Monday, June 28, 2004
Naomi's Big Adventure
She's 30. Here's how it happened...
3 days to go
Like with Pee Wee, it started with a bike. I dropped her off at Piaw's where she hopped on the back of the tandem and stoked her way over the hill to Santa Cruz for her company's off-site. They also rode back, and all told it was 81 miles and over 6100' of climbing. That's more than I've ever done in one day, that dirty one-upper!
That night, she and I and some friends met up at the Brass Rail in Sunnyvale. Yeah, it's *that* kinda place. We had many beers but despite that we weren't so impressed with the dancers, though there were several that were pretty hot. Sounds funny, but it was fun largely because of the company.
1 day to go
The big surprise gift for Naomi this year was a trip to Hollister for... no, not the Harley rally, guess again.
Skydiving!
Her friends pitched in and I organized the trip. Joel, Jonah, Susie, and Colleen were jumping with us, while Karen H. came along for support. We settled in to watch a video featuring Rasputin, the inventor of skydiving, telling us... something. Maybe it was how dead we'd be. Hard to hear & we were reading and signing the waiver double waiver from hell at the same time. Some favorite excerpts from the waiver: "I acknowledge that skydiving has little value to society..." and "This equipment is not warranted for any use" and "the only warranty given is that the equipment was used before and it worked."
We ended up having to be split up because there were a limited number of Tandem Masters available. Jonah, Susie, and Joel went first. We had enough time to drive out to the landing area, and we saw them appear as white dots high in the sky, then a minute later, the colored chutes opened and they floated down.
Then we were up. Colleen was scared out of her mind. I wasn't that worried, I think because I had no frame of reference. I've been way more nervous before a hockey game or a bike race. We got suited up in old German mechanics outfits, except for Naomi, who somehow found a hot pink jumpsuit in just her size. They put the harnesses on us and we all loaded onto the plane.
While we were on the plane climbing up to 15,000 feet, they clipped us in, told some jokes, and sang happy birthday to Naomi. After which Colleen, who was still freaked out, yelled, "you fucking bitch!" Which had everyone laughing.
Anyway, I was still feeling ok, a little queasy when the plane flattened out, just from the motion.
Then the door opened, and this young guy who was jumping solo yelled "see ya later!" and dove out of the plane. All of a sudden I was stiff as a board, scared out of my mind, eyes probably bugging out of my head. My heart may have stopped beating. It didn't matter, though because I only had 5, maybe 10 seconds to worry. I committed myself to getting to the edge of the plane and knew the Tandem Master ("Kip") strapped to my back would make sure we jumped.
We jumped, and it was this tremendous rush of wind. I quickly assumed the 'banana' position, pelvis forward, feet back and we were catching the wind. Kip showed me how to make us turn by bringing one hand in front of me at a time. I felt a loose strap whipping my neck, giving me a free-fall hickey. It felt like it was cutting a hole in my neck.
After 60 seconds of free fall (I know that, but I couldn't have estimated the time accurately), the chute caught us. A gentle tug, really, like your seat belt at a sudden stop at 15 miles an hour. It was suddenly quiet, and we were floating down. We could talk.
Kip let me take control of the chute and showed me how to steer by pulling down on the handles. He pointed out Naomi beneath us, and decided we'd do some spiraling down to try to get close to her. However, that started to make me pretty queasy, so when he asked how I was doing, I told him, and so we just took it in for a landing, which wasn't bad. You get your feet up so the instructor dude lands first, then you put your feet down and, I guess you're supposed to run or something, but they don't tell you that. they just say, "stand up", and so I stuck my feet right into the ground and fell over forward slightly onto my knees.
I was feeling a little green, so Kip unhooked me quickly. He said that the harness might have been too tight and cut off blood to my legs, which made me feel sick. I think it was the motion, but I felt better soon. Until we got back to the airport in the van, where suddenly it all caught up with me. I rushed to the bathroom just in time.
Naomi was grinning from ear to ear. I can't remember when I'd seen her so happy! So, it was a success, everyone landed, and now we've all had more take-offs then landings, and that will always be the case.
On the Eve of...
At home after free-fall, we forewent the last-minute house cleaning and took a nap. We got up and I realized we had only 10 minutes to finish cleaning the house! Fortunately, our friends are very fashionable, so the first guests didn't arrive until 90 mins later, just after I pulled up with ice and a few other last minute groceries.
