Alzheimers Walk

I walked three miles around Lake Olmstead today as part of the 2007 Memory Walk with the Alzheimers Association. I did it in memory of my mum.

President's Ball

We went to the President's Ball at the Pinnacle Club and particularly enjoyed the White Chocolate Martini Bar. Steve is missing from the first picture because he was off to get me another martini.

Stanford Stuns USC

It was an unbelievable finish to a huge upset victory over the Trojans in the Coliseum last night. Final score: 24-23. I thought Stanford had a good shot at winning three games this year, but this wasn't one of them. The TV announcers were so shocked that they got the teams mixed up and didn't know what the score was.

Here's the full story: Stanford Stuns USC.

Steve's California Trip

Steve went to California to visit family and friends. Lisa stayed home to look after Heidi and Cleo. Photos

Polo

We went to Aiken to see our first polo match. The photos don't do it justice. It was a lot of fun to watch, very fast and furious. Lisa's new favourite sport.

Yorkshire Airlines - It Caps Owt

Our friends, Ken and Ruth, just told us about this new airline which should make it much more convenient for Lisa to pop over the pond to visit her Dad who is a real Yorkshireman, and proud of it.
Check out their promotional video.

Idea Houses

We went to Reynolds Plantation to see the Southern Living and Golf Digest Idea Houses. There are many photos to illustrate good ideas from our trip.

Rock'n'Roll Bash at the Pinnacle Club

We joined the Pinnacle Club just in time to attend the Rock'n'Roll bash. Great entertainment from 2 Elvis impersonators. Unfortunately we won neither the slow dance nor the twist - surprise, surprise! Lisa made herself a "Great Dane" skirt, rather than a poodle skirt. Photos

Save the Delta Queen

The Delta Queen is a traditional steamboat that's been operating for years under a special exemption to federal regulations. Now congress is refusing to renew its exemption and it looks like the old steamboat will have to retire. There's a web site that's trying to Save the Delta Queen.

Here's more info from an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer:

In June, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed its bill to renew the Coast Guard bill, but without the Delta Queen exemption - meaning that the boat must cease operating when its current exemption expires in November 2008.

The committee's chairman, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., opposes the exemption because, he says, the boat's advanced age and wood construction present an unacceptable safety risk, according to spokeswoman Mary Kerr.

"The exemption for the Delta Queen is from fire protection standards that apply to all other passenger vessels operating in the United States. I can't imagine the number of lives that could be lost if a fire started on the Delta Queen when everyone is asleep," Oberstar said in a statement.

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, also opposes the exemption, mainly because the boat is not unionized.

He told Majestic that he would not support the exemption unless the Seafarers International Union gets behind it. Majestic spokeswoman Ann Marie Ricard said the company reached out to the union but didn't get an indication that it would be supportive of the exemption.

Many years ago, we enjoyed a steamboat ride on her sister ship, the American Queen, cruising out of New Orleans. We hope the old steamboat can be saved.

Chaos in Davis

John sent us this picture of his new kitty, called Chaos. She was adopted from the Humane Society and is now happily living in Davis, CA.

Remembering Yvonne Maddock

To commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Lisa's Mum, we went out for Indian food at The Taj of India. Yvonne died in 2003 of the effects of Alzheimer's disease. We're not sure Indian would have been Yvonne's first pick, but she did like onion bhajii. Indian food is the common ethnic food in England, sort of the way Mexican food is for Californians.

In her younger days, Yvonne had trained as a ballerina. I will always remember her dancing with Ken at a New Year's Eve party, probably a decade ago. Even though Alzheimer's had made daily life difficult for her, she was still able to waltz gracefully with her husband. I imagine that they must have looked splendid when they had their first dance as young adults in the late '40s.

My favorite family story is about our parents having dinner together. Ken and Yvonne had come over to visit from England and we were hosting a dinner party at our house in Sunnyvale with my parents as guests. I'm not sure the two sets of parents completely understood each other. As George Bernard Shaw wrote: England and America are two countries divided by a common language. My father was telling Yvonne about the Miner family's timber land in Oregon and how many board-feet they had cut a few years ago, and Yvonne was just going along with the flow as if she was completely fascinated by the tale of some great adventurer. I still laugh any time I hear the term "board-feet".

In closing, "I'd like something nice, but not common."

In memory of Mike

We went out to dinner at Locos Grill and Pub and had a couple of beers in memory of my brother, Mike, who was born on August 6, 1963. He died of leukemia in 1990 at the age of 27. Mike had a lively spirit and quick wit. He taught English at Bellarmine, and coached basketball. His life was too short, but he touched a lot of people.

No Mo' Mode

Lisa and I stayed at Savannah Lakes Resort over the weekend. It's just across the border into South Carolina, near the small town of McCormick. The resort is built along the banks of Lake Strom Thurmond, which is known as by its historic name, Clarks Hill Lake, in Georgia. We had dinner at the resort's bar and grill on the outdoor patio with an up-close view of the lake. The food was fine, but we had a slight communication problem when ordering dessert. I chose their special pecan pie and asked if I could "have it a la mode?". The waitress responded that "the kitchen had no mo' mode" in her local Southern accent. I quickly decided to let the matter drop rather than go through an embarrassing explanation of my unfortunate phrasing, which would undoubtedly expose my non-existent knowledge of French, when she pleasantly inquired "Would you like ice cream with that?". So it all worked out well in the end. I enjoyed my dessert and Lisa had a giggle.

Still waiting for my free iPhone

I'm on the list to get a free iPhone from Rush. In the meantime, I'm learning more about the capabilities of the iPhone from this helpful video.

Independence Day

We joined the Independence Day celebration at Mount Vintage. Pictured to the right is our favorite "Patriotic Pony" from the parade. We enjoyed a traditional Fourth of July picnic lunch at the Town Center. As a special surprise, several vintage small planes did a fly-over during lunch. Photos