Idea for getting the inlaws to go home?

Although I ran across this amusing article today, I am generally unamused this morning probably because I am back at work after a brief escape of a vacation that was not quite as relaxing as I would like. I did enjoy the wine as always (I am not sure when I would not though), but the food poisoning incident and toothache that will probably lead to another fun experience at the dentist did not really make this trip the pinnacle of relaxation.

Meeting the parents was really not too bad though I did not score too many points initially by not calling her back after the winery trip until late, mostly because I was enjoying the food poisoning incident at that time. Her parents were pleasant but very quiet and her dad actually seemed very nervous at times for whatever reason. This I found odd because I felt the nervous part should be my job unless there was something to hide. :)

Anyhow, I think I survived it and actually feel better now that I have complained. Funny how complaining to the world makes it all better somehow. :)

And now to the article that amused me...

Man sets fire in own home to get rid of guests

Associated Press
May. 31, 2005 08:05 AM

GENEVA, Ill. - Some people will do just about anything to get unwanted house guests to leave. But police say Dean Craig went too far.

Craig, 46, was charged with felony arson after allegedly splashing rubbing alcohol on the floor of his home and igniting it with a lighter early Sunday, the Kane County Sheriff's office said.

Nobody was injured. Police say Craig had asked two unwanted visitors to leave, but they refused. Then he allegedly carried out a threat to light the house on fire.

Craig was being held on $25,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 9.

Wineaux Dude tries to be vain... and fails! - UPDATED

This article reminded me of something I wanted to do and talked about with H a few months back. I debated it, decided it would not be too wise, and planned to go ahead with the idea when I got the next car anyhow.

So today, I try and get my car license plate changed to WINEAX, thinking this would not be too offensive or misleading or the like. Its only real vice in my mind is I would likely automatically be given the standard drunk test anytime I was pulled over. Alas, it is not acceptable and I will not be able to have it so it appears.

On the other hand, there could be just something odd with the system as it says it is available on a search, but not available when I actually try to order it. Me is boggled, but I am now considering changing my plate to C2H5OH

Hmmm.... Nevermind, the Motor Vehicle Division seems to be having a wine tasting of their own and the system just seems messed up.

Wine Quote of the Week

"In water one sees one's own face; But in wine, one beholds the heart of another."
An Old French proverb

Conversations with S involving the simple question, "Why wine?" are sometimes hard to answer given that it seems to be simply a part of me, my past, my present, and my future. However, the quote above does seem to say something to me in an answer to "Why wine?". Like all things, there can be too much of a good thing, but a glass or two of wine seems to put me in the proper mood to really take a look at others and converse in such a manner to see through the walls. Granted it helps if they have partaken as well of course. Of course it could be that people are not interesting without a bit of wine, but oh well.

Too much, on the other hand, and I simply end up the happy drunk who just likes to make friends and not really care who I am making friends with. This is often not a good thing!

Meet the Parents: San Diego

Nearly two months ago I decided I need to get away for Memorial Day and end up in San Diego. I figured it would be a good opportunity to sit and people watch in the Gaslamp District while sipping a glass or two or... of wine. It would also be an opportunity to see what the Temecula wineries have to offer lately and visit some friends in Irvine without actually having to set foot in Lost Angels, I mean Los Angeles.

Enter an interesting occurrence. Match.com actually has a few good ones from time to time and it appears I have been lucky enough to find one of them goodens.
As ummmm... luck would have it she is originally from San Diego so naturally she has decided to visit her family Memorial Day weekend and meet up with me on Memorial Day to show me around and head back to the airport that day. As such, it was suggested yesterday evening that I will probably end up meeting her parents during my visit. S was also curious how I would react to this likelihood.

I am honestly not overly concerned about it though it just seems and odd thing to do at this point for two reasons: First, I have been dating her about a month and things have only really turned serious the past week/week and a half or so and my instinct-o-meter tells me that is just a bit premature. Second, I am in desperate need of even just a mini-vacation and for some reason I am not sure I will find that relaxing because she indicated her parents are very quiet, more so that she is and as a result I will most certainly be the noisiest/most talkative person in the room. Those who know me understand that in general I am very quiet in new situations unless there is wine around and given that they do not drink (i.e. I am not really comfortable doing so initially either) this could be one of those 'Is that a cricket in the background conversations'.

There are some good things though. The parents of S are very laid back and accepting. I am not sure I could call myself every parent's nightmare anyhow and so long as they are not concerned that I am not Chinese all is well. I could try an impress with what little Chinese I can still recall from a class a few years back, but given that my pronunciation is terrible, I do not want to greet them with 'May a tiger eat your genitals'.

I am impressed that S seems to be steadily enjoying wine tastings as she has gone from none, to ones I have put together at a wine bar with her, to her first official one last night. Tonight is Star Wars. Not exactly the most romantic of movies I would imagine, but perhaps she will need protecting. ;)

Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Freedom for the Grapes!

The ruling came a month earlier than expected. I will soon be able to order that bottle of 1947 Latour if I so desired and nothing can stop me…. Ummm…. except the price anyhow. But I can also get the small stuff I find on my trips without having to play games. I don’t have any plans to have wine shipped to me while it sits in a truck in the wonderful Arizona summer heat, anyhow. It will take awhile for this to work itself out given oddity that is the Arizona State Legislature anyhow. Nevertheless, I plan on doing a victory toast somewhere tonight anyhow!

