Stan’s Obligatory Blog

When Lucinda and I got home this afternoon, there was a package on the porch. It was the new igniter for my oven. So I got out my tools and put it in. It was a bit of an ordeal, just because the two screws that hold the igniter to the side of the burner are at a very odd angle and very hard to reach. But aside from that, it was quite easy to install.

And it works just fine. So now I have a batch of focaccia dough rising to bake later this evening.

On Sunday morning, Susan and I went for a bike ride in San Diego. My favorite ride there was the one to Point Loma, so we did it again. Strangely enough, the weather today was better than when we did it last June, and also better than when I did it in April, 2007.

We took the coast route through La Jolla, and suddenly my phone rang. It was Vikki, who was there for work, and had seen us ride by from the balcony of her hotel. So we doubled back a block to visit with her. She and her friend had ridden down from Los Angeles yesterday.

There was a sign up at the beach that the seals have taken over, warning us that it was “pupping season” and that we should not disturb the seals. While we were there, I bought a seal T-shirt to take home for Lucinda.

Continuing on, we went through Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach, and then up the hill to the road out to Point Loma. We didn’t pay the $3 to go in this time, since we were a bit short on time and didn’t feel like riding down and back up the big hill to the tide pools. So we turned around and headed back.

On the road around Mission Bay, we saw the truck with “Jesus Christ is Lord” on it. I wonder what they were hauling in there?

When we were almost back to the hotel, Susan got a flat. So I took the picture for the Flat Tire Gallery. Then we rode the last mile back to the hotel. It was a very nice ride.

37 miles.

This weekend, Susan and I went to San Diego to see “Star Trek: The Exhibition” at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. This was a show of costumes, models and props from the “Star Trek” TV shows and movies. A lot of the artifacts from the original series are lost, but they had a lot of things from the more recent shows.

On the way in, Susan had to stop for a photo-op with the life-sized standup of Charles Lindbergh that was in front of The Spirit of St. Louis.

Inside the exhibit, they insisted on no photography, so we don’t have pictures of us on the bridge of the Enterprise or in the transporter. I did sneak one picture of the Guardian of Forever from “The City of the Edge of Forever”. Still, it was a fun time.

We also wandered around the rest of the museum. We saw a reproduction of the Red Baron‘s airplane, as well as his collection of medals from the war.

Afterward, we went to visit with my father for dinner at his place.

I like to bake. And tonight I went to bake something. But when I turned the oven on, nothing happened.

This was very distressing.

So I went to the trusty Internet and consulted the Oracle of Google. And I found out that this is a fairly common problem with my oven. The igniter fails with age. But it’s not too hard to fix. So I ordered a new one tonight. And I hope to be baking again by some time next week.

Sunday’s bike ride was the classic Toluca Lake route. West through Eagle Rock and Glendale, and then through a bit of Bubank to Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake. Then back by way of the L.A. River bike path and South Pasadena.

The only amusing things we saw along the way were some people filming something across the street from Warner Bros, a homeless guy with a very large cart of stuff on the bike path, and a long line of birds down in the river bed, all standing at attention on one leg.

It was a very nice day. By the time we were heading back, it was quite warm and very pleasant. And that alone made it a very nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was through La Tuna Canyon and then across the San Fernando Valley with a snack stop in Toluca Lake.

We met at the Elks Lodge in Pasadena. The Rose Parade grandstands were still up, and they were apparently filming something there. There were some police cars for a fictitious police department in the parking lot.

The ride up through Montrose was nice. At the top of La Tuna Canyon we caught up with Gene and Charley. Then we all headed down the other side. At the bottom, we rode across Sun Valley to get to Coldwater Canyon Road, which we took south all the way across the Valley. The road was pretty wretched, like many Los Angeles city streets. It was also windy, since we’re having a Santa Ana right now. But that also meant that the air was very clear, and we could see the mountains very well. Along the way, we passed the Great Wall of Los Angeles.

In Toluca Lake, we stopped at Priscilla’s for bagels and such. Then we headed home by the direct route across Glendale and Eagle Rock. Then back up the Colorado hill into Pasadena.

It was a nice ride.

51 miles.
cycling

Since I posted my 2008 Car Report, here’s the comparable report for my bike. In 2008, I rode 6,013 miles total. Despite all the upheaval in my personal life this past year, I was still able to ride my bike to work nearly every day. Commuting accounted for about 2,000 miles. The remainder was my weekend rides for fun.

This is comfortably more than the 5,703 miles I put on my car, so the balance of the universe is still correct.

Today’s bike ride was to Mt. Washington in Los Angeles. We started out from Victory Park and headed up into Altadena. From there, we rode over into La Cañada and then down Verdugo Blvd all the way to Glassell Park. Then we headed up Mt. Washington. They repaved the road last year, and it’s really pretty nice now. It’s a pleasant climb with some nice switchbacks.

Coming down the other side into Highland Park, we headed north, back to South Pasadena. When we crossed the Gold Line railroad tracks, I got a flat. Fortunately, it was a slow leak, so I was able to make it to the snack stop at Kaldi’s before I had to fix it.

Finally, we rode across San Marino and back up Sierra Madre Blvd to the park. It was a nice ride.

37 miles.
cycling

Tonight Susan and I hosted our first dinner party for some friends. It was fun to cook a fancy meal and break out the nice dishes and all that. We made a marinated beef rib roast, snow white potatoes au gratin, brussels sprouts, and I made some homemade rosemary dinner rolls.

It was a fun time.

This year was not a normal year by any stretch. Due to the whole life-upheaval thing, I ended up using my car a whole lot more than normal. I drove 5,703 miles in 2008, which is more than I drove in the previous four years combined. I didn’t even track which days I used the car, since it was rare that even a week went by without using it at least once.

Still, compared to most people in southern California, I’m on a low-car diet. And I’m glad for that.