Mall Time

We had a break between games so we decided that the mall was a perfect place to cool down! We've been there before and Heather tried to pose for a shot we had taken when she was 8. Uh, I don't think you fit anymore! :)

Down by our area, I purchased a little "frequent rider" card for Heather when she was a tiny thing for the merry-go-around. She would pull the card out and say, "Can we go to the mall ride?"

Now it's Magic Mountain...

Can you tell which is my sandwich and which is Heather's? I told the guy that I wanted everything except the purple onions, and what did he do? Yup, a giant handful of them! I then reminded him that I was allergic (not really, I winked at the lady next to me) and that I might just keel over right in front of the counter. It always amazes me that they always ask what you want on it: "Everything except for onions, please!" then go and ask you for each item: Do you want cheese? You want tomaTOES, lettuce, etc...When I went to pay, we got two free cookies. I have no idea why... :)

Do you like the "rainbow bacon?" Heather likes all the sour candies, worms, etc...The girls did win their games today and play three tomorrow to get 1st place.

What do you do to cool down when it's a bazillion degrees?

Lotsa Stuff

I gave Heather the option of pulling the weeds or mowing the lawn. She chose to help me with the mowing. She decided that the shady part needed the most attention :) See that little patch of shade right there? "Daddy it's hot now!"

She spent the rest of the time skateboarding up and down the street. She likes the feeling that she gets on her feet when she coasts down the block. Kind of funny, huh? I finished up the lawn and pulled pesky weeds that keep popping up with the radio pumping out tunes. That's me trying to mow down Heather but she ran into the garage :)

We headed up to Escondido for our first game at 7:45 p.m. The girls blasted out to a 12-0 FIRST inning lead and mercied a team 17-0 after only three innings. Not a good game to help prepare for the State Championships next week but this is only pool play. The good stuff should be on Sunday when we reach bracket play.

I spent the latter part of the game trying to get good shots of the moon rising over the hills. I shot this with a 300mm lens f5.6 1/640 iso 100 handheld, just held my breath.

After the game we went straight home and just picked up a $5.00 pizza.

We have an early game tomorrow so I'm heading off for some Zzzzzz's

Do you have your kids help around the house?

iPhone Mania

Here we go again! The last time was for the PS3 (flop) but from all the reviews this one might live up to the hype ala iPod. I'm just curious as to how many people that are in line to buy one will actually keep it versus eBay.

Are you going to get an iPhone?

The Birds Have Invaded

Each day at practice a mama bird flies around and makes sure none of the girls gets near her birdies. But its kind of hard since the nest just happens to be in the dugout. There is a little family living in there. I had to reach way up to get a photograph of them. It seems one of the birds is a ham - look at him!

But all is not well in nestville. Check out the birds defending the nest by attacking the intruder! There were actually three birds dive bombing but he was behind the light at the time.

So far everyone is co-existing pretty well. Let's just hope they don't poop all over the place.

Rubik's Cube

Heather got a Rubik's Cube for Christmas and after jumbling it up its been sitting on the shelf. So she brought it over and I showed her that yes, I had "solved" it. Heather says she's not gonna mess it up again! :)

In the summer of 1981, when I was in Europe for the summer (straight "A" present) that I was given a rubiks cube to occupy my time during the long flight from Los Angeles to London. I even remember the airline (Laker!) The lady gave me white wine! She laughed at the face I made, because for some reason I thought it was apple juice. Oh, and yes I saw Princess Diana get married - crazy.

I opened the cube on the plane and messed it up and got frustrated because at most I could only do two layers, and I tried to do patterns and memorize where the little cubes moved.

Some of you already know the level of my tenacity when it comes to finding a solution. I might fall flat on my face numerous times, but I'll eventually get it :) As you can see in the little booklet there (I wanted a faster solution), my time was horrible (8 minutes 31 second). I competed against myself and eventually got the time down to 50 something seconds.

Do you like those type of puzzles?

