Hol's New Ecco

As much as we loved the Trooper, it was getting on in age and had a few tranny (gah, slushboxes...) issues. I was afraid the next big thing was going to be the down on a new car, besides the Trooper was a large SUV.

In our search for a newer vehicle for her, I had managed to convince her that stay-wags could be quite cool and Euro -- not at all the soccer-mom stereotype she thought.

What we looked at:

VW Jetta Wagon TDI: I rented this little beast for her roadtrip up to her Fresno performance w/ Rhapsody. She was taking a couple of company members with her and I thought it would be a good idea to take it on a long trip both from a 'long test drive' perspective as well as making sure she had something reliable (versus the Trooper).

Pros: Diesel have come a long way. I drove it a bit, and thought "Damn, this is a diesel?" Not the TD Mercs of the 70s and 80s for sure. 55 MPG on the highway gives it like a 700 mile range. In the low 20s price-wise, I think this is quite a deal and I'm surprised there's not more out there. I see there's some 'upgrades' to increase power even more and w/ a new version of the engine due this year, Volkswagen only needs to battle the image of Diesel in the US.

Cons: Great little car, but the key being *little*. The leg room in the back was not there, and Tedd turning 14 in August (and taller than his mom) made this an easy choice. We just couldn't do it. The rental we got (pretty new) already had some rattles. Rattles absolutely kill me. Drive me nuts.

VW Passat Wagon: We liked the Jetta so much we thought about a Passat (the larger version). I talked to several dealerships and, internet rumors aside, I could get no confirmation that the diesel version was coming to the US. Too bad. It was supposed to be the '04 model anyway, so that's a ways off.

Pros: Nice design, clean lines. Euro. Available in the 1.8T or VR6 engine. Also can get it w/ AWD for added safety in the wet. Size is just right.

Cons: By the time you tack on all the options you want, there isn't much savings. Granted its a great deal if you don't care about the AWD, sports and premium packages. But I do. It was a K less than what we went with, didn't have all the extras, didn't have the fit and fitment to match our final decision.

Other cars considered: BMW 325iT (touring == wagon): 5-6k more w/ less options; Subaru Legacy Wagon: 4k more w/ roughly equivalent options; Volvo V40 (wagon): the nicer V70 is in the low 40s at the base, too much! The V40 is a nice car, but more equal to the Jetta in size and options; Honda Civic Hybrid (Hol wanted to be earth friendly): this car is just a bit too small to make me comfortable, especially w/ Tedd learning to drive in 2 years; Ford Escape is supposed to have hybrid version in late '03, but the MPG wasn't that great and well, its a Ford Escape -- it got really poor reliability ratings previously.

So what did we pick?

We test drove two versions of the '03 Audi A4 Avant (wagon). This is their workhorse 1.8l Turbo 4 banger, the Avants are all 'quattro' (AWD). This is a damn good looking car to boot. Hol picked the auto (*sigh*, it's her car, so it's her choice) over the stick, however she was brave enough to test drive the stick WITH the sales guy. Very impressive.

If we lived in Europe we could have gotten this car diesel, which would be killer, but as the US has yet to understand the benefits and trade offs of gasoline versus diesel, it's unlikely to be available w/ the 2.0l diesel for some time.

Includes like 6 airbags and many other safety features that make it a good car for both Hol and Tedd. This car is priced some K below its competitors, feels very solid, and has many little included extras that really add up (for a car geek like me). Like what? Most people will shake their head, but hey... center sunvisor, drawers under the front seats, included cargo net, animal gate, and rear shade, full-size spare (17" sport rim matches rest of wheels), first aid kit, safety triangle, rear foglight, and others... all little things that add up.

The trim level is as follows: A4 Avant 1.8T Auto (tiptronic), Quattro drive, Atlas Grey, Sport Package (upgraded rims and suspension), Premium Package (Leather interior, Moonroof, Electric seats), Xenon headlamps, Bose stereo package (we didn't really want this, but whatever, we haggled a bit using this as a reason to drop the price).

Oh yeah, Hol likes the dolphin color we picked and named the car Ecco (after the hero of the Sega computer game of the same name). Awww, isn't that cute?


Posted by ben at 10:00 AM
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Morning Beach Trip

Took Tedd down to Saltcreek early this morning instead of going to work. Playing hooky? Not technically hooky, since I'm still on the 80% reduced appointment... no real reason to be there unless they're paying me, right?

Tedd took out his new body board... I gave him a few tips, what I could remember, and he was gone. No fear, just paddled straight out and tried his luck. I'll have to take him back when it's a bit warmer.

Posted by ben at 01:00 PM
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Irvine World News Raved!

Irvine World News raved, "The social event of the weekend (for Tedd's friends)!!"

Because Tedd's birthday falls when he's up visiting with his other family, we always have to delay a birthday celebration until he returns at the end of August. This year we decided to wait until the school year began and have a pool party with all his SoCal friends.

We rented the pool house at our HOA to give the kids a place to hang out. My parents drove down in my dad's new car (more on that later) to help out. The kids played in the pool until they got hungry. BBQ burgers and hotdogs (and grilled asparagas w/ a butter and garlic sauce. No, I don't think the kids had any. were served along with as much junky snacks and soda as the kids could stomach. Cheescake (Tedd's favorite) for dessert, including candles and singing. We hung a sheet on the wall to act as a movie screen and used one of works LCD projectors so the kids could watch a movie on the "big screen" with popcorn, of course. The kids capped the evening off with a quick jacuzzi.

Result!

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New family member

Finally got an opportunity to take some photos of our newest family member. While visiting my parents yesterday up in LA, I grabbed a photo op with ///M number 2. Introducing Dad's news '96 E36 M3. The pictures don't do the color justice -- it's TechnoViolet with Camel interior. It's quite a looker and pristine with only 16,000 miles on the car when my father picked it up.

