Stan’s Obligatory Blog

For the day after Thanksgiving, we headed down to see Grandpa in San Diego. The plan was to go visit, take him to lunch at Prado, and then go see the Midway aircraft carrier museum.

The lunch at Prado was nice. We also got to see our friend Laura there. She manages the place, and it appears that she never leaves there. I guess that’s just how it is to manage a big restaurant. But the food was good, and the presentation was first-rate.

The Midway was interesting. Its active days spanned from the end of World War II through the Vietnam War. They had a lot of the older airplanes on display on the hangar deck. They also had several flight simulators on the hangar deck, and they were selling rides in them. Maybe next time we’ll have to try them.

Up on the flight deck they had newer airplanes on display. The A4 reminded me of the time when I was working in San Diego and one of them crashed down the street from my office. We heard it go by and could tell by the sound that something was wrong. We all ran to the windows in time to see the plume of smoke and the pilot drifting down on his parachute. It still amazes me that he was able to aim the plane for the parking lot between two office buildings before he ejected.

There were also exhibits about taking off and landing on the carrier. They had retired pilots giving talks to explain how the process worked. It was pretty interesting, and it’s really amazing that they are able to make it look (relatively) easy.

Overall, it was a fun day.

I also got a new sign for the Animal Crossings Gallery.

Today was the big Thanksgiving feast. Where we over-eat even more than usual. As always, I’m the cook, so I got up early and got started.

The two test pies I’d made recently worked out well. I was prepared this time. For last-minute advice on making the crust, I consulted The Teen Guide to Homemaking. This is a 1950s-era home economics textbook that I have. It’s a classic, and it has a lot of good information about basic cooking techniques. It also has good information about making lots of things from scratch. So I made the crust, filled it, and baked it. And it was good.

I also made a whole bunch of other stuff. Green-bean casserole, but not with the canned mushroom soup. The goop was made from scratch with cream, fresh mushrooms, etc. Also, brussels sprouts with garlic and pancetta. And cornbread stuffing made from homemade cornbread. It was all good. As evidence, I present the smiling faces of everyone who was there.

Today’s ride was out to Glendale for a stop at Paradise Bakery, and then a loop through Griffith Park. It was chilly this morning, but forecast to get warm later. When I was pumping up my tires this morning, the tube ripped at the valve stem when I pulled the pump off. So I got a flat before I even left the house.

Heading out from Pasadena, we went up to La Cañada, which was good. Going uphill warmed us up, and the fog thinned out in that direction. Then we went down Hospital Hill and down the long hill into Glendale.

We took Mountain and Kenneth across Glendale to get to Paradise Bakery. I had my usual chocolate éclairs. I still think they have the best éclairs there.

As we were leaving Paradise, some fire trucks came racing by, so we took a one-block detour to see where they went. There wasn’t any obvious fire, but they were setting up a big ventilator fan in the door of a house, so maybe it was a gas leak or something like that.

After the stop, we headed into Griffith Park. The sign said that the fire danger was “LOW”. I had to take a picture, since I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen one of those signs say anything other than ‘HIGH’ or ‘VERY HIGH’ or ‘EXTREME’. Maybe it’s low now because everything flammable already burned up last May.

After passing the Los Angeles Zoo, we rode through the DWP Festival of Lights area. Of course, being daytime, there wasn’t much to see there.

On the way back across Eagle Rock and Highland Park, I saw an abandoned couch underneath a tree, and another one that looked like it had been overturned in a riot.

It never did get particularly warm today, though.

43 miles.
cycling

Today’s ride was down the length of Mulholland Drive from Cahuenga Pass to the hills above Encino, and then back to Pasadena by way of the San Fernando Valley. It was kind of chilly this morning, but promising to warm up nicely. We met at the Elks Lodge in Pasadena, where they already have bleachers up for the Rose Parade. From there, we rode over to Griffith Park to meet the rest of the group.

On the way, we passed T&A Grocery in Glendale. This makes the third “T&A” shop we’ve seen. There’s also T&A Seafood and T&A Hobby.

When we left Griffith Park, the route said to go up Barham and then on Cahuenga to get to the beginning of Mulholland Drive. I hate that section of Cahuenga, since there’s a lot of traffic, the road is narrow, and it’s rough. So I took a detour up Lake Hollywood and then down Wonder View. This cuts through a quiet residential area to bypass Cahuenga. The only downside to it is that taking the ’shortcut’ involves going up and over a steep hill. So nobody else joined me for this part of the excursion.

Once we got on Mulholland, we just rode west all the way until the road ends above Encino. Along the way, I pointed out some of the local sights, including the Chemosphere House, another house with some nice glass-block walls, and one with a tennis court on stilts hanging off the hillside. I missed it, but a couple of the guys saw Jay Leno out road-testing an antique steam car that he’s restoring.

At the end of Mulholland, the road just drops off a cliff down into the Valley. It was a very steep descent, and I didn’t think we were high enough for that much downhill. When we finally got to the bottom, we headed for home.

The trip home was pretty easy. It was flat all the way across the Valley. We stopped for a snack at Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake. Then we rode straight across Glendale and back to Pasadena, going back up the Colorado hill. By that time, it had warmed up very nicely.

64 miles.
cycling

On Friday night, we went out to Santa Monica to the opening reception for “Plays Well With Others”, which is a collaborative art show with Sharon Kagan, Leslie Yagar, and Lana Shuttleworth. Lana was the artist who did the “Cone Migration” show that we saw recently.