Postage Stamps

clerk: How can I help you?
me: I'd like a small roll of stamps, please.
clerk: You want 100 stamps? [reaches for the roll]
me: Oh no! Way too many.
clerk: How many do you need?
me: How about a strip of them?
clerk: [Pulls out a huge sheet]
me: Uhh...not that many either. [Points towards right quantity]
clerk: That's a half-sheet. Now you know and I'll have quiz on this!
me: heh heh. Ok!
clerk: What else can I help you with?
me: ONE half-sheet of 2cent stamps! :)
clerk: LOL
me: Do the "forever" stamps last until the next price increase? :)

Lunch Time

GINORMOUS YAWN!!! I knew that I would be paying for staying up so late :) It's time for lunch so, I'm getting ready to meet up with some friends and see what we can come up with to appease the grumbling tummy.

What did you have or are going to have for lunch?

Unreal Taunting

Heather decides to play on-line unreal tournament insta-GIB (1 shot kills ya). But she gets scared and makes me sit down at the computer. We come up against someone named [someguy]and his team is beating us. So we (Heather and I) go after him directly. Heather has her hand on the taunt keys. Each time we kill him we call him a girl, and ask him to sit down, and eat that, etc...I finally type "You're getting spanked by a girl!!!"

We take the lead 1-0 and only about 2 minutes left in the match and he SWITCHED TEAMS to be on our side...that loser! The server has it set so you can't hurt friendlies so I wait until he is on the bridge and blast him OFF the bridge and he dies! Then he tried to do the same to us but I wouldn't go near the canyons. Heather and I laughed so hard because we were smarter than he was!

Ugh. The alarm will be going off in 5 hours!!! What time do you go to sleep?

I just got slammed

Do you remember the scene in Pretty Woman where Richard Gere show shows up in a limo near the end of the movie and climbs the fire escape ladder so he can rescue her, and she then says that she will "rescue him right back"

Well, I was at lunch with a friend and she asked me what I thought was something that I was looking for and I told her that scene. And I didn't mean that I wanted a prostitute or something like that but I wanted to be "rescued" as dumb as that sounds! I got this weird look from her as if I had given the most stupid answer in the world. Oh well, I quickly changed the subject.

Pretty much I was saying that: I'm not perfect, far from it, didn't have a picture perfect childhood, and that I needed someone to "rescue" me too! Not to complete me but be my partner/wife through life, etc...

Who knows what I mean?

Solamente en Español

¡Hoy mi hija y yo hablamos solamente en español! Fuimos al cine y despues comimos en el "Cheesecake Factory" cerca nuestra casa. Ella escuchó música en "Barnes and Noble," mientras yo vi unos libros y revistas. Se va quedar la noche en mi casa hasta fin de semana cuando tenemos otro torneo en Escondido. :)

¿Que idiomas sabes?

Changing Definitions as Times Change

I read an article that stated that the FCC defines high speed internet as 200 kpbs. Don't you think that's funny? I guess for my first modem (2400 baud) that is fast... :)

What is the lowest speed modem you remember?

Judge loses $54 million pants lawsuit

I'm so glad that he lost. This was just a huge waste of time and taxpayer dollars. Now instead of taking the replacement pants as offered, he has to pay court costs, and still out his pants! Wonder if he has to pay the $100,000 legal fees on the defendants part?

It cost about $5,000 to try the case. The judges argument was that the dry cleaner's sign, "Satisfaction Guaranteed" was misleading the customers? Is this correct?

Subway Sandwich as currency

I was asked if I could help solve another computer problem and take a subway sandwich as payment. Sure no problem, see you at 7:00 p.m. Kind of fixed the problem but I still ate the whole sandwich! :)

What, other than traditional money have you received as payment for helping out?

Almost Bonita Valley Sweep

The motto for today was "One and Done." The three teams that made it to the championship game (10U,12U and 14U) at 11:00 a.m easily won their games and are planning their trip to the State Championships in Lancaster (HOT, HOT, HOT!). Last year we took two teams and they both took it all. This year we are taking three teams. I wish them all luck.