Unfortunately, hours after these pictures were taken, the car was backed in to by a truck in a local parking lot. The guy was awfully sorry, my dad was livid. The work truck had pulled over the sidewalk in a driveway, exiting the lot. A women was cycling on the sidewalk and he quickly backed up to get out of her way... he didn't look behind him and despite my father slamming on the horn, he didn't stop. No time to back out of the way.

The damage is mostly to the sheet metal between the right-hand kidney and headlight assembly. It will have to be replaced. The edge of the hood was nicked. as was the bumper strip. The most distressing part is the hood. A re-spray would never be right, so hopefully some magic with a buffer and some professionally applied touch-up paint will return the car to its pristine condition.

Perhaps a reminder to give our cars just a few extra feet of buffer space...

Posted by ben at 09:17 AM
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Ms. Holly (W03)

Another successful Fall recital was completed tonight. Hol battled with a huge storm to pull off last years event for her middle and upper (high) school students... this year, however, it was flu. Eleven dancers missing, plus the light board op.

No matter, third show in a row, standing room only (new theatre on the way hopefully). Eventually I'll get a seat myself. Eventually Hol will realize just what she's able to put together all by herself. Pretty cool stuff. I would be negligent in my duties if I didn't mention Tedd -- spot op and impromptu sound op!

Posted by ben at 10:50 PM
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(One long) Day 1 and 2

(2003/12/24-25 - Thursday)

We arrived at LAX shortly after 1pm for our 5:45pm flight to LHR. *sigh* Well, we certainly weren't going to be late. We waited with Dan outside the secure area for about 2.5 hours... We chatted and played card games. In the interest of efficiency I made some last minute phone calls to friends to wish them a happy new year.

I was struck by a service man (army insignias, service style haircut, etc.) sitting at the next table over. I watched him for an hour. He sat with no luggage -- just a luggage carrier and his coffee. Waiting for someone? I wondered if this was army training... sitting quietly and patiently. I found it impressive. I would have been constantly fidgeting, reading, phoning, etc. in some invariably lost cause to make efficient use of time. I hope the men and women in service at this particular time have as good of a holiday as possible -- that goes for their families too.

The flight was long and uneventful. It was interesting to watch a small group of multi-ethnic children band together and run up and down the aisles all night... Probably really annoying to many, but these kids were stuck on a really long flight. Also amusing: listening to the flight attendants -- every other word was either "lovely" or "cheers".

J and M met us at the airport and we picked up our rental from Hertz -- a twitchy little 4 door Ford Focus with an atrocious 5 speed gearbox.

Following J back out the M4 to Swindon was fairly simple with only a couple of roundabouts. The car guy in me picked out the interesting models not available in the US. Of note, an Audi S3, a Lotus Elise, and an Audi A4 Avant TDI (lucky bastard).

We enjoyed a delicious xmas meal prepared by E. We tried to stay up as late as possible to get our time change/jet lag regulated ASAP. The 'Christmas cracker' jokes were awful (apparently they are supposed to be?), but we dutifully read each one aloud. The picture is of young C with her own cracker.

Photo Albums:
http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day01/, http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day02/

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Bloody ATM machine

(2003/12/26 - Friday)

Slept late today -- trying to recover from the massive time change. Spent some time chatting with R, J's Mum, today. She talked a bit about growing up during WWII and the Blitzkrieg. For the first time I came to realize that this event probably single handedly shaped her life and attitude -- similar to how the great depression shaped much of my grandma's ways. I'd guess our generation has yet to experience anything so life altering.

Because most stores and tourist-y things are closed on Boxing Day, we went over to an indoor outlet center built in a 1920's railroad works. Of note: the guy at the Gap who told Hol no native Brits wear jeans was a freak. I'd guess 50 percent of the people were in jeans -- really, besides the store names, the chorus of "cheers" coming from the shoppers, and the indoor smoking (although, not much), this could have just as easily been a mall in the states.

This was also my first chance to pull some cash out of the ATM. There were 3 machines available, and each one had slightly different bank branding. I selected the first one and checked the "network" markings. Yep, the thing had a couple of the same logos as my card. Put my debit card in and punched in my pin. Hrrrrm, when I went to withdraw however, the machine said I had 0 balance. Hrrrmm. I knew that wasn't right and without thinking I quickly stuck my MasterCard in the machine to see if I could use that -- as soon as I hit the "enter your pin" screen, I thought 'duh'. I don't have a pin for this card. No problem, cancel and try the next machine. Hrrrm. The screen seems frozen. Oh, fantastic. I'm standing in the rain in Swindon, my credit card is in the machine, and the thing is freaking hung. OK, now what? J ventures into the rain to investigate what happened to me, and the machine finally unwedges itself and cheerily alerts us that my card has been retained. Excellent. At least the next machine over was able to figure out I did have money in my accounts. One card down, two to go.

Also, roundabouts apparently have rules. Momentarily lost sight of the B's on the way back to the house... When I finally caught up with them, I attempted to stay right on their tail. After the 3rd roundabout it struck me that there was probably some sort rules to these things. Later J laughed that he'd "forgotten to mention them, but he'd meant to". Fantastic -- no doubt there was a mob of angry Brits cursing the "bloody tourist" in Old Town Swindon tonight. Sorry. Although, after hearing the rules, I'd still argue for the "every man for himself" method I'd been employing.

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day03/

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Warick and Stratford-upon-Avon

(2003/12/27 - Saturday)

Drove out to Warick to visit the famous old castle. J dropped us off and then went on to take his mum home.

The castle has quite a history (as does most everything here) to it. M had recently done a report on the surrounding village and was able to tell us a little about it after being urged on by her mum.

We were there for maybe half a day... This is basically a history lesson set inside a castle, complete with castle rooms, towers, walls, dungeons, and torture chambers. There were a few things that I wanted to see but didn't get a chance. I'd guess we needed maybe 2 more hours. Overall, I’d rate this attraction pretty good. There are also a number of historic buildings in the town.

