Back at home with a very happy puppy now.  Diego hadn’t been boarded in about a year, and I guess he was none too happy being left behind this weekend.

Even without Diego being there though, Palm Springs rocked.  Great food, great people, great tan lines.  No disasters.  Had plenty of pool time to think about thirty years of visits to the area, with mostly pretty fond memories.  Finished the second Sookie Stackhouse book, and even had the opportunity to see Adam West’s star on Palm Canyon Drive after my morning latte this morning.  Yes, my life is full.

While life was good at the resort where Spinner’s convention was being held, have to admit things didn’t look great for the town.  I know that business there is cyclical, and very linked to tourism, but I’ve never seen so many empty storefronts there before.  Not just the little retailers and restaurants but the empty auto lots that used to support some pretty high-end markets.  This is supposed to be the high season – many smaller retailers routinely close there for the summer.  Early spring should be bustling though, but you couldn’t tell it from the night life.  Foot traffic on Friday evening was almost non-existent, and parking might have been the easiest I’ve ever had it there.

Escondido’s been depressed for so long that maybe I’m becoming used to the closures as the new status quo, but seeing how far Palm Springs has fallen since my last visit 4-5 years ago was shocking to say the least.  Almost as shocking as California’s new official unemployment rate of 12.6%.  Hopefully California won’t be a trendsetter for the rest of you in these areas, but be warned.

The weekend roadtrip was only marred by a problem with thieves in Bakersfield. Sometime early Sunday morning some loser(s) smashed a window on Spinner’s Mazda and grabbed a few things off the back seat. Most notably, they got four days of dirty laundry and a black duffle bag that I’ve dragged around the world since the late 1980s. Oh, and Spinner’s camera with our photos from the big Friday night out at the Wynn. The shocker was the Bakersfield PD: they actually came out and did crime scene stuff for a car break-in. The SDPD certainly never would have bothered. In hindsight, I’m think the hotel staff’s calm professionalism in knowing who to call and helping to vacuum up the glass shards from might have betrayed a sense of boredom at a common occurrence and a sense of ‘oh, only one this morning.’ Oh well. Despite the frustration with replacing the window being forced to shop and replace the soiled laundry is much more fun than washing it.

Currently unwinding in a Las Vegas suite, a couple blocks from the strip, courtesy of Spinner’s side gig. Diego and I are watching the leaves blow around and cursing electronics with inadequate battery lives while Spinner does his thing. Enjoyed walking the strip today, and resting up for a busy Friday. Would’ve liked some pool time, but Diego’s doing his separation anxiety routine really well and my arm’s still in a brace and incapable of actually swimming.

Some attorney scheduled an emergency hearing for tomorrow that I’ll have to handle by phone, then we have lunch with some old friends of mine, and we’ll cap off the Vegas leg of the trip with a showing of La Reve in the evening. Been looking forward to that last one for weeks, and I’ll need the release after dealing with the so-called emergency in the morning. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it too many times: Failure to plan (or show up at regularly scheduled hearings) does not contitute an emergency on my part. pffft.

Finally coming to the realization that next weekend I’m going to miss my first Crew Classic since I moved to San Diego in 2001.  I arrived too late in the year for the 2001 regatta, but made it in ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, and ’08.  It’s not a bad thing necessarily – we’re going to be in Vegas and I’m sure we’ll have a great time.  Just a bit of sadness at missing an opportunity to hang out with the alums and cheer at a sport where Cal usually does really well.  It’s been kind of a symbolic start of spring for me (the first weekend of April)  and the local alums always host a great tent.

Somehow I never got around to making coffee yesterday.  In an absolute shocker I”m here today, and moderately functional, so I’m trying it again, this time intentionally.  

I doubt I’ll make it through the week  without my chemical crutch –  this one’s just too busy.  Volunteering at Spinner’s school, turning 45, letting BorgHealth send electricity  through my nervous system while the State Supreme Court debates my marriage,  then jetting up to San Jose for a weekend of blissful nothing at the Fairmont.

It might be busy, but at least I should be fully diagnosed, if not feeling better, when next Sunday rolls around.

2009 started off with a bang with the Penguin Plunge and then three nights up in Pismo Beach enjoying the central coast.  But I’m back at work now, alternating some briefing with some de-Christmasing of the Casa and a bit of gym strategizing that became necessary after seeing the Penguin Plunge pictures.   Going to have to look at coordinated plungewear next year, like these gentlemen on the Central Coast [gallery] .  The Chippendale look might give the New Years event just the formality it deserves.  Laundry and dishes and accounts receivable are rounding out the agenda here at the end of the extended holiday.  Then I can try and post the weekend’s photos.

Ready to put this miserable excuse for a week behind me and take a little weekend roadtrip. Time to test out the new wetsuit somewhere between here and Ventura. Disgusted with myself that I’ve had it for a week now and it hasn’t even been near the water. There’s been something seriously wrong with my priorities.

Win or draw next Tuesday (no loss because I still get to spend the rest of my life with the man I love), we’re planning a short roadtrip for the following weekend. A couple of days with Diego running in the sand and Chuck field testing the new wetsuit should do wonders for morale. This has been one of those elections where you learn who your real friends are, and who just nods and smiles. I’ll be glad to put it behind me. That also means I’m near the end of my run with KPBS too. Been fun, and a learning experience writing for a much broader audience, but I’m ready to put some of that time and energy back into Howling Point and Beachlaw. There’s a dog here that needs to be idolized.

Marketing is an amazing thing.  Rather than slap a $50 cleaning fee on our bill to allow Diego to stay with us last week, The Cliffs allowed us to purchase the Laps of Luxury package.  For $50 we got a dog bed, a water bowl, a souvenir dog tag and a room service menu specially tailored for Diego’s needs.   They even had a vegetarian option for our canine companions.  My favorite?  The Chow Hound Chicken.

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, Basmati Rice, Scrambled Eggs

• Small Dog 4 oz – 11.
• Big Dog 8 oz – 18.

I was tempted to order it for myself one morning, but no, we did not order it for Diego.  We love him, but not that much.

This is the third day in a row for triple-digit temperatures here, topping out at 108 yesterday according to the desktop widget.  Nice way to start the summer.  Too hot to do much of anything, including all the stuff I was going to get too as soon as I got back from vacation.  Feels like the vacation got extended, but without the handy walkway to the beach.