The 8U team finished 3rd losing a tough one to a nearby rival (2-4) They took it well despite how they lost (double play with runners on 1st and 3rd) ending their quest back to the championship game.

After I took all the photos and award shots, I was called (since I stayed until all the teams finished with their awards) and told that there was the traditional "winning district" party. I'm there! Heather rounded up her bathing suit and we were ready...

The kids did the pizza, swimming pool thing, tan, play, watch movies, bake cookies, etc..They had fun. The adults had circled around and laughed it up until sunset. We get two days to rest and then back to preparing for States.

Oh, for you married couples; we had this as a topic at the party: Who "wears the pants" in your relationship?

All Teams Place at Districts

As I implied earlier, I woke up earlier than the alarm, showered and headed out. The 10's easily won their game at Eastlake, and then took off and went to Discovery. The 12's kicked some booty and I got some carne asada tacos before I headed to Rohr park to see Heather play.

She was up 9 times or so and got on base 7 of them. Teams are surprised that she can beat out the throw to 1st on a bunt. I think she is happy that they don't automatically come in on her when they see her at-bat.

This is what I had for dessert at the field dessert for photog.

The girls are headed for the State Championships in July. They need one win tomorrow to go there as District Champions.

Waking Up!

Don't ya hate when you wake up about a minute or two before your alarm?

Talking on the Phone

Here I'm talking on the phone and blogging. I'm getting ready to crawl in bed and so far I haven't gotten yelled at for not giving 100% attention! LOL Someone is being patient with me... :) I have a busy day planned tomorrow. Districts spread across three ball parks. I promised photos (at least one set of our four teams)

Hopefully we win our three games tomorrow so we only have one on Sunday (Championship). So good night! I'll have some more boring stuff for you tomorrow! Oh, here's a picture of Heather and I the other day... :)

What do you like to hear or be told before you go to sleep?

Longest Day

Well, it was yesterday and it marks the "official" start of summer. Did you notice the extra time?
Anyone do anything exciting?

Quotes I like

I just started this and I'll be adding as I see stuff I like.

1. Just because someone doesn’t love you as you wish, it doesn’t mean you’re not loved with all their being.


2. Never stop smiling, not even when you’re sad, someone might fall in love with your smile.


3. In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying.
   
   Bertrand Russell - British author, mathematician, philosopher (1872 - 1970)


4. We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words. - Anna Sewell - Black Beauty, 1877British author (1820 - 1878)


5. There is nothing more uncommon than common sense - Frank Lloyd Wright

Dads

I copied this from somewhere but I can't recall from where. It mentioned about how kidsd see their dads at particular ages.

4: My daddy can do anything.

5 : My daddy knows a whole lot.

6 : My dad is smarter than your dad.

8 : My dad doesn't know exactly everything.

10 : In the olden days, when my dad grew up, things were sure different.

12 : Oh, well, naturally, Dad doesn't know anything about that. He is too old to remember his childhood.

14 : Don't pay any attention to my dad. He is so old-fashioned.

21 : Him? My Lord, he's hopelessly out of date.

25 : Dad knows about it, but then he should, because he has been around so long.

30 : Maybe we should ask Dad what he thinks. After all, he's had a lot of experience.

35 : I'm not doing a single thing until I talk to Dad.

40 : I wonder how Dad would have handled it. He was so wise.

45 : I'd give anything if Dad were here now so I could talk this over with him.

50 : It's too bad I didn't appreciate sooner just how smart Dad really was. I could have learned a lot more from him.

I have applied the above to other situations, people, etc...Can you relate to any of this?

Pulitzer Prize Photo

What does this photo of Paris Hilton being hauled into court have with the next photo?

The "burning girl" as I called it when I saw it on TV. I saw the actual black and white TV news footage as a child and it made a big impact on me.

