months was because an oxygen sensor in my exhaust had gone bad. It had nothing to do with the engine, but if it stays on my car would not pass the smog check, which is due this year, so I had to replace it even though it cost a ridiculous $500. I got an entire new set of tires because the old set was six years old, and even though they still had a lot of tread they were starting to crack from age. My car still has only about 90k-miles on it (even though I have had it nearly eleven years) because I drive so little, in spite of frequent trips to San Mateo and Los Gatos.

In the evening Joshua brought in dinners from Boston Market and watched the double episodes of 24 with me. I thought it would be the end of the series, but it turns out there is another episode next Monday. In the meantime Jack still lives. During the ads in 24 we switched to watch the NCAA men's basketball finals between Duke and Butler. At the end, Duke was lucky to win by one point.

Message 677

I went to San Mateo for a very nice Easter family brunch yesterday. In the afternoon I came home and watched the Stanford women's basketball team win their game to get into the final game against UCONN. I also watched the Sharks lose to Colorado in overtime 4-5. When I was in Los Gatos yesterday Jason pointed out to me and showed me proof on the sports page of his paper that the Sharks actually won the previous game against Minnesota 3-2 on Friday. I know that I switched channels in the third period when I thought they were going to lose, but I do not know how I thought it was Dallas they had lost to. After the Sharks lost last night I watched Nature and Masterpiece Classics on PBS.

Message 676

Yesterday afternoon I went to Los Gatos and had a nice dinner at Live Oak Kitchen with Jason and Susan and the girls (except for Amelia who was babysitting, but I saw her after dinner). Caroline will be ten years old on Tuesday, and I wanted to give her present. When I arrived at their house I discovered I had a flat tire, so Jason helped me put on the spare. It was the first time I have had to change a tire in many years. After dinner Jason showed me the new wall-mounted big LCD TV that he has now installed in his bedroom.

When I got back to my condo I watched a DVD of the movie Maid in Sweden. It was filmed in 1971, and it was pretty primitive by modern standards, so I give it only 2.5 stars.

Message 675

I just got back from Starbucks. I walked today because I did not need to carry any groceries, although I did pick up a couple of Prescriptions at CVS. Yesterday late afternoon I watched the Sharks lose another disgraceful game to Dallas 2-4. After all the Friday PBS shows were over, I watched disk 4 of My So-Called Life. Now that I have seen almost all of the series, I think I will eventually upgrade my rating to 5 stars. I is amazing that this series originally aired on commercial television on ABC, although they cancelled it after only one season.