J met us back at the car park and we drove out to Stratford to check-in to our hotel. We put the kids (w/ Tedd and Morgan in charge) into one room, ordered room service, a movie, and escaped to our dinner reservation. Adult night out started with a nice meal at The Lamb (on Sheep St. no less). One quiet meal and two bottles of wine later we wandered over to the Swan theatre to see if we could pull return (rush is what we called 'em in the states) tickets for All's Well that Ends Well. Only 3 available... Bad luck. (update: very bad luck indeed. I tried a couple of times to find return tickets for us during the next week and was unable to get any.)

What to do now? Pub. We hit the Flower and Sons pub (Flower is the local brew co, although this particular pub was a 'free house'. Also, Flower's son was responsible for the funding of the original Swan theatre, although he largely donated the money quietly out of the public's eye. He was later publicly recognized for his donation of 22,700 pounds -- quite a sum for 1879. ) on Henley Street. Yum. We spent about an hour there, people watching and trying to figure out which bloke each girl wanted to take home. A couple of Guinness’s later, it was time to move on. It's been about 10 years since California outlawed smoking indoors or at bars, but I've gotten spoiled by it and an hour was as much as I could take.

Right, a walk down to Riverside St. put us right in front of a swankier bar. Time for second dessert and drinks.

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day04/

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Shakespeare's Stratford

(2003/12/28 - Sunday)

The hotel that we stayed at provided a full English breakfast. None of us had a full English hangover, so I'm not sure if we deserved it. I ate enough for several hangovers anyway. Eggs, potatos, fried tomatos, mushrooms, toast, sausage, beans, juice, tea, and coffee. I also had cereal and croissants. Pure heaven.

After breakfast, we walked across the Avon to the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatre complex to get a tour. We were able to go into both theatres (the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, with a ~1500 seat house and the Swan, much smaller house built inside the walls of the original theater as a more traditional Shakespearean theatre) and see both the house and backstage areas. Additionally we were able to visit the gallery area where they have on display a number of historic costumes and playbills/posters from older productions.

Being the consummate tourists we had to visit Shakespeare's birthplace, the home where he was born and raised. The tour included a fairly interesting review of him and his family's history in Stratford-upon-Avon. The docents in the home were very kind to point out the relevant details and what life would have been like during his time here. I found it interesting that some of the first visitors to sign the guestbook (when they started having a guestbook) were John and Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson as they toured the English country side in the late 18th century (both Adams and Jefferson were assigned to France as ambassadors during that time).

We also stopped by the city's Holy Trinity to visit Shakespeare's grave, placed prominently (along with his wife and other family members) under the steps leading to the front of the church. The churches here are incredible, even "small" ones such as this. J just smiled at my awe. Growing up here he's encountered so many of them that, it's impossible not to take them for granted.

We stopped to get some dinner before heading home. Where? Yep, a pub. This is sweet!

Because the motorway home was all blocked up we took a side road back home. I'm sure during the day it was a pretty scenic drive -- but at night it was fairly technical. I was surprised how narrow these roads can be and was happy to only have to follow someone. Navigating on top of everything else would have been overload. It's funny how much muscle memory plays into shifting a manual. My right hand kept trying to shift.

One additional annoyance with right hand drive manuals is the indicator stalk remains on the left hand side of the steering column. Shifting and signaling in a RHD car is a two part process -- much smoother in a LHD where you can use your left hand to steer and nudge the turn indicator and right hand to shift. Tons more roundabouts to play on. Not only have I noticed many (presumably) native drivers employing the same 'every man for himself' strategy I use, they also seem to have no knowledge that the lines painted on the pavement are meant to indicate lanes in which to keep your car. We just joined in the fun.

We had to run out for milk once we were home. J took me to the magic roundabout. Picture five smallish roundabouts laid out as a star, but connected together by a large roundabout. As I'm finding everywhere, the Brits provide you with highly detailed signage, about 20 meters before you get to the road being described. Additionally, the detail is so fine that you need about 30 seconds to understand the intended meaning, rendering the signs almost completely useless. As I drove through the magic roundabout as a passenger, I realized I would just point the car toward the outlet I wanted and dodge cars on the fly. Far easier.

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day05/

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Oxford

(2003/12/29 - Monday)

We made a quick day trip up to Oxford without the B's today. This was my first time driving without J around to follow. To top it off, I had to drive straight through the magic roundabout. Hol took some photos of the signs to give some more insight into the insanity that is the "magic roundabout". Apparently Swindon was the site of some testing on traffic patterns and roundabouts. They found that the magic roundabout was so efficient they used it in ZERO other cities, but kindly left it for Swindon. Jamie claims it is quite efficient, however when we went through it this afternoon it was a freaking parking lot, er, excuse me, car park.

We walked around Oxford for a couple of hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the architecture and didn't mind that it was a bit rainy. Walking through the neighborhoods looking at the various old homes really reminded me how much history this place had and how much history my home lacks. It is hard to imagine the homes and buildings in Orange County being around in a few hundred years, and with their purposeful non styled architecture, I hope they aren't.

We had a nice meal at Brown's restaurant on Woodstock Road. Tedd had steak, which he'll eat any chance he's allowed to order it. We've quickly learned that there is no such thing as "Sprite" or "7Up" here, however ordering "lemonade" will get you something very similar, to Tedd's great relief.

We stopped by the Eagle and Child pub for its significant literary historical relevance. We discussed The Inklings and also the recent Salon.com article, the real fellowship of the ring, regarding Tolkien and Dyson arguing all night with C. S. Lewis about religion and possibly paving the way for the two more noted authors to write their "classics". These are some of Tedd's most favorite books so hopefully the relevance wasn't lost on him.

Not really surprising, but we got lost on the way home -- once in Swindon proper, thankfully. One wrong exit from a roundabout was all it took. The kind attendant at the petrol station set us straight. From there we got lost looking for a street name (on the map) that's called something completely different in reality. Finally got home with only a single near-death roundabout experience -- lucky for us the power and handling of the Ford Focus got us out of the situation right-quick. *smirk*

J and I walked down to a pub for Monday Night Football (Southhampton v. Arsenal: 0-1). Guinness and Strongbow consumed. Good.

