Leading GOP candidates and their support

Posted on January 12, 2012 by admin
The top supporters for all the candidates and where the money came from.
Paul’s Top 3:
Army
Air Force
Navy
Romney’s Top 3:
Goldman Sachs
Credit Suisse Group
Morgan Stanley
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Scout’s journey through the valley of the shadow…

Posted on January 8, 2012 by admin

So Scout’s leg got worse. MUCH worse. We took him to the hospital where they found his entire leg was a darkish purple, mostly black with the skin just dripping off. His doctor advised that we might need to amputate his leg. Not good. Not good at all. We really weren’t aware it was this bad.

Last Saturday Scout got in a fight with a cat. Let’s just say, last Saturday I felt *really* sorry for the cat. What I didn’t know at the time was that cats are horrible horrible creatures with mouths filled with the earth’s worst bacteria. It would have been better if he was bit by a rattler (which we thought initially).

We were given seven different medications which I have to give him multiple times a day. He doesn’t like them. And he’s pretty smart in his resistance. It typically ends up with me forcing them down his throat. Not fun.

We had an unfortunate set back on Friday when he was clever enough to remove the cone and then tore off his bandages. Why dogs decide to lick wounds incessantly is beyond me. I came home on Friday to an unfortunate view of his bone as the skin had been, for the most part, licked off. Gross.

We had his leg re-wrapped (never cheap) and now he is on the road, we hope, of recovery. We find out more on Monday.

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sick and injured dogs

Posted on January 3, 2012 by admin

I hate when our dogs get sick or injured. It stresses me out, mostly because I don’t know what to do (or how much it’s going to cost me).

Last summer they both acquired some sort of eye problem at the same time. It took a while (and a few visits to the vet), but it finally worked its way out.

Last weekend on our way home from Mexico, Tila had a minor wound appear on her snout. By the time we got home, it was significantly worse. The next day it looked like half of her face was melting off. Disgusting and sad.

After hours searching around on the internet (and youtube in particular), we were pretty confident they were ‘hot spots’. Horrible, red, pus-oozing lesions that spread rapidly. We found various proposed remedies online all of which were available at Walgreens (except for the prescription drugs which we are fortunate to have in abundance, like amoxicilin).

After a week now she is improving rapidly (finally!).

Here is a picture I took of her this morning:

Today I woke up this morning to find Scout lying calming on the bedroom floor. Pretty unusual. He generally paces like mad in an effort to offer subtle hints that he’s hungry. To my alarm, I found his front left paw was severely swollen and he was unable to walk on it normally.

We’ve had him resting all day and on various medications. Even so, his paw and leg appear to be getting progressively worse. It now seems nearly twice the size as it was this morning. It looks absolutely horrible, in part because he’s been licking at it for the last hour. So on goes the lamp-shade collar as well as a wrap to prevent further licking.

One sick dog is plenty. I hate dealing with these problems in pairs.

Here’s a picture of Scout this morning:

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vacation in la mision

Posted on December 24, 2011 by admin

Yun and traveled to La Mision in Baja last week. We rented a house for a week near the beach. Baja is beautiful. Clean. Very green.

It turned out to be a fairly cold and wet week. Unusual for the area. Our house had three fire places and ample wood, but still not enough to keep us warm. The days weren’t so bad – but the nights were not very comfortable when one traveled too far away from the fire.

The week was mostly uneventful. Lots of rest. This was the plan.

La Mision is a small town just north of Ensenada, just south of Rosarita. The beautiful Valle de Guadalupe is just 20 minutes northeast from La Mision. This is Baja’s version of Napa Valley. Very green. Thousands of acres of vineyards and olive trees.

We had the chance to experience the vineyards on Tuesday. Not an easy thing to do as most are closed during the week (except by appointment). Even so, we found Vinos Fuentes, one of the few Mexican-owned vineyards in the valley.

