Long Time, No Blog

Sorry it has been a bit since I have posted anything. It's not that nothing has been happening, it's just a case of blog burnout. I think I'm over it and I've even found some new tools (ok, toys is more like it) that will make mobile blogging easier. Part of my job at AT&T is to be learned in all the new integrated devices. Those would be all the handhelds that are both voice and data capable. Since I work to ascertain the best mobile solution for business's these integrated devices are generally the Windows Mobile, Palm, and Blackberry devices and not the consumer styled flip phones. I'm now using a service called Shozu, that exports my images and videos to Flickr, YouTube or directly to my blogs. I'll try to post photos and videos more frequently with this service now being utilized.

Chelle and I did go to a Halloween party with a bunch of friends. We met up with friends Renee and Ugo at their place in Redondo Beach. The four of us met up with 17 more costumed freaks and took a Limo Bus to Hollywood. The bus made several stops for us and it was a blast. I wish I had a better camera with me, but I did manage to get a few photos. Unfortunately the camera phone I brought along that night didn't have the best flash.


Ugo didn't dress up but he did where a nice suit. Just kidding, he was a big headed mobster.

Chelle and Shelly

Here is an example of the less than stellar flash.

Chelle was dressed as a butterfly and I was a butterfly catcher. We did have a great time and got lots of candy.

September 11th Memorial Motorcycle Parade - Long Beach, CA



Tuesday after work, Chelle and I went back to our old neighborhood, Belmont Shores to watch the Motorcycle Parade honoring the firemen that lost their lives trying to save others when the attacked World Trade Center towers fell.

Belmont Shore Classic Car Show



Sunday Chelle and I took a Vespa ride down to Belmont Shore, met up with our friend Sharon and walked 2nd street enjoying all the pristine classic cars. It is amazing how clean and shiny the cars are. I'm glad there are people that spend their time and energy fixing up all these old classic cars so I can enjoy them, I'm just glad that the people that do this are not related to me. Can you say obsessed? Wow, it would take so much time to get these cars as shiny as they are.




The whole street was blocked off and cars were parked on both sides of the street. There had to be 100 cars displayed. I didn't have my camera so I just took a few pictures with my Blackberry. It really doesn't do it justice. It was quite the scene.


Chelle and I love Belmont Shore and we miss it whenever we go back and hang out. It's a good thing we are still close.


It's been awhile since I posted a picture of the wieners just because. I couldn't resist this one. They laid down on the floor of my home office and fell asleep. Speaking of obsessed, I think I might be with our puppies.

Surprise Cruise to Cabo

Wednesday August 29th after work we dropped the wiener dogs off at the kennel, drove to Del Mar and spent the night with Greg and Megan. Thursday morning, Megan drove Chelle and I into San Diego. It was at that point that I realized that my surprise weekend getaway was a 5 day cruise to Cabo San Lucas!!!




Chelle is quite the trickster. She had made all the arrangements and even packed for me so I would be totally in the dark as to her plans. All I knew was that I had asked for Thursday, Friday and Tuesday off from work. She even confused me more by laying my sweaters on the bed and asking if liked to fish. Tricky girl.




This cruise was with Carnival, departed out of San Diego and went south to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We spent several hours in Cabo and then cruised back to San Diego. The entire trip lasted from Thursday afternoon until Monday morning. We had fantastic weather. After we left Cabo, a storm blew in. In fact, they had to reroute the cruise that followed ours because the storm was so bad. We didn't see any of the bad weather. It was all sun and clear skies for the Crowes.




The first thing that they do when you board the ship is to teach you how to escape in case of an emergency. We all had to put on our life vest and meet in our designated places. After the instructions were given they escorted all up on deck to where we would board the lifeboats if necessary.




Once the emergency procedures were explained we went to the aft deck to wave goodbye to the U.S.




The rooms on cruise ships are compact and a little cheesy - just like my silly wife :)




The atrium is really cool. This one was open to five floors and had two glass elevators. Cruise ships are pretty amazing, I would encourage everyone to try one at least once if they can. You'll probably dig them as much as we are starting to. Imagine going on a vacation where you don't have to drive or pack and unpack several times. To me, that is the sign of a good vacation. It's a lot like traveling on a bus during a rock tour minus the rock-n-roll.




We were elated to be on the Elation. Sorry, I know it's bad. They can't all be brilliant comments.




Friday night was formal night. Everyone is encouraged to wear suits and ties or a dress depending on your gender.




They have several places to eat, many bars, a few clubs, and two theaters.




In this club there was a band called the Highlights. They played an eclectic mix of disco and eighties. I played a fun game called, name the tune and one called, "Hey Chelle, I played this one in a disco band back in the 90s!" Chelle played a game called, "ignore Christian and just dance, dance, dance."




In Mexico we ate lunch and had a few cervases.




After lunch we walked to quiet spot on the beach. I imitated the boats and floated. Chelle got a beautiful tan. I got burned like a hot tamale with extra Tabasco!




We walked further down the beach to a crowded beach bar called Mango. There was a ton of people from the U.S. on vacation enjoying the beach and the Margaritas. They played several fun games and Chelle nearly won the "name that tune".




Back to the boat to continue cruising.




Trivia time, anyone know what blockbuster was filmed on this hill?