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day06/

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London, Day 1

(2003/12/30 - Tuesday)

S, who was J's best man, had generously agreed to loan us his 3 bedroom flat in Chiswick, London so we could stay in the city for a few days. His flat was really nice and located a 15 minute walk from the Turnham Green tube station.

After arriving in Chiswick and finding parking for both cars (there were 8 of us with both families combined.), we hurried off to the tube to make our first event, a "frog tour". The frog tour started just across from the All Bar 1 building, next to the London Eye. The tour itself is very similar to the double-decker bus tours everyone says you gotta do, except that it's in an amphibious vehicle which eventually drives down a sandy beach and enters the Thames River at Vauxhall. It then powers up and down the river for an additional view of the city from the Thames itself. Very cool stuff. Highlights (really saw too much too fast to even take in...): Parliament Square, 10 Downing Street, MI6 (and MI5), Westminster Abbey, St. Stephen's Tower (Big Ben), various parks, and more. The tour guide proclaimed that a large flood in London was inevitable, and felt that authorities weren't taking the warning signs seriously. Something I'd never really heard of before.

We all stopped to have lunch near the London Eye and Saatchi gallery at County Hall. We then took a walk across the Westminster Bridge (I took 5 pictures to build this panorama from Westminster Bridge. It turned out so-so. In general our 3 year old digital camera has performed well, but it definitely shows its age when compared against newer equipment. In particular the low light shots are horribly blurry.).

We then walked across parliament square, through Saint James's Park and up The Mall to Buckingham Palace. There was a throng of people gathered on the steps of the Queen Victoria monument all facing the palace. We were sort of baffled and J went to ask a Met officer what was up. At that point the palace lit up with white "snow flakes" falling down the front and then transitioned to a huge Union Jack design across its face. Apparently we lucked out, it was part of the "Brightening up London" event. The kids were pretty wiped out by this point so we all started carrying the little ones and heading for the nearest tube station.

We took S (and A) to the ASK restaurant around the corner from his flat to thank him for his hospitality.

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day07/

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London, Day 2

(2003/12/31 - Wednesday)

We headed straight to the London Eye this morning to take a ride up and over the city. The view from the top is pretty incredible and we were lucky enough to get great weather and visibility (for this time of year). J stayed on the ground to watch little A while the rest of us went up. I took a bunch of pictures but they really don't do justice to sheer size and color of the London skyline. (The London Eye site has a photo album, as does Nick Wood. For pictures of the Eye installation, checkout Nick's stuff.)

We then darted across the Hungerford Bridge to the catch the train at the Embankment tube station. We got off at Tower Hill and walked to the Tower of London. A very tourist-y attraction, but well worth the tour given by the beefeaters (Yeoman Warders) about every hour (according to our Yeoman, they are called beefeaters because they were originally furnished with meat as part of the pay for protecting the King and Queen, while the rest of the general population almost never ate meat.).

The tour is about one and a half hours. The Yeoman talks about the various historical aspects of the castle, following a theme -- in this case we walk the path a headless body would travel from the chopping block on Tower Hill to the Chapel in the castle. Along the way the Yeoman talk about the various people that were held, tortured, murdered, and/or beheaded here. He definitely talks about the gory details where ever possible. Standing between the outer wall and the bell tower was extremely cold -- the coldest I've been in England.

Besides the tour there are various museum type exhibits and other gory attractions. The crown jewels are also on display. The queue was massive -- all suggestions were to show up at opening time (pre purchase your tickets) and go directly to the jewels, then do the other stuff.

The B's decided to split early because the kids were really cold. It was really cold.

We forged on, across the Tower Bridge, which pictures don't do justice. We walked down the Thames opposite the Tower of London. This took as past several interesting sites; the London City Hall, the HMS Belfast, and the Golden Hinde replica.

After walking through a number of side streets and alleys, we found our way to the rebuilt Globe Theatre. The Globe, while not on the exact original site, is based on the archeological dig of the original site just a few hundred meters away. The design and construction is based on the findings, down to the inch and the materials used (including getting special permission for the thatched roof -- thatched roofs were outlawed in London after the great fire of 1666 which left the city w/ 100,000 homeless). We spent some time in the exhibit space and then joined a walking tour of the stage and house. Unfortunately there was no productions going on this time of year, since it would be pretty cold to sit (or stand if you're a groundling) in an open air, "in the round" theatre. Although, I think, Tedd enjoyed the tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company complex in Stratford more, he liked this text so much so, that we bought him a poster version to take home:

From the globe we walked to the Tate Modern, just next door. The Tate Modern is in the refurbished Bankside Power Station (originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, of note also the original designer of the famous British red telephone box.) and houses a large collection of modern and contemporary art.

Because it was nearly 5 and we hadn't eaten since breakfast, we went to the top floor cafe for a bite. With the modern London skyline behind us and a view straight on of St. Paul's across the Thames this was a memorable and delicious snack (Hol: grilled mozzarella w/ rocket on spelt ciabatta, Tedd: cured ham and cheese, Ben: egg w/ watercress on whole grain bread and a cappuccino). I'd recommend it as a beautiful location to take a break -- the view is pretty incredible.

Unfortunately we didn't really have enough time to see everything we wanted to... That seems to be a theme here -- the Brits want to leave you wishing for more -- London has certainly done that.

We walked across the Millennium Bridge towards Saint Paul's Cathedral and caught the train at Blackfriars tube station home.