One thing I learned that day was that my problems weren't really that big when compared to others.

If you want to know who took these photos, read this story. Both images show someone crying; both think their world is about to end...

Ya know what mean?

The Chase

I saw a kid leave his bike outside the store today and remembered how I had left mine outside the library when I was in 6th grade. I used to ride my bike to the library and look at all the plane, train, and military books. One day, as I was checking out my books, a kid got on my bike and road off!!!

I was having none of that, and I chased his butt! The kid was pedaling as fast as he could but I was catching up and he kept turning around looking at me with that "OH $HIT I'M GONNA DIE!!!" look. Evidently he was riding to his house because I was just about to catch him and his dad stopped him, and gave me my bike. He smacked him and yelled at him for a bit, and I wondered if it was for my benefit so I wouldn't kill him.

Even though I didn't return that day to get my books, they were set aside for me by the librarian. The next day, I bought the toughest looking chain and master lock for my bike, and used it when I checked out the books! ;)

Scary Sneeze

Heather is playing unreal tournament on the game computer and I snapped this shot of her. It's actually pretty dark while she is playing and I sneezed and scared the heck outta her. :) Notice how intense she is while she plays. Her character "A_SeaMonkey" is doing well especially on GOD Mode. Aren't cheat codes great?! She's been playing FPS since she was old enough to sit on my lap and press the "Fire" button on my mouse while playing DOOM. Does anyone remember that? Or Castle Wolfenstein? She does, and even playing Duke Nukem, Quake I, II, and 3. She was too afraid of Doom 3 (too spooky). She tried her hand at Call of Duty, but gets sniped within several seconds of spawning. She just lays there in the trench and doesn't dare stick her head up LOL

I'm taking her to soak city tomorrow by our house. If you know me then you know how long it will take to get there. :)

New Toy - HD Everio GZ-HD7

With the state championships (hope they make it) coming up soon, I was thinking of uh...buying this for the tournament. :) Last August, I bought the 30GB version when it came out and it was pretty cool, the only thing that I didn't like was that I had to convert the file so that I could play it.

I liked that it was small enough that I could carry it in the pocket of my cargo shorts. I'm heading to my local computer shop to try it out.

What new gadget are you drooling over?

Reading the Manual

What did I do at Heather's practice? I read the manual for the 30D. I've never really read the manual to my cameras. I don't mean just glancing but reading and trying out the stuff that it can do whether I was going to use it or not. One thing that I noticed is that the camera does do B/W, Sepia, custom tonals, etc...and experimented with the flash exposure lock, and other features that are seldom used. I turned on the 3200 ISO feature, just to see how grainy the photos would come out. Not really bad. Oh...the temperature only 73 degrees, (23 c) for the rest of the world.

I got gas on the way home since I was way low. I only bought a couple of gallons in Vista since it was $3.50+; just enough to get home to buy gas here. Again, I wish they would just get rid of that "9" at the end.


How low do you let your gas tank go before you fuel up?

Mistakes

The league website that I run gets a lot of traffic, and every now and then I make some mistakes in posting, scores, news, etc...But the funny thing is that nobody will say anything. When someone finally does, they always say, 'I thought somebody else would have told you.' Or that they didn't want to hurt my feelings. So it comes down to me looking like a dork, or hurting my feelings.

Somebody IM'd me that a photo link was bad. No hurt feelings as long as you don't say, "You moron, can't you get a simple link right?"

Do you tell your friends when they make a boo-boo or do you not want to come off as a "know-it-all?"

Happy Father's Day!

Only one game today! We got there and had to wait to see who we played and they went into International Tie-breaker (ITB). We ended up playing Imperial Beach; a team that is just west of our league.

The girls play 7 innings in softball. With the score 0-0 all through 6 innings, BV the visitors FINALLY pounded out some runs - 8 of them in the final inning. A nice little cushion don't ya think? All they had to do was hold Imperial Beach and win. They did! Final score 8-0. Since they are in our District, I know we will face them at District Championships next week. Our 10, 12, and 14's won the Vista tournament this weekend!