Now do you recognize it? That's right. This was the site of the movie Troy, starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom.




Usually the shots like this are of Chelle kissing my cheek. This time it's me kissing her. She was truly amazing to plan this entire trip and keep it a secret up until the very last minute. She is amazing! I am such a lucky man.

Annual Big Bear Camping Trip

Friday August 24th after work we loaded into our friend Sean's Jeep Wrangler and drove up to Big Bear for a camping adventure. This is the second year that Chelle and I have been able to spend time with friends at Hana Flats near Big Bear Lake. There were 14 campers spread across 2 neighboring campsites. We had an absolute blast, but as is always the case, the sky opened up while we were boating and the rain fell. Just like last year it didn't matter. No amount of rain can dampen our spirits.


The Dutch Oven

Krista and Craig cooked lasagna for us on the fire. They are very resourceful campers.



Chelle and Lisa

Chelle's and my camera pooped out so the pictures I am posting were taken by Lisa. We certainly appreciate her eye for a good shot.



The lovebirds on a pontoon boat.

Saturday we all loaded onto a rented pontoon boat and went a trolling. At first the weather was beautiful and the party was kicking.



Ugo and Renee

As is the case most times we get to hang out with the gang from the south bay, the festivities were planned by party planner extraordinaire Renee.



We could see the storm coming but we kept our spirits up to the last minute.




Sean and Trina



Trina and Renee

We actually attempted to make it back to shore, but the rain turned to hail and we weren't enjoying the feeling of being pelted. Craig then turned the boat back towards the one spot on the lake were the storm was not active.

We did find rest from the storm and so subsequently we shut the boat off and relaxed. When we decided to call it a day and head in the boat would not restart. We tried everything we could think of. Not being boat mechanics, we finally resorted to flagging down another boat for help. After sitting in a broken boat for about two hours, twelve year old Evan came to our rescue. Evan tied a string to our floating dock and towed us back to safety.


Our hero

Once back to shore we headed back to the campsite for another great meal, campfire and s'mores. The rain didn't come back and we had a dry nights sleep.

We can't wait for next years trip!

Impromptu drive down the coast ends up in horse track gambling fiasco

Actually, it was nothing like that, honestly officer. Seriously, this last Sunday we drove down the coast to Del Mar to visit with Greg and Megan. We had a beautiful scenic drive down the 101 through some real small towns. After getting to the Shockro's house we walked from their house over to the Del Mar Track. They live in a very cool area, two short blocks to the ocean and maybe a quarter mile from the horse track.

It was the day of the Pacific Classic. The track was packed with men in white suits and women with big hats. Totally reminiscent of Nashville's Steeplechase.

Chelle and Megan putting on their best "LA Face" for the camera.

I didn't wear a white suit, but I did wear a funny hat.

The Del Mar track is beautiful. You can see the some big body of water just over the tops of the building. I had been to Alamitos Track before, but this is much better. Apparently Bing Crosby was instrumental in this thing's success.



The horses lined up for us to take a look, so we could be better prepared to bet on who was going to run faster. Chelle and I prefer to pick our winners on much stricter guidelines. We go by the name of the horse and the color of the jocky's outfit. If we like both, we have a winner!

We always have a great time with the Shockro clan. We are certainly more blessed than we deserve to be.

Police Activity

I don't know how I missed posting this. We had such a great time, maybe it was because I didn't take my camera and forgot that I had these photos in one of my Blackberry. That's the trouble with working for a phone company and having more cellphone/PDAs than shoes.... then again, that's also my favorite part of the job.

Anyway, back on June 23rd. Our friends Aaron and Olyvia picked Chelle and I up and we went to Dodger Stadium to see the Foo Fighters and The Police in concert.

Here we are in the concession line. Beers are $52 and wine in a plastic cup is $57 (not really, but it's something close to that.)

I used to have the pleasure of working with Aaron at Sprint Nextel. Even though we no longer agree on the best cellphone transmission protocal, we can still be friends. Wow, we really are quite mature aren't we. For the record, AT&T Mobility's HSDPA is far better than Sprint's Ev-DO. I put that in there just to get Arron's goat. Actually, I'm not sure if he has a goat, I think he just has sheep.

As you can see we had front row seats ;-)

I wished I had seen the Police in their heyday, or at least later in the tour. They were a bit loose and they sounded like a band of three individuals trying to remember their parts. I heard they really got their groove back later in the tour. It was still great to see them, I've been a fan since I was in 6th grade.

Double Date

Friday night my buddy Sean and I treated our lady friends to a little romance. We started off at Bay Shore Boat Rentals at the Alomitas Harbor. We rented a Duffy Electric Boat and cruised around our old neighborhood, Naples Island.



The weather was beautiful and sun was just begining to set during our hour long cruise.




Chelle and I have been friends with Sean for some time, but this was our first time meeting Karin. We've already told Sean that we like her better than him and we will remain her friend if they stop seeing each other. Of course we were kidding, or were we? Let's hope we don't have to find out.



We packed a couple bottles of wine along with our finest plastic.




Captain Crowe at the helm. I learned everything I know from Captain Butch.



After the boating, we dined at Tantalum. I didn't take any photos there, so you'll have to imagine how cool it is (or hit the link).
Later we ended our night at Morry's wine shop and Nico's backroom back on Naples Island.