I will of course toast the beverage wholesale distributors as well. No longer can you tell me what to drink! Nah nah nah nah! You lose, I win! OK, I suppose it is dangerous to gloat too much but I am so incredibly happy now it is almost silly! No, it is silly but I don’t care either!

Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

The Grapes are Free! They are free!

Wine Recommendation of the Week

Winery: McKenzie-Mueller

Varietal: Cabernet Franc

Region: Napa Valley


Tasting Notes:

Cabernet Francs can range from fruity and acidic, like the Garnacha mentioned in a previous post, to a richer earthy sensual experience exploding with chocolate, cherry, and apricot; continuing with a tannic interlude that warms the very soul; and culminating in a myriad of exotic spices and a very happy me!

If you are more budget-minded the Buttonwood version will do nicely, but the Cabernet Franc mentioned above is my favorite example of the above explosion, interlude, and culmination. It is pretty strong on the chocolate and cherry and is a much better option than mere chocolate-covered cherries of course. This has a very powerful nose of cherry and spice, though you might detect chocolate and tobacco if you have a really good nose for subtler aromas. The interlude is not as tannic as a standard Cabernet Franc, making it a softer drinking wine. Instead you get an earthy/tannin combination that is very soothing. Then the spices! I have never quite been able to pull the spices all apart, but there is definitely vanilla and pepper though licorice seems to be there sometimes as well.

This might be a very good wine with a dark (not milk!) chocolate so keep some around if you want to play chocolate and wine. I am told this sometimes can lead to playing doctor, but I digress. :) Pasta dishes should go fairly well with this wine I am told, so I shall have to experiment on that one. You could do a number of cheeses with this, but I have tried it with blues/gorgonzolas/Maytag Blue and loved it!

It retails for about $28.

Wine Quote of the Week

Yet another in my shameless attempts to bring wine into the conversation. Please welcome the first of the 'Wine Quotes of the Week'!


"A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover." --- Clifton Fadiman

San Carlos or Splashdown!

The classroom and pool sessions are now officially over and I can now look forward to getting in the ocean for real-like. Pretty much everything has been done in the pool at least two to three times with the exception of the unconscious diver rescue techniques (done once) so I am pretty comfortable with what I shall face in the open water. I have enjoyed the experience so far though I am not always really excited about being constantly in a testing environment. It will be nice to do some actual diving and exploring without it being an exam. I am still planning on Labor Day weekend in the Florida Keys with a few more experienced divers though I need to actually put that into a plan in the next few days or so from what I am told.

As much as I enjoyed it so far, I have found I don’t like being committed to something in the evenings after work and the pool can get quite dull after awhile. I am not sure anyone can be in awe of the underwater view of white plaster too much anyhow.

I suppose the only other surprise was the fact that the class started with seven people and ended with three. Not that it was the easiest thing I have ever attempted but it was hardly the most difficult either (He says this without having tried the open water part yet, of course). I enjoyed just hanging out at the bottom the most and liked the emergency swimming ascent the least. I suppose there is something about slowly letting my breath out in the fact that I am not good at it yet. I tend to let it escape way too quickly and this makes the emergency swimming ascent kinda ummmm…. uncomfortable about halfway through. The good news on this is that the emergency swimming ascent test in the open water is half as deep (15 feet up versus 30 feet across the bottom of the pool).

Anyhow, hopefully you will all be able to do a toast with me on the evening of June 19th. I will either be a happy certified scuba dude or a frustrated annoyed dude in need of a drink. Either way, I need some drinking support!

San Carlos here I come!

Match.Com Final Analysis - So Long And Thanks For All The Fish!

Yes, I still do exist. I could say I have been very busy with things but as far as the blog goes anyhow, I have just been lazy actually.

So the Match.com experiment has officially ended. What were the results? Well, I do admit I never really did try exceptionally hard as I think in total I sent out about 60 to 70 emails and although the initial response rate was not too bad in my opinion (somewhere around 15%), I only did ever date three women, two past a second date, and one seriously. In general, I found it very hard to have something to say back as there was little said in the actual profile. There were plenty of pretty pictures to look at of course, but not much else.

There were three basic plans of attack so to speak in my responses. The first was a general playful and silly response that somewhat followed my profile and though I try to focus on them, it became hard after awhile and I somewhat felt I was creating a form letter response. I would say this was the most successful in terms of responses but I did this a lot initially when I had the energy to do so and as a result I can only speculate that this really was the most “successful”. This led to two of the actual dating situations.

The second was to establish some connection based on some mutual interest and add a bit of playfulness to this connection. This had no success and would lead me to believe that there is no desire to find your “other half” in the match.com community based on interests. Of course, I am not that pessimistic. :) I probably did not try this approach enough. Besides, at least among women, my primary stated interest of guzzling wine, does not really appear to be very unique.

The third approach was to establish what amounted to a bit of an esoteric philosophical/intellectual/emotional connection through a response. I would say this would be impossible on Match.com, but managed to actually do it once and only once as her profile actually said enough for me to respond in such a manner. On a response to success (not sure how to define that) basis, I suppose this would be the most successful and have been actually very surprised to run across this opportunity.

This above situation is still developing and has gotten to a point where I am happy to say to Match.com, buh bye! On the other hand, it has been something very slow developing until the past weekend. I always seem to find the quiet, shy, reserved challenges anyhow! Oh well. I suppose there will be more to come on this situation though I find it odd to have no problem talking about the world around me with a supposedly quiet, reserved person on dates that have been as long as ten hours (trip out of town to a Vivaldi concert in the middle of nowhere).