At any rate, all of the squirrelfriends made it, save Liz who had a valid excuse (out of the country), and it was a very good time. I also figured out how to play tunes from our desktop through Naomi's laptop through the stereo, so we had access to the booty mix, among other favorites.
Although guests left fairly early (getting old? horny?), a few stuck around and we wound down the night watching a collection of bike crashes narrated by an evil-looking Bob Roll.
D-day
A mellow day was planned. Naomi's family came over with cheesecake and gifts. We went and met Ed who, now has his pilot's license, and had offered to take us on a tour of the bay. I was still a little freaked from the parachuting, so I took a last-minute pass, but Naomi got to fly up the peninsula, over the city and back, and she came back grinning from ear to ear.
And finally, we had a leisurely dinner at the Wine Cellar in Los Gatos, rated 10 outta 10 for most romantic restaurant in San Jose (I do my research!). Dinner was good, and she got to wear her new opals. Returned home with watching a movie in mind, but in the end we just crashed early.
I'm pretty sure she had a good weekend.
3 days to go
Like with Pee Wee, it started with a bike. I dropped her off at Piaw's where she hopped on the back of the tandem and stoked her way over the hill to Santa Cruz for her company's off-site. They also rode back, and all told it was 81 miles and over 6100' of climbing. That's more than I've ever done in one day, that dirty one-upper!
That night, she and I and some friends met up at the Brass Rail in Sunnyvale. Yeah, it's *that* kinda place. We had many beers but despite that we weren't so impressed with the dancers, though there were several that were pretty hot. Sounds funny, but it was fun largely because of the company.
1 day to go
The big surprise gift for Naomi this year was a trip to Hollister for... no, not the Harley rally, guess again.
Skydiving!
Her friends pitched in and I organized the trip. Joel, Jonah, Susie, and Colleen were jumping with us, while Karen H. came along for support. We settled in to watch a video featuring Rasputin, the inventor of skydiving, telling us... something. Maybe it was how dead we'd be. Hard to hear & we were reading and signing the waiver double waiver from hell at the same time. Some favorite excerpts from the waiver: "I acknowledge that skydiving has little value to society..." and "This equipment is not warranted for any use" and "the only warranty given is that the equipment was used before and it worked."
We ended up having to be split up because there were a limited number of Tandem Masters available. Jonah, Susie, and Joel went first. We had enough time to drive out to the landing area, and we saw them appear as white dots high in the sky, then a minute later, the colored chutes opened and they floated down.
Then we were up. Colleen was scared out of her mind. I wasn't that worried, I think because I had no frame of reference. I've been way more nervous before a hockey game or a bike race. We got suited up in old German mechanics outfits, except for Naomi, who somehow found a hot pink jumpsuit in just her size. They put the harnesses on us and we all loaded onto the plane.
While we were on the plane climbing up to 15,000 feet, they clipped us in, told some jokes, and sang happy birthday to Naomi. After which Colleen, who was still freaked out, yelled, "you fucking bitch!" Which had everyone laughing.
Anyway, I was still feeling ok, a little queasy when the plane flattened out, just from the motion.
Then the door opened, and this young guy who was jumping solo yelled "see ya later!" and dove out of the plane. All of a sudden I was stiff as a board, scared out of my mind, eyes probably bugging out of my head. My heart may have stopped beating. It didn't matter, though because I only had 5, maybe 10 seconds to worry. I committed myself to getting to the edge of the plane and knew the Tandem Master ("Kip") strapped to my back would make sure we jumped.
We jumped, and it was this tremendous rush of wind. I quickly assumed the 'banana' position, pelvis forward, feet back and we were catching the wind. Kip showed me how to make us turn by bringing one hand in front of me at a time. I felt a loose strap whipping my neck, giving me a free-fall hickey. It felt like it was cutting a hole in my neck.
After 60 seconds of free fall (I know that, but I couldn't have estimated the time accurately), the chute caught us. A gentle tug, really, like your seat belt at a sudden stop at 15 miles an hour. It was suddenly quiet, and we were floating down. We could talk.
Kip let me take control of the chute and showed me how to steer by pulling down on the handles. He pointed out Naomi beneath us, and decided we'd do some spiraling down to try to get close to her. However, that started to make me pretty queasy, so when he asked how I was doing, I told him, and so we just took it in for a landing, which wasn't bad. You get your feet up so the instructor dude lands first, then you put your feet down and, I guess you're supposed to run or something, but they don't tell you that. they just say, "stand up", and so I stuck my feet right into the ground and fell over forward slightly onto my knees.