Heather and I had steak, grilled chicken and shrimp for my Father's Day dinner. Yummy! :)

LONG Saturday in Vista

We headed at 5:30 a.m. and it seemed like we had just gone to sleep! I had to look at the map before we left because I had never been to these fields. While we were on the freeway, someone called me and had gotten lost. That's two tournaments in a row! LOL.

Our first game 8:00 a.m. was against Los Alamitos, a tough one but we won 1-0, after Drea got a single and then Heather got an RBI double up the middle. Go Heather. Second game at 2:00 p.m. was versus a new team in the league, I recognized a player that was on Heather's recreation team. She crushed some balls out there, but we managed to pull ahead 9-3. The final game of the day, was against Escondido Extreme (Gold) and Jen pitched a shut-out. Almost a no-hitter, to win 4-0. Tomorrow they play for the Championship at 2:00 p.m.

Heather stayed awake the whole time on the way home :) I was really tired though. I can remember calling a friend and they said they would call me back later on. I woke up in the middle of the night and checked my phone and there it was - a minute and a half conversation under my received calls. I can't remember what I said.

Heather wants to leave at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow to make sure we have plenty of "pharting around time." Game time: 2:00 p.m. - Championship Game versus ? I'm guessing that it will be Los Al.

Two Girls Moving Up

Congratulations are in order for two young ladies today. The first to Mariah. I've known this young lady since she was three and amazed at how fast the time has passed. I remember getting a father's day card from her a billion years ago saying, "I love you, you treat me just like a daddy." Now she's all grown up!

Mariah graduated from High School today and is on her way to Oklahoma State University (All tuition paid - Softball Scholarship). I'm sure she can't wait to start playing "college ball!" So what is she and her dad doing tomorrow? Yup, going up to Lancaster, Ca. to try to qualify for the 18 & Under Gold National Championships.

The second is my kiddo. The countdown has reached ZERO, and Lil' Miss Heather is on to the 8th Grade! But she reminds me that being 5'1.5" is not little nor can she be called "Shorty." We have to come up with a new nickname for Her. Now, I'm sure that the countdown to High School has started.

I love you tons! Be ready to leave at 5:30 a.m. and give me 100% this weekend up in Vista!

My Flight

I didn't know how much traffic there was going to be so I left a little early. When John got there we drove over to the hangar, and did the pre-flight checks such as checking fuel level and quality. Had to make sure that they color was blue-ish. Look the plane is pregnant!

I got a an introduction to all the instruments and was told what each did and what to look for. Yes, they do look just like the flight simulator but this is an older Navy Trainer. Still looked cool to me! One thing that instantly caught my attention was when John took the parachutes out of the plane and left them in the hangar. We were going to be too low to use them. Nice thought, huh?

Don't you like the fighter stick? It was really sensitive; just use slight pressure to get the plane to go where you want. Reminds me of the thrustmaster joystick.

Once we got in the airborne, and leveled off, I took this self-portrait. I decided to take the 50mm just to keep things compact. I wish I had taken the 16-35mm but using one hand was kind of interesting. The headset had a gelatin type seal, it felt kind of weird.

At first, the weather was overcast but a little later things cleared up and we headed south down to Chula Vista. I got this shot of where Heather plays softball.

I had to duplicate a Microsoft Virtual Maps shot, by banking the plane left. Before I left this morning, I saw a car in front of my house that matched a model that was given to me a while back, a little convertible. I could clearly see that it was still in front of my house when I flew over!

We had to call the Brown Field tower to let them know we were in the area loitering around.

I had to take this shot of John because he looks like a giant M&M...don't you agree? He must have heard me because at this point, we did some barrel rolls and 3.5 g maneuvers, and banked hard left and right. Remember my headset? Camera or Headset? Which would you let go of? Yup, I had to chase the headset around the cockpit! John just looked at me in his little mirror.