This new show is a single large piece in the gallery. It’s a poppy field suspended from the ceiling, with poppies made from dyed coffee filters, pieces of traffic cones, and crocheted yarn. And we got to meet the artists, which was a fun time. I’d been looking forward to meeting Lana, since I participated in the Cone Migration. And in the photo, be sure to check out her purse made from traffic cones.

It was a fun evening.

A friend of mine went to a coroner’s convention recently. There were some crime-scene cleanup companies there, and one of them had this for an advertising item. Heh.

Today’s ride was up and over Turnbull Canyon, which is a nice hill between Whittier and Hacienda Heights. To ride up it is to challenge Newton and beat the force of gravity. And today, I also beat Newton, who is the star hill-climber of our group. This is one of the very few times I’ve beaten him to the top of a big hill. So it was an exciting day.

It was cool and threatening to rain today, so I thought the ride might get cut short. So I left a few minutes early and took the long way down to the park. Along the way, I saw the first abandoned couch of the day, on Orange Grove Blvd. Then I headed over to Victory Park to meet the group.

We had a small group today. I suppose the weather may have scared some away. We headed out to Arcadia and then directly south through El Monte, where I saw the second abandoned couch. Then we crossed into Whittier and headed up to Turnbull Canyon.

The road up Turnbull Canyon is a nice bit of the country in the middle of the city. It’s a steady, winding climb. Jon, Newton, and I led the way. I made sure to stay with Newton, even when he put on some bursts of speed to try to shake me. I knew that no matter how much it hurt, I had to stay close. If I lost contact, it would hurt twice as much to try and catch up later. It also helped that it’s been a while since we did this ride, and I’d forgotten just how long the climb is. Several times I thought we were almost at the top, only to go around a bend and see yet another switchback. But in the end, I managed to hang on to the top, which was a remarkable thing. I usually can’t hang with Newton on a tough climb. So maybe all this riding is actually making me stronger. Or maybe I’m just learning how to hurt and make more effort. Whatever. And being first to the top made up for the fact that I’d said ‘uncle’ and shifted on the way up. To commemorate the occasion, I got a souvenir picture at the top.

The ride down is nice. It reminds me of riding a steel roller coaster. For some reason, the road gives the feeling of flying, even though we stay firmly on the ground. It’s a fun downhill, and I don’t even find it terrifying for some reason.

At the bottom, we headed back by way of La Puente and Industry. Amid all the warehouses in Industry, we saw some people riding horses, which looked kind of strange. We also saw a Metrolink commuter train go by, which is a rare sight on a weekend.

Our snack stop was at Planet Cookies in Monrovia. The whole Old Town Monrovia area has already been decorated for the holidays. It seems a bit soon, but that’s not unusual these days.

By this time, it was getting colder again, and starting to look more like rain. So we headed straight home.

It was a fun, if slightly chilly ride.

53 miles.
cycling

Today’s ride was out to San Dimas for one lap around Bonelli Park. We’ve done this ride before, and it’s always nice.

On the way out, I saw a nice abandoned couch in Baldwin Park, and then a little way down the road, I saw a pile of trash with yet another couch. And then Frank got a flat. He said we should just go on, but I had to stop to take a picture.

After the flat, we continued on. The ride out to San Dimas is pretty flat and not very exciting. But when we got there, we headed into the hills around Bonelli Park. We rode down past Brackett Field. There was a lot of activity on the drag strip at the Pomona fairgrounds. The Love Ride is tomorrow, and apparently they go out there at the end of the ride. So there were thousands of people on motorcycles there to warm up the pavement or something. It was the most motorcycles I’ve ever seen in one place that wasn’t having a tattoo convention.

We took Via Verde back through the park and over the hills. The plastic horse in front of the equestrian center was pretty funny. Then we climbed the hill out of the park and headed down the other side. I saw 40mph on one of the downhills, which is unusual for me. I’m terrified of high speeds now that I’m old. But it was fun.

Coming down into Covina, Tom got a flat. He changed the tube, but the spare had a too-short valve, so he had to borrow a tube from someone else. Finally, he got the tire fixed and we continued on.

The stop was at a restaurant in Baldwin Park. By that time it was getting late, so Jon and I skipped the stop and just headed for home.

It was a fun ride.

55 miles.
cycling

Here’s some of the 7.5 pounds of candy that Lucinda got on Halloween. Sort of like the traditional cornucopia, but not quite. But quite appropriate to modern American culture. Yikes.

One day this week I was sitting in my office and started smelling a pie baking in the kitchen downstairs. This happens sometimes, since my office is in a house, and we have a fully-functioning kitchen. It was a peach pie, and a half-gallon of ice cream appeared, too. It was quite good. And I was suddenly seized by an urge to make an apple pie. I’ve only made a pie from scratch once before, and never made an apple pie. But there’s no fighting these urges.

I got some apples today when I went to do our grocery shopping. I looked up a pie crust recipe. And I got down to business.

Making the crust wasn’t too hard. I used to make quiches, so I’m not a stranger to pie crust. But this was the first time in many years. The worst part of the whole process was peeling and cutting the apples. Then I cooked the apples for the filling, which wasn’t too hard.

The instructions said to cool the apples to room temperature before assembling the pie, but I was a bit impatient. They were still a little bit warm, but I don’t think it hurt anything.

I baked the pie for just about 38 minutes before it looked perfectly done. So I took it out and put it in the laundry room to cool. Again, the instructions said to cool it completely before cutting it. But I was impatient. I wanted to try it out. So I cut a piece and ate it.

It was good.

Lucinda looked at me kind of strangely, since I think this is the first dessert she’s ever seen me make that didn’t involve chocolate in some form. But it was a fun little project.