We were invited in to sample their variety of 10 different reds. We had the place to ourselves. No charge. Plenty of tempranillos, garnachas (they strangely call grenache), pinot noirs, and nebiollos.

The wine was exceptional. I am intimately familiar with tempranillos and garnachas (having dedicated the last year to drinking them exclusively) and these grapes were certainly distinctive to the Spanish variety I have been limiting myself too. Maybe it’s the soil. They were great. Really different. We bought the maximum number allowed to bring across the border (plus some) along with some incredible tasting olive oils. The nebiollo was my favorite (by far).


Our experience at Vinos Fuentes was by far the highlite of the trip. After the wine tasting, we decided to stay at their restaurant for dinner. We were the evening’s (and week’s) only guests. It was awesome.


The chef and his assistant served us. We started with a really tasty soup and then the main course was a superb (and highly recommended by the chef) quail dish. I’ve never had quail before – but it was great. We were really pleased with the food and the wine (they didn’t charge us for the wine with dinner).

Even though our time in Valle de Guadalupe was great, it was too wet and too cold for us to want to stay the entire week. We decided to leave on Wednesday, heading north toward San Diego (through Tijuana). The wait and the border was brutal.

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On our way to Baja…

Posted on December 15, 2011 by admin

Yun and I took a week vacay to Baja Norte (La Mision) for some much needed rest. We’ve never traveled to Baja before, so the trip was new.

We traveled through Yuma on our way to Mexicali where we would cross into Mexico. Just past Yuma and into California are these incredible sand dunes. We stopped to enjoy the scene and to let the dogs run wild.

It was far too hot for December and it didn’t take long for the dogs to exhaust themselves.

Mexicali is a typical ugly border town. We made our way quickly through it and on our way to Tecate. In between Mexicali and Tecate is a fairly treacherous leg of the journey called La Rumerosa. It’s a curvy and mountainous highway with little room for error. The views were incredible, but hard to appreciate when driving.

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lunch

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

I don’t post enough photos of the food I eat. I love the food that Yun makes. She loves to make these sort of things and I am obviously spoiled.

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relocation to newer version of old home…

Posted on December 4, 2011 by admin

We moved into the newer version of our old house last weekend. What a mess. Despite our efforts to get rid of things we no longer use or don’t want, we still can’t seem to trim the mountains of excess. As such, it will be weeks before things get put away.

Yesterday we had the oven, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and fridge installed. Our kitchen is coming along quite nicely. It is mostly functional at this point. The next big step is counter tops.

Last night I decided to wire together then entertainment center. This task takes hours and is mostly a nightmare. We have a dedicated computer in the entertainment center which we use for music and movies.

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thanksgiving

Posted on November 30, 2011 by admin

We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff and Beth at their house. Dr. Dave and Matt were there as well. The food was beautiful and I ate in excess.

A meal like this puts me to sleep. I nearly fell asleep on Jeff’s couch when someone recommended going for walk. Jeff and Beth live in Winterhaven, so the scenery is a nice change from what we’re used to. The walk was also helpful in providing the energy to play some games and eat two more rounds of my favorite meal of the year.

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Jacinto and Erika’s wedding

Posted on November 30, 2011 by admin

Yun and I traveled south across the border a couple weeks ago for the first time in months. Living in the North of Tucson has added an additional 30-45 minutes to the journey – so we haven’t made it much. The recent visit was enjoyable.

from left to right:
Beto, Hiram, Alba, Erica’s brother, Erika, Emma, Yunuen, Abraham, Gabriel, Dr. Vargas, Enrique

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poker…

Posted on November 30, 2011 by admin

Poker game at the house last Friday night. 8 guys. Not bad for two hours notice.

I’ve yet to win any money at my own game. Jeff once again took the pot. An impressive defeat over Luke who appeared to be chip leader the entire game.

Players: Hessle, Joe, Jesus, Jeff, Luke, Phil, Matt, and me.

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