We landed safely, and backed the plane to the hangar. John took this shot of me getting out of the plane. Notice how the canopy slides back? That's the air conditioning since it gets really hot up there. I slid the canopy back to take some of the pictures. BTW, Don't stick your hand out of the canopy!

Now I know what goes into getting that weather report from your local news station. The lady was already inside and strapped in as I passed.

Just call the gas truck and poof - $5.00 a gallon gas filling the wing! The gas smells like model glue.

Finally, you gotta fill out the flight log. I had a blast. After the flight, I got the grand tour of the Gillespie airport. A flight show is scheduled for the rest of the weekend and everyone was busy getting ready. This is when I headed back down to Chula Vista to join Mariah's graduation celebration.

I have about 150 more photos doing the barrel rolls, scenery, etc...I don't know if I'll post them. And no matter how I format this post. Blogger goobers it up!

Photo of a Neuron

Well...maybe this isn't a photo of neuron. But, can you guess what it is?

It's something that is in my garage and has been trying to get my attention for about a week. I checked it and I'm still ok but need to take care of it soon, though. Once I do it will be another year before I see this again.


This next one is really easy. No guessing involved, I wanted to take a photo of my watching glowing in the dark. Exposed for about one minute. I first put it up to a light bulb to get it really "lit up," and propped the watch on the floor.

At first, I thought that maybe it would be blurry as the hand moved but it wasn't.

The Weekend Starts Now!

I woke up waaay too early (4:02 a.m.) this morning and now I know that I'm gonna be a zombie this weekend. Practice was short and sweet, just batting practice, outfield, and fitness drills - only two hours today.

Gas was JUST 2.959 today. Don't ya hate how we're conditioned already to the high price? In Big Bear, I filled up my 18 gallons for 3.509 per gallon. I really didn't even notice; needed the gas so I filled it. Did the socializing thing and had a light dinner and one "drink." I found two "volunteers" to do the website & photos for when I'm gone.

Tomorrow is a busy day: Flying lesson then rush back, and Mariah's graduation/luncheon, then up to Vista to meet an old friend for dinner, get back and help with a computer problem, and then zonk so that I can wake up early to take my daughter to her game in Vista at 6:45 a.m.

San Antonio Sweep! It's not "King James'" time yet!

Listening to: Timbaland - Shock Value. [Embedded Player] Current Song: The Way I Are

Daily Recap

I left practice early today for the board meeting to discuss District Championship logistics. Had pizza brought in for the meeting. I did the minutes for the first time. I had keep reminding myself to take notes since I really have never taken notes even when in school. I just relied on remembering.

One exciting thing was that we are bidding to host Nationals at our Discovery, Eastlake, and Rohr fields in Chula Vista...Pretty cool honor.

I thought it was funny that it was in the mid 70's and people were complaining that it was "HOT!" I'm sure others from around the country or world would say, "You think that's hot?" I haven't had to turn on a fan or A/C, yet. That's when I know it's hot.

At what temperature do you say, "IT'S HOT!"

The Perfect Push Up

I saw a commercial for "The Perfect Push Up." It looked interesting and I looked it up on google to see what others had said about it. This is the product that I was looking for on the left. It has rotating handles that are supposed to be better for $39.99. My friend is going to buy them for me! Woohoo. :)

But, this is not the first item on the google search as I expected, but The Perfect Push Up appeared. (not endoring the contents of the link)

I'll tell you how I like them when they come in, the exercise things that is!

What have you googled expecting one thing and something else appeared?