At the end of day 2 in London we'd seen exactly 0 homeless. I suspect this has more to do with the locations we were (mainly tourist areas) and time of year (very cold) than the city's lack of them. The one place I'd expected to encounter them was the tube, however S's flat was in a nice area (911 TTs, Boxsters, BMW E46 M3's, etc. parked all over the neighborhood) ... Today though a slightly dirty and disheveled man sat next to us on the train. He definitely had been drinking and was a bit out of sorts. He was talking and singing to anyone that would acknowledge him, but of course most wouldn't. He talked and sang about god and various aspects of Christ - definitely a born again. He asked us our stop, and to be safe I gave him a false one. His talk then turned to his family (probably because we were clearly together as one)... He mentioned a dead wife and a dead son. He'd lost them both around Christmas time. Tears welled in his eyes... his voice got very small. He again talked about god, how he'd found god and that god was good. He then apologized, produced a glass flask from his pocket, and took a swig. As he stood to get off the train we asked him to stay safe and have a happy new year.

You could feel the relief in the train car as the man exited, but you couldn't help but feel for him -- getting 'pissed' (drunk) and riding the tube New Years Eve because he had no where else to go, no family to go home to. I suppose the cynics will think he used this story as a ploy, but for what? He never asked or indicated that he would take money from anyone, he simply stood and said goodbye at his stop.

New Year's was spent relaxing with the B's at S's flat. A little beer and wine plus conversation were all that we needed to usher in the new year.

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day08/

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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London, Day 3

(2004/01/01 - Thursday)

The B's were pretty tired today. Hol suggested they try the New Years Day Parade and then hit either the Natural History or Science Museums.

We took the tube to Piccadilly Circus, and caught the Soho walking tour of "Courtesans, Criminals, and Conmen". This was a pretty cool walk through Soho. The guide discussed some the various 'dens of iniquity' here over the past 2 centuries, the gangsters, and other local happenings as we walked the streets. We didn't get our schedule right so that we could do the famous -- Jack the Ripper" walk. Next time. *grin*

With the walk over we grabbed a bite in Soho, and then caught the tube at Leicester Square back to Westminster. A short walk up King Charles St. and we entered a small door facing Saint James's Park. This is the Cabinet War Rooms museum. A time capsule of the nerve center Winston Churchill used during World War II. The rooms were top secret during the war, and for years after remained as they were the day the war ended, sealed and unused. The rooms act as both a museum of the war time efforts that took place here and as a Winston Churchill museum (the Imperial War Museum group plans to add to the War Rooms a Churchill dedicated section).

This museum will work for mature teenagers, but kids will be bored silly. One really fun aspect was the few period actors working as docents in the rooms. The young lady, acting as one of the 'typist girls', was very good. Part of their role was to walk from room to room, in character, making conversation with the tourists. This was all improv, and while she obviously had a number of stock bits, I was quite impressed with her back story. At one point, a tourist made a comment about how nice her dress was (a period costume obviously). She had an entire story about it being second hand passed on from her older sister who couldn't fit into it any longer because she'd had two kids. At another point she chatted about the current popular music and movies of that period. Very fun.

On the way back to Chiswick, we stopped off at the Victor and Albert Museum to see the Zoomorphic architectural exhibit going on through the 4th. My favorite display was the original model of Saint Mary's Axe which now graces the London sky line and we'd seen earlier, both from the London Eye and across the Thames from Tower of London.

We headed home to Swindon and J put the hammer down on the M4. We were home in a little more than an hour. A nice E39 Alpina B10 passed us on the way.

Chinese take away and plenty of beers for a late dinner. We sat up late discussing life, parenting, travel, and plans. It was certainly nice to sit with our friends and just talk. The kids were in bed and they could both relax, together... Something that seems to come infrequently in a house with 3 kids (2 under 3 years old).

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day09/

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Down Day

(2004/01/02 - Friday)

Down time day. Everyone needed it after 3 solid days in London.

Did some shopping for gifts in Swindon. Noticed a nice E36 Alpina B3.2 parked in town. J stayed home with the kids. We got lots of tourist-y gifts. The B's want tomorrow off, so I think we will head to Stonehenge for the day. Only 4 days left! Feels like I'd need about 3-6 months to be satisfied, that and a much larger bank account (or credit line).

We took E and J out to dinner to thank them for their hospitality. We started at a pub for a couple drinks, then headed over to the Curry Garden. A long three course meal followed... popadoms, samosa, and chicken tikka. The lime hot pickle with onion salad were nice and spicy. Entrees were lamb tikka rogen josh, chicken bhuna, chicken madras, and spicy bombay potatoes. Pilau rice and garlic nan. Dessert was pinapple fritters (hot), a honey pot, a hazelnut crunch, and a chocolate dish. Dinner was delicious. I'm hungry just thinking about it. Conversation turned to parenting. J & E appear to have the same grumbles with M that we had just a few years ago...

After dinner we walked over to another pub, the beehive, for a night cap. J did a wonderful rendition of a sperm using a crutch whilst telling his 'wanker' joke.

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Stonehenge

(2004/01/03 - Saturday)

Unfortunately we were unable to secure tickets to Alls Well That Ends Well at the Swan in Stratford-upon-Avon. I'll probably kick myself for this particularly poorly planned aspect of the trip. I really wanted to see the show, but couldn't make it work. I guess we'll have to come back. *grin* Once we were pretty certain no rush tickets would become available, we drove out to Stonehenge.

The drive south from Swindon gave us more chances to take in the English countryside. Although most of the leaves were off the trees, everything was green.

Stonehenge, I suppose, is a bunch of big rocks sitting in the chilly south of England. What amazed me the most was the sheer amount of man power required to move the rocks (some are from Wales, over 100 miles away!), the precision required to shape the stones to fit together properly, and the knowledge of astronomy to properly place the stones, all of it occurring over 5000 years ago. Pretty neat stuff. This was an easy day trip from Swindon and we were home in time for the FA cup match that evening...

Watched an FA cup match w/ J (Southampton v. New Castle: 0-3). Also watched some timely UK history programs about some of the kings we'd learned about just a few days earlier in London.

