Back at work after a great weekend up in the OC.  Spinner had a convention – I shook a few hands and enjoyed the free drinks.  Spinner had convention seminars to go to – I walked around Laguna and Huntington Beaches and chilled.  Spinner’s union sponsors got us a great room at the Marriott – unfortunately Marriott nickeled and dimed us on stuff like internet access ($12.95 a day) and discriminates against canine-americans (Diego spent the weekend at home being spoiled by our wonderful housesitter).

We did get to see a flock of Newport Beach’s finest Paris Hilton wannabes at dinner on Saturday.  They were loose in their natural environment, without ankle tracking devices or anything.  They were fluttering around the restaurant without an ounce of self-restraint or body fat, acting on nothing but their senses of entitlement.  Fortunately even their presence couldn’t take away from the most amazing chocolate lava cake dessert ever. 

Then on the way home Sunday Spinner stayed true to his nom-de-blog and was sucked into the swirling vortex created by spinning rifles and sabers.  Winter Guard regionals somethings or others.  Good taco lunch. 

Sitting in the Juvenile Court lobby listening to 10-year-olds talking on their cell phones is bad enough.  No one should ever have to hear them talking about how much time their big brother is going to do and which friends will be testifying. 

Sitting in the courthouse lobby waiting for a hearing in Juvenile Court. Arrived way too early when an earlier meeting ran short, and forgot to bring a book to read. Who woulda thunk the human brain can max out on CrackBerry video poker? Apparantly it can. Even though everyone in my case (an adoption) is as pure as the undriven snow, hanging out here is reminding me a lot of the days as a Public Defender. That and worrying about Nissantruck.
[Via BlackBerry]

One of my gripes about San Diego is that the city is really good at promoting huge for-profit sports franchises, and really horrible about promoting the countless other sports and cultural events around town.  In my gut I think it’s true of most cities, but now that I’m in my seventh year here I notice it more than I have anywhere else.  That comes with being professionally homeless (a term from the Foreign Service days) for so long – no long-term memory of the annual events and not enough time to find all the hidden treasures.

So even though it was on my calendar, it was great to have the local alums remind me last night about the upcoming Crew Classic regatta.  Not that I would have forgotten, but they were using my photographs from last year’s regatta in their plea for housing for the visiting athletes, and the ego boost from that helped brighten the morning. 

 Weather permitting, April 6th will be my seventh Crew Classic.   My first was in 2002 and I haven’t missed one since.  The alumni tents, particularly Cal’s, are first rate venues to relax and catch up, with occasional walks to the shore to yell and cheer when the good races are on.  The competition brings together the best collegiate rowers in the county in spring weather that only San Diego can offer.  Still not sure?  Check out the photos from 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.  Even though San Diego’s not going to promote it, we will.  Come join the thousands of fans, have a beer and some meat off the grill, and watch the races.

… a tired puppy.

Happiness is also knowing that there are really cool people and dogs out there on the internet like KipEsquire and Diamond. Thanks from all of us.

Maybe I would have posted something slightly interesting here tonight if I hadn’t just spent the last hour deleting comment spam from the photo gallery and updating the ridiculously annoying character recognition code.  Just maybe.

If you want to make my day slightly better, pick a photo over there and make a non-spam comment.  If the updated character recognition stuff won’t let you, please let me know.  Registration shouldn’t be required if everything is working, and anonymity is OK by me.

Randy’s got Diego at the beach on the first day of Spring Break while I’m trying to wrap my head around an estate planning conundrum.  At least I’m making progress, finally, after a couple of days of dog-distraction.

Dog and I just got back from watching the sunrise.  The traditional bunny was nowhere to be seen, but a couple of squirrels were out and about.  Happy Easter everyone.

Spring is here.  Finally.

The shrill lady below my office window seems to think that if she says it enough times, it will magically become true.  It doesn’t seem to be working on her 4-year-olds, but I’m not going to reject her philosophy out of hand.  Experiments must be had.

So everyone, please repeat after me – ‘Chuck is skinny and tan and not living next to a day care center.’  Again.  One more time.  Keep going.  I’ll let you know if anything happens.