Award Ceremony

A short practice for Heather because we went to Mariah's awards ceremony at the high school. I was surprised how few people were there. They announced her full ride scholarship to Oklahoma State University. She was also named "Softball Player of the Year!" Pretty cool don't ya think? One of the few times I have seen Mariah in a dress. They wore full cap and gown stuff. I snagged a few of the macadamia cookies that they had at the table :)

I so remembered my own awards ceremony at my high school. My mom hi-lited the program everywhere she saw my name. Of course, she had to grab extra ones. She had to say, "That's my son, the President of the class!" How embarrassing...Anyway, what did I do with all the money I received? I bought a computer! A whopping $3,500 of it right off the bat. I had applied for EVERYTHING, and was trying to guarantee that I got something - I did and then some. The award I was most proud of was the "Bank of America Award in Computer Science." I couldn't believe that I received an award for a subject that I orginally wasn't interested in!

Soaring in a Plane

I got my confirmation e-mail and everything is set for bright and early on Friday morning @ 8:00 a.m. I'm going to be piloting the plane! I'm gonna try to get some photos when I'm up there. Since I can only take one lens, I'm thinking the 50mm so that it doesn't move around. I guess I have a few days to think about it. Let's see how much I can absorb and remember.

I can recall my first plane ride ever. It was when I was four or five going to "tortugas" in Mexico. The plane was really tiny and I was TERRIFIED by the sound of the engines and I didn't like the bouncing around. I can still see the shiny metal reflecting back at me. I didn't move or say anything. We had to take turns getting there because there wasn't enough room. FINALLY, the flight was over.


Any of you afraid of flying?

Keep it simple

Have you ever wanted to use a word in a sentence, but used an easier word because you couldn't spell it, AND you were too lazy to look up the word you really wanted to use?

If so, what was that word?

Me

I was waiting for Heather to get ready and I took this photo with just the lamp light.

I think my eye lashes went away because I blinked.

Genaro Wilson Ordered Released By Judge

I was just teaching Heather what the word "Draconian" was on our way back home from Big Bear and gave her some examples. I do this on a regular basis and she goes on along with the program. It's the price for having dad drive you around! But, a day after I discuss this, a judicial verdict is released concerning Genaro Wilson.

Have you heard about his case? He's in prison serving a TEN year sentence for allowing a 15 year old girl to perform oral sex on him New Year's Eve in 2003, when he was 17. The act was determined to be consensual but the charge brought against him was "Aggravated Child Molestation," bases on the law concerning children 15 or under. If they had just "regular" sex then it would have been only a misdemeanor.

He was convicted and required to be registered as a sexual predator. Attempts to free him were denied! But, in a twist of irony, his case resulted in the change of the law. Was he released then? NO! They didn't release Genaro because the case wasn't grandfathered in.

I'm not a lawyer but I can tell the spirit of the original law and intent. Based on the result, it's clear that the law wasn't well thought out. Once convicted, opportunities to correct a wrong were dismissed. Will the state file an appeal? YES! What are they thinking?

Imagine what laws that you aren't aware of could be used by an overzealous district attorney's office against YOU!

Bonita 12U and 14U Dominate

I got Heather up with plenty of time so she could enjoy her breakfast upstairs, I washed the dishes, took out the trash and we were out and ready at the field at 8:45 a.m. not too bad and I felt fine.

The girls easily beat Scripps Ranch 9-1 (Mercy Rule). Then they played Riverside, and we were hoping that if we got 15 runs by the third, that they would start the championship early so that we could go home! Well, it was 21-0, and each girl kept hitting. The final game was against Chino and Bonita won 12-6, but Chino made it interesting because it was 6-5 THEM until the girls woke up let them have it. You see Heather's muscles?

One more tune-up tournament (Vista) before the District Championships...

BBQ

We were instructed to car pool since parking is extremely limited. Our car pool ended up to be just me and Heather since the people that were supposed to go with me ended up going with someone else to give directions. Heather and I got there first to she headed up to join the other girls. "C-ya Dad!"
This was taken early on, before the girls went to go watch DVDs in the family room. Heather came over and someone took this photo.