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day11/

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Bath

(2004/01/04 - Sunday)

We drove out to Bath today. The motorway takes you along a ridgeline overlooking the city in the valley below. From the road you could see a quite packed little city, full of classic architecture. The surrounding hills were quite green. There was quite a bit of traffic as we entered the town and finally J navigated us to a parking lot just below the Royal Crescent. We broke out the new stroller and "buggy board" (I'd never seen these before in the states, but it worked great for pushing the baby and 3 year old around quickly -- everyone seemed to have them here) for the walk down to the main attraction, the Roman Baths.

The Roman Baths are an archeological find excavated from under the surface of the modern day Bath. According to the museum, the original site is 6 meters below the current streets and was found during some sewer work. They've excavated a great deal of the original site, finding many bits of Roman history in the process. For a site built nearly 2000 years ago, it was amazing to the see the simple filtration and drainage system originally implemented by the Romans, still in working order. There was even an original lead pipe that originally fed a fountain in the floor of the main bath. The Romans and people that made pilgrimages here up to 400 AD believed that not only sitting in the naturally hot pools, but drinking it would cure various health problems. Visitors can still purchase a cup of (treated) bath water for 50p. (ugh!)

After visiting the Baths, we stopped in front of the Bath Abbey for a few quick pictures before lunch. We walked past the Abbey, down to the Avon. We ate at Caffe Uno on the river front just next to the Pultney Bridge. C was very tired and having a bad day. Poor E nearly lost it with her. She was definitely acting like a brat and testing her parents. I think she's probably a little shocked by the move to England and change in surroundings. Her parents seem to be attempting to put her back into a consistent routine to get her back on track. I definitely feel for their situation with her, she’s currently a handful. When E asked for any advice, I just tried to emphasis that they should feel free to discipline her however/whenever they need to and not feel like they can't do that because we are around. I don't mind waiting or stopping to get C under control.

After our late afternoon meal, we walked up the hill to The Circus and Royal Crescent (also, a postcard we picked up). These are two amazing streets in Bath. Unfortunately, it was a bit too dark for my camera by the time we got there -- I bought a few postcards instead. I looked at housing in Bath, in case anyone wanted to move there. A 2 bedroom/2 bath flat on The Circus is going to cost you £355,000. Cheaper than London! (S's 3 bedroom/2 bath flat in Chiswick London was in the £750,000 range.) I'll leave the conversion to USD as an exercise for the reader. (Ouch!)

Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/Travel/UK_2003-04/UK_Day12/

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Final Day

(2004/01/05 - Monday)

We spent our last day preparing for the trip home. It has been quite a trip. One that all of us have enjoyed. Based on our travels this year we are already discussing a trip back in the summer of 2005. It would be nice to see England when the weather is a bit nicer. We are also discussing trips to France and Spain.

We wrote postcards, did some last minute gift shopping during the day. None of us really want to go home just yet, but it will be nice to get back. I'm sure the B's will miss us, but they no doubt want their house back too! We'll miss them while they are here in the UK for the next couple of years.

One last curry take away for dinner, plus a stop at the pub with J. J suggested we go down to town to order the take away. When I suggested we call ahead, order and then just go down and pick it up, he looked incredulous. "If we do that, we won't be able to stop at a pub I know while the food is getting prepared?" Right. I like the way this guy thinks. I miss him already.

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Gum Graft

Day six of recovery from my gum graft surgery. Things are finally starting to heal a bit. While my dentist told me the procedure was the most uncomfortable she'd ever experienced, I'd say the procedure wasn't a big deal. It's the recovery.

The roof of my mouth feels as if every surface has been burned by really HOT pizza -- you know what I mean? When you stick a piece of pizza in your mouth right out of the kitchen, steaming fricking hot? And the mozzarella cheese sticks to the roof and continues to burn? And you do that whole breathing through your open mouth thing, quickly trying to cool the cheesy lava flow stuck to the roof of your mouth while not spitting molten pizza back out? And maybe you have a beverage close at hand and you quickly gulp some of it down, swirling it around your mouth, but it is far, far too late? Yeah.

But also, that morning you were eating captain crunch cereal (original flavor), and a bunch of it tore up the roof of your mouth... so you already had a nice open wound when the cheese hit you? Yeah.

It's like that. That "type" of pain, but an order of magnitude worse. (That was for you Josh, I know you love any situation involving OoM.)

There's an additional bit of fun though. By day 3 the stitches have started to come loose. There's these fun little fishing line type strings hanging around in your mouth now. Just like when you eat an orange and those white little pulpy strings get stuck between your teeth? And you are constantly fishing around with your tongue to try and unwedge these things? Well in this case, you end up hitting one of the wounds, which is, not so pleasant, and whatever you do, don't actually unwedge one of these things from between your teeth -- they're holding your new gum(s) in place! Yeah. It's like that, but you've just eaten like 25 oranges in a row --- perhaps in an attempt to cool the roof of your mouth from the scorching pizza burns.

Posted by ben at 07:30 AM
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Hol's Birthday

I can finally reveal Hol's birthday gift. Besides a small piece of jewelry, I wanted to get her something cool this year. I finally came up with something that would be cool for her... there was a TV series that we were able to catch for a while on Bravo. It was from the UK, called Cold Feet. Hol loved this show. Although Coupling is available in the States in a normal DVD, Cold Feet is not. Amazon.co.uk lists it and ships to the US. All 5 series in one box!

Now the problem is the evil DVD CCA consortium limits DVDs to be played only in their native region. UK is Region 2, US is region 1. (My non-techy friends tend to ask "why" when I tell them this... They have their reasons, although in this case it only limits their potential market.)

Adding an additional obstacle, in Europe they encode their color differently than we do (PAL versus NTSC). With some pointers from some friends, I was able to track down a DVD player that had been hacked (the eBay seller had done some additional work on the player) to play any region DVD and could convert between the US/Euro color coding systems (PAL/NTSC) on the fly.

Out of the box the DVD player would play normal DVDs and burned VCDs fine. However the Region 2 disks would sort of pause and stop up a bit. I emailed the eBay seller and responded quickly letting me know he'd refund me or replace the unit, my choice. I'm going to try to get a working replacement so we can watch Cold Feet. The seller is going to test a Region 2 disk before sending down the replacement. Cool!