I was feeling a little green, so Kip unhooked me quickly. He said that the harness might have been too tight and cut off blood to my legs, which made me feel sick. I think it was the motion, but I felt better soon. Until we got back to the airport in the van, where suddenly it all caught up with me. I rushed to the bathroom just in time.
Naomi was grinning from ear to ear. I can't remember when I'd seen her so happy! So, it was a success, everyone landed, and now we've all had more take-offs then landings, and that will always be the case.
On the Eve of...
At home after free-fall, we forewent the last-minute house cleaning and took a nap. We got up and I realized we had only 10 minutes to finish cleaning the house! Fortunately, our friends are very fashionable, so the first guests didn't arrive until 90 mins later, just after I pulled up with ice and a few other last minute groceries.
At any rate, all of the squirrelfriends made it, save Liz who had a valid excuse (out of the country), and it was a very good time. I also figured out how to play tunes from our desktop through Naomi's laptop through the stereo, so we had access to the booty mix, among other favorites.
Although guests left fairly early (getting old? horny?), a few stuck around and we wound down the night watching a collection of bike crashes narrated by an evil-looking Bob Roll.
D-day
A mellow day was planned. Naomi's family came over with cheesecake and gifts. We went and met Ed who, now has his pilot's license, and had offered to take us on a tour of the bay. I was still a little freaked from the parachuting, so I took a last-minute pass, but Naomi got to fly up the peninsula, over the city and back, and she came back grinning from ear to ear.
And finally, we had a leisurely dinner at the Wine Cellar in Los Gatos, rated 10 outta 10 for most romantic restaurant in San Jose (I do my research!). Dinner was good, and she got to wear her new opals. Returned home with watching a movie in mind, but in the end we just crashed early.
I'm pretty sure she had a good weekend.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Quick updates
Weekend of June 5—
Karen & Nino get hitched! There was a great barbeque Saturday, a great reception Sunday, and plenty of broken hearts as these two were officially taken off the market.
Weekend of June 12—
Friday: Dinner with old & new friends we saw/met at Karen & Nino’s wedding.
Saturday: Movie Night #13: Beverly Hills Ninja
21 Dog Years at the Berkeley Rep; Naomi catches up with an old college buddy, and the story of how we met gets applause.
Weekend of June 19—
We race around to many functions, parties, etc., making for a hectic weekend, but I still get 100 miles of riding in.
Monday, June 21--
Driving to work, flags still at half-mast. (Naomi wishfully thinks it’s for Ray Charles.) I think they’re just leaving them up one day for each impeachable offense.
Karen & Nino get hitched! There was a great barbeque Saturday, a great reception Sunday, and plenty of broken hearts as these two were officially taken off the market.
Weekend of June 12—
Friday: Dinner with old & new friends we saw/met at Karen & Nino’s wedding.
Saturday: Movie Night #13: Beverly Hills Ninja
21 Dog Years at the Berkeley Rep; Naomi catches up with an old college buddy, and the story of how we met gets applause.
Weekend of June 19—
We race around to many functions, parties, etc., making for a hectic weekend, but I still get 100 miles of riding in.
Monday, June 21--
Driving to work, flags still at half-mast. (Naomi wishfully thinks it’s for Ray Charles.) I think they’re just leaving them up one day for each impeachable offense.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Memorial w/e
Our big plans for memorial day weekend were to widen our driveway. It turned out to be a lot harder than we thought and took almost all 3 days. My parents came up to help. We got about half of it dug on Saturday. We had to rent a mixer and wheelbarrow from home depot, and then had to rent a truck to get the concrete. We initially estimated about 3500 lbs! We ended up having the truck for several hours while we tried to figure out how to unload the first 40 bags, and finally a neighbor came over and he helped, and we all carried a few bags so it wasn't too bad.
The last day was the hardest. Fortunately, my mom convinced us to hire some day laborers to work with the concrete, otherwise it would have taken weeks. They knew what they were doing, and so they finished it by the evening when my parents have to leave. It was really difficult, and we ended up using almost 7000 lbs of concrete. And now I don't really remember why we did it, but I'm sure we had a good reason.
The last day was the hardest. Fortunately, my mom convinced us to hire some day laborers to work with the concrete, otherwise it would have taken weeks. They knew what they were doing, and so they finished it by the evening when my parents have to leave. It was really difficult, and we ended up using almost 7000 lbs of concrete. And now I don't really remember why we did it, but I'm sure we had a good reason.