They also later hid my camera while I went to go get carne asada. By this time, I had two of my three "RCD." It stands for red cup drinks. I was still able to think coherently or so I thought. I go around asking everyone in the place, "Do you know where my camera is?" It was just right there (pointing to the empty area on the bar). I think to myself, there is no place it could have gone! I found it behind the bar stools and next to the couch and took these pictures.

Seems everyone in the place was in on this hiding thing but nobody would fess up! Anyway, Note how accurate that dart is! For some reason, after my third drink, I thought this photo was funny as I was getting seconds. Let's see, I got some dart playing, shuffle board, pool, ping pong, and it was a blast. Heather totally had fun

I went outside and the girls were playing a game to see how far down the street they could go before they got scared of the pitch darkness.





Since Heather and I were one of the first to arrive and we almost closed the place, she asked if we could leave. I was fine and got us "home" to zonk out.

You guessed it, the noises scared her again. hehehe




Thanks go to our hosts:

Altitude Softball Tournament

The girls warming up in the Big Bear altitude before our first game. I wanted to try running while they were doing this to see what effect the altitude would have on my breathing, but I emptied out the car when I got it smogged, ugh. I had forgotten to put these things back into the car. Another person wanted to run but told me that it was too hot and dry.

The girls played Big Bear and won 15-0 (mercy rule) and then played Riverside, 12-0. That was the end of pool play and tomorrow is the beginning of bracket. I think that Chino will be tough or should since they are ready for BV ball

Now, it's time to get ready for the BBQ and party at John's Cabin.

Hiking in the Mountains

Heather and her friends asked me if I would chaperone them on a mountain hike. After the parents were notified I agreed. The girls were thinking of photo ops at every turn, but this is one of my favorites. The rest were "MySpace" type and we are giving them those.

The girls wanted to come back at night when it was dark but I knew they wouldn't because there were no lights anywhere. We must have gone down this trail for about two miles and then the girls saw a huge dog. Ok, time to turn around! LOL

They got their shot and I got to experiment with lighting :) We also found some other things to do: There was a huge wall climbing, paintball, and some bow and arrow courses. I saw the area taped off and did a primal scream to make sure we didn't get shot. No response from anyone so we went on the course.

It started to get dark and the girls got hungry. I took them pizza and we brought it back and ate in the cabin. The girls then headed to the top loft area.

Then it was PITCH black, wanna go on the hike now, girls? Didn't think so!

So...I have this two story, two bedroom condo, and as soon as the howling starts, squirrels fighting, wind and it's time for bed, Heather says she wants to stay in my room. Funny.

VERY weak wireless signal in my area. When Heather fell asleep, I took my laptop and went signal hunting. I found a spot and sat down and got directions to the fields. It would have been a good picture of total darkness, and only a a guy sitting on a fallen tree with a glowing laptop.

Some networks I found: "Little Bear," "NoLeech," "Cabin," "Hotsnow"

Three Hour Trip

I had Heather get ready for our trip the night before, and all we had to do was pack up, grab some munchies, and fuel up! We took off right after school (only one week left of seventh grade!). Heather hooked up the iPod to the radio and played some of my songs.

As we were nearing a bridge, I got out the camera and shot this photo. I was going a "little faster" than the posted speed limit, and then I notice a guy on a motorcycle looking at me. I turn and look to find Mr. CHiP turning his head towards me. He looks down at Heather sleeping in the passenger seat for a second, then zooms off. I guess he had bigger fish to fry, huh?

A lady pulls up next to me and gives a huge grin. I read it as a "Boy did you get lucky!" grin. Heather woke up and she snapped up photos of many of the signs.

Around Riverside, I notice that we are heading west and I ask Heather if she noticed any signs for "the 10." I took this opportunity to stop and use the restroom and ask for directions. I guess I blinked because we were four miles off.

I see something weird up on the hill and ask, "What the heck is that?" So, we took a photo to see...

We finally get to the windy area and we stop and get some photos of Heather with the mountains and lake in the background, but she hasn't had a chance to use photoshop on them yet.

We arrive at our cabin, unpack and see what there is to do!