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Universal Studios (Hollywood)

Met my parents at Universal Studios (Hollywood -- didn't have to say that as a kid 'cause there was only one...) Saturday morning. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day -- not too hot, not cold, and the visibility over the valley went for miles.

It's been some years since I've been, but it was Hol and Tedd's first time. I still dig the tour around the studio, but they seemed to have gotten away from showing as much 'behind the scenes' stuff and more into attractions and even (*gasp*) rides!

The special effects and Backdraft shows were pretty neat. Terminator was neat because of the movie/live actor interplay and the 3D stuff. Back to the Future seemed a bit ridiculous, especially after the 40 minute wait -- couldn't I have gotten on one of these VR things at my local arcade? Jurassic Park could have been a whole lot more... so many things could have been done. They claim 10 minutes, but I think the ride was under 5. Mom almost broke my Dad's hand when we hit the 80' drop.

Stuff I remember from my childhood:

• GONE: Wild West Stunt show -- cheesy western genre, but six-shooters and brawling is always fun!
• GONE: Battlestar Galactica -- silly, robotic things w/ LED lasers? not cool anymore? *sheesh* I think it's been re-tooled as the 'Earthquake' attraction during the tour.
• (kinda) Gone: Miami Vice -- Apparently someone noticed that the kids weren't connecting w/ the cops versus drug cartel genre anymore. "What do we do with this big ass pool now?" "Just re-dress the whole set as the 'hit' movie Waterworld. Change the drug references to 'dry land' and we're done!" Where's Crockett and Tubbs when you need 'em?

Classics:

• The Mummy ride/attraction isn't yet open, but on the studio tour, the spinning tunnel thing (yeah, been the same thing for years) has been dressed as if you are 'entering a mummy's tomb'... the inside isn't any different though. Of course, the Mummy ride souvenir shop IS open NOW!
• For an extra $30/ticket you can go straight to the front of the line. That's right, pay your way past the crowds and use reserved seating at all the shows. This is America after all.
• Universal and Coca-Cola have a 10 year contract to co-create "themed beverage attractions", whatever that means...

We were trying to figure out how much gross revenue the park takes in per day. This Park Attendance article (from 2000, I'm not sure how attendance compares post-9/11 / four years later) points to 5.2 million visitors a year. That's 14000+ tickets a day. Using the online ticket price of $49/ticket that's almost $700k/day in ticket sales. Tack on food, in-park pay attractions, and merchandise. That's a ton of cash flowing through the park. I'd also assume the cross-promotional value of the various movies and television shows they hype is substantial as well. Of course Vivendi is a massive multi-national, so these parks are probably a pittance compared to their core music, movie, and telecom businesses.

Posted by ben at 10:30 PM
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UCI Jazz Concert

The UCI Jazz Orchestra performed their final shows of the year on Friday and Saturday. Hol, Tedd, and I caught them Friday night -- Fantastic show, conducted by Charles Owens. Tedd and I had tried to catch an earlier show during the year, but I dropped the ball and didn't get tickets in time. This time I called early enough to get three 2nd row, center section seats.

The program included works from across the spectrum; Tom Harrell, Thelonious Monk, Mercer Ellington, Chick Correa, Irving Berlin, and Sonny Rollins to name few.

Almost every musician got an opportunity to solo and they really sounded great. There's something incredibly special about LIVE music, especially jazz. You really got a feeling for how much these musicians loved the music they were playing. Very inspiring. Amongst the ensemble, there were three players that really stood out. Ricky Hopkins lit up the night playing multiple solos on sax. Marques Lyons, graduating with his MFA this year, really could play trombone. He led a 4 piece group through a blazing rendition of Vista (Tom Harrell). The conductor introduced the pianist, Max Haymer, a freshman (and soccer player!! ). Max played many of the arrangements with incredible skill, but his performance of Chick Corea's Spain was pretty special.

Tedd was enthused enough to start talking about taking up violin again (he's not really interested in any other instrument), so perhaps next year we'll be back for some of UCI's symphony performances. No one minded the quick stop at Marie Calendars for dessert either.

Posted by ben at 11:30 PM
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Dad's Day

Headed up to my parent's place Friday night to celebrate (belated Mom's and) Dad's day. It's always nice hanging with 'the parentals'. Makes for a nice relaxing weekend. We did the whole gift exchange thing. Mom is checking out her new copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves in this pic. Seemed perfect for her. Dad got some electronics and cookware. I got an SD card for my Treo. Tedd got (for surviving his first year of HS) a compact flash card for his Axim. And Amazon got our money.

Posted by ben at 10:00 AM
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Tedd is off for the Summer

Tedd headed off to visit his father for the summer today. We'll miss his spirit and energy around the house for the next six weeks, for sure. We plan to head out today to keep our minds off of things, but snapped one last pic of Tedd and his Mom. Next time we see him, he will have grown another 6 inches -- and I don't just mean his hair! He'll be back in August just in time for Hawaii. We'll try to keep busy around the house, in the mean time.

Posted by ben at 09:35 AM
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Dad is back in the work force

After 4 years of retirement, my Dad is back on the job. He's been tapped as the interim Fire Chief, to keep the fire department on track, for a period of 1 year. Mike Davis, the chief for the last 14 years, retired today and Dad took the reigns. We couldn't be prouder of him. I'm quite certain that he'll find his new position rewarding and constructive. Good luck Dad!

Posted by ben at 08:39 PM
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Back in the... saddle?

So the Burbank Leader did a little one-on-one with the new chief. 60 Minutes called, but dad only wanted to work with a hard-hitting, local rag. Seriously though, you can check out the piece online. Keep up the good work dad!

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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Goodbye Grandma

My grandmother was quite old and quite tired. She spent the last years of her life in a care facility -- a home that had been converted to a place for seniors to get 24 hour care. My mom would visit almost daily and yet my grandmother didn't remember her. She could be hard on my mom, but near the end, was mostly at peace. My mom had an idea of what she wanted to do to celebrate my grandma's life and planned a "MOMorial".

