Message 681

I forgot to mention in yesterday's message that I started taking Zithromax Wednesday at 5 PM for my sinus infection. I am already feeling much better. In the afternoon I packed and got ready to fly to Phoenix to meet Liz and go to Tucson for Laurie's (Sally's sister) son Matt. Because I will be away, I will not send out messages on Saturday or Sunday. Last night I watched the Sharks beat Vancouver 4-2. They were ahead 4-0 in the third period when a whole lot of fights broke out so at one point the Sharks had six players in the penalty box. The resulting 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 power-plays allowed the Canucks to score a couple of goals, but the Sharks won anyway. Joshua did not show up, but he called later and said he had had to work late.

Message 684

Yesterday I resumed my usual Tuesday routine of picking Beech up at school at noon and taking him to lunch. He now prefers to go to Subway where he is known by the workers behind the counter. After we ate I declined to stop at another store and buy him a toy, but took him home where we read part of one of his new Dr. Seuss books. He is making progress on his reading, but he seems mostly to want to work it out for himself instead of having me help him. After he tired of reading, we played some of his new Wii games.

In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Whip It. Ellen Page plays a seventeen-year old school girl who sneaks out to become a Roller-Derby star. The skating was new and interesting to me, but the plot was pretty simplistic and formulaic, so I only give it three stars.

Message 685

Yesterday I went out to dinner at Gombei (my favorite Japanese restaurant) with Larry and Judi. I got back just in time to watch the Sharks play Colorado in the first game of their Stanley Cup series. It was a fast and hard-fought game. Colorado went ahead 0-1 in the second period, the Sharks tied it in the third period, and Colorado scored the winning goal to win 1-2 with 49 seconds left in the game. Joshua was at the game, so I am sure he was disappointed.

I also watched a DVD of the movie Lady Jane, another story about the succession to Henry the 8th for the throne of England. The film was released in 1986, and Helena Bonham Carter must have been a teenager. She looked like the 15-year-old girl she was playing. I had not previously known about the nine days that Jane Grey reigned before she and her teenaged husband were beheaded, but I thought it was a good story and very well done. I give it 4.5 stars.

Message 682

My weekend with Liz at Matt Wilhelm's wedding in Tucson was wonderful. It was everything I had hoped for and better than I expected. Except for all the cousins, who were not invited because they were thought to be too numerous on both the bride's and groom's sides, presumably for economic reasons, everybody was there and were great fun for us to be with. I have encouraged them all to join come to Northstar this summer, and I think many of them may well manage to join us at our reunion. Except for a two hour delay in taking off from Phoenix because of mechanical problems with the airplane, the travel part of the trip went smoothly.

I just got back from getting more antibiotic solution at PAMF so I can resume catheterization. Fortunately I was able to get along just fine by skipping it for a few days. I saw on the news last night that the Chicago Blackhawks lost yesterday, so the Sharks have the Western Conference home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which I think start Wednesday.

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.