Saturday afternoon a small group of family and friends took a chartered boat out of Oxnard harbor. The plan was to put my grandmother's ashes to rest at sea. This wasn't really what she'd originally wanted -- her wishes were to be donated to science at UCLA. Because UCLA's program was abandoned due to some foul play, my mother made the decision to go this route. Some close family friends joined us as did my cousin Steve and his daughter Janna. I hadn't seen either of them in close to 18 years.

Once out to sea, we all gathered around the stern of the ship. My mother dispersed the ashes and we all took a few minutes with the ocean and my grandmother. Everyone left a pink rose for my grandma (she loved her rose garden back when she and grandpa lived in T.O.).

I can't imagine my grandmother would have wanted it any other way.

On Sunday, my mom had this MOMorial thing, not just for her mother, but for everyone's mom. Sort of an alternative Mother's Day. Not surprisingly (knowing my MOM), it went off without a hitch. A ton of people stopped in at my parent's place in Calabasas to eat, drink and talk. It was a chance (for me) to see many family friends I rarely get to chat with and for them to see/meet my own family (Hol & Tedd). Despite the occasion being centered around a sad event, I think many people enjoyed getting together and talking. I know I did.

Toward the end of the event, my mother read a "prepared statement", or something like that. A little speech, talking about all the sorts of things my mother loves to talk about (i.e. "fee-lings" and "emo-tions"). She talked about my grandma (from all perspectives -- as a girl, wife, mom, grandma, etc.). She related some sad and some amusing stories. She talked about about some of the photos she'd collected and found since my grandmother had passed. She asked people to think about their own mothers and to let go of some of the pent up annoyance they might have with their mother (of course, she mentioned that I wouldn't necessarily need to do this... ). She thanked everyone who had helped or given support over the last years of my grandma's life.

My mom did a wonderful job handling the very difficult job of saying goodbye to her mother, she added her own touches to much of the weekend. She really shined. She really showed how much she cared about her mom, her family and her friends.

I can't imagine my grandmother would have wanted it any other way.

Goodbye Grandma.

Posted by ben at 10:00 PM
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This class saves lives!

I took Tedd to a cool Teen Car Clinic hosted by a local performance driving school, Driving Concepts. The class was all day Sunday and attended by a range of teens (some with permits, some with licenses and some who had never actually driven before). It consisted of classroom discussion followed by practice sessions on a "Closed Course" (read: rented parking lot of local community college). Many of these techniques will sound all to familiar to anyone that's attended a performance driving school.

As I looked on, I realized just how ridiculous our "normal" drivers education is... This was the first time someone was explaining to these kids proper seat positioning and "proper" mirror setup (a method normally taught in performance schools, that elimates blinds spots and does not require turning your head). Not one of them had ever learned how their cars reacted under hard braking or turning.

The kids learned about visual awareness (lifting their eyes), spacing and distance. They learned about ABS and SRS systems. They got lectures on RWD, FWD and AWD. Understeer versus Oversteer was discussed. Everything was followed-up by on the "track" practice sessions.

The exercises basically allowed each student to run through the track at 3-5 different speeds (25-45 MPH) and consisted of things like: slalom (w/ two hands and w/ one to simulate cell phone use and illustrate just how much can go wrong with only one hand on the wheel), hard braking, hard braking in a corner, following distances, object avoidance, cornering with over/under steer and much more than I can remember.

Think about just how much better equiped these students will be able to handle emergency situations on the road now -- they know how cars will react, they've practiced avoidance techniques and they are aware of how to spot potential situations much sooner. If you have a teen that's learning to drive, I can't recommend this program enough. This class really could save lives.

Posted by ben at 08:00 PM

Class of 2007

Tedd participated in his final high school activity this afternoon -- Graduation. After 12 years of good, bad and ugly teachers, many friends, and hours upon hours of homework, he received his diploma and couldn't stop smiling. Who could blame him? A big congratulations to Tedd and a big thanks to the many, many friends and family that helped him and us along the way. It takes a village!

After listening to about 300 other graduate's names, Tedd surprised and pleased everyone -- the graduates get to pick the name by which they are announced. After a few humorous So-and-so "grizzly" Smith and Blah Blah the 14th's, Tedd was called as "Robert Tedd Scheall Johnson Mehling". Everyone was grinning -- he'd fit his WHOLE family into the celebration. We're so proud of you Tedd -- great job!

Posted by ben at 10:30 PM

The Graduate

Thanks to some prompting by friends, we hosted a Grad BBQ for Tedd today. So many of our friends played big (HUGE!) roles in Tedd's life -- we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to say "congrats" to the big graduate. That, or we wanted the BBQ grub, soda and beers.

Many thanks to all our family friends and Tedd's friends who came out and enjoyed the gorgeous summer afternoon by the pool. We had a great time and were thankful so many could take a break from their own busy lives and help us celebrate Tedd's accomplishment.

Posted by ben at 07:00 PM

Brewery Art Walk

www.flickr.com

Hol and I met my parents at this Fall's Brewery Art Walk. We spent several hours wandering from studio to studio. Installation art, paintings, sculpture, photography, industrial design and even graphic novels.

I didn't even know this art colony existed here and is supposedly one of the largest in the world. The colony's website has a short description: "The Brewery, a 22-building complex on 23 acres, comprises a variety of structures, some dating back to 1888. It includes a combination of the former Eastside and Pabst Blue Ribbon Breweries, from which the community derives its name, and one of Los Angeles' first power plants, Edison Power Station #3. -Don Levy"

Posted by ben at 06:30 PM

Hello, baby.

Sonogram and amnio today. We'll get results back from the amnio in a week or so. Hol is doing well, napping and taking it easy for the next 72 hours. So far, so good.

Oh, and it's a boy!!!

Posted by ben at 06:39 PM