Final week in July

This picture is of Michael McClure who was my freshman English teacher when I was a student at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Standing behind him with a six-pack in this picture is Jim Morrison of the Doors. Apparently Michael was not pleased with having his picture taken here. Recently, we had the good fortune of having Ray Manzerek visit the CIA for a cooking demo around a month ago.He was the famed keyboard player for the group. I got his autograph and found him to be a very congenial fellow.I told him about my association with the beat poet Michael McClure and as it turns out, Ray is a good friend of his and they have done some events together long after Jim Morrison's passing.

Wednesday Wonderland

Today is a beautiful day here in the Napa Valley. The sun is shining and the birds are singing. I will be giving a tour later on today for the Nextel people who are visiting Greystone. My job is a blast. I meet people all day long and they are generally in a good mood when they get here and hopefully in a better mood when they leave. Our company picnic is coming up soon and I will be helping out Susan from the campus store with the games. I think that thier will be a cherry pie eating contest where some lucky person from each department will be quaffing down a gooey red, syrupy cherry pie. Oh what fun !

Middle of the month

Already? Gee, it seems like I hardly have any time to digest my day to day experiences however mundane they appear to be. Friday is not MY Friday... It's my hump day. I work weekends, so Sunday is when I can sorta let my hair down. I'm still waiting for my digital camera to be returned to me from the people that are fixing it's download port. When it arrives, I will be able to download the pictures I take onto my IPod Photo. Then I will be able to do slideshow presentations on someone's TV using only an adapter cable and my IPod. I can hardly wait.I will also be able to start taking pictures again that I can add to my website, weblog, videoblog etc. I MISS MY FUJI MX 3200 !!

Taking my time

It is cold this morning. It feels good because the days have been hot. I had two oatmeal cookies for breakfast. During the week, the Spice girls offer me cookies to take home with me. I usually take a bag of cookies and a loaf of bread. I give them to the families in Tortilla Flats ( my hood ).The kids here appreciate the gesture. Most of them are sugar junkies who leave their wrappers strewn up and down the driveway here.It seems like it has been a long time since I've had a good nights' sleep. I average about five or six hours a night.Today it is very slow at the CIA because it is still semester break here. Besides that, their are no Special Events happening today.
That suits me fine, because I could easily curl up behind a stack of books and go to sleep for a few more hours.

July 6th, Wednesday

Today I chipped my tooth ( a midsection molar) while biting into a Chicharone which is basically a pork rind. My Mexican neighbor Raphael, prepared this delicace for me and I didn't feel the roughness of my chipped tooth until later.All I was thinking about is how I am going to have to make an appointment with my dentist to have a crown put on or just have the tooth filed down.Other than this event, my work went okay today. I am going to give Charles Henning a grand tour tommorow at 2pm. He is our new Operations Manager at the Culinary Institute. I think that this will be a good oppurtunity to shine. Right now it is 11:30 PM and I am still experiencing a little indigestion from the Chicharone. I hope I have a good night's sleep.

Independence Day

The car alarm in the neighboring yard woke me today with continuos honking. Then the guy downstairs started his day by dry heaving or trying to cough up some kind of phelgm.Wonderful. It's July fourth and I am here at the computer, plucking out my experiences. I have few plans other than perhaps taking in the fireworks tonight at the fair. But then again, if I stay home, it won't disappoint me because I have followed this same ritual in years past. I have a bug bite on my thumb that is bothering me, If it turns out to be a "Brown Recluse Spider" I will be in for some added problems.

Back on Wednesday

Here it is, Wednesday. The sun is out and the swallows seem to have taken off for other destinations. They came the first week in Spring , made their babies and left a big mess and eventually moved on... Summertime is a bit too hot up under the eaves of the building here.Most of the education staff goes on Vacation this time of the year. It does not mean that it is quiet at the Concierge's desk.Thier is a lot of foot traffic heading towards the restaurant or the campus store. I do a lot of busy work here besides making reservations. I make sure that the light bulbs get changed, that the magazines and colateral material are properly displayed on the rack, and that people get thier questions answered promptly and without ATTITUDE. God forbid I should have a crappy day. So, with that in mind... Have a SWELL DAY !

Monday feels like Tuesday

Already I am thinking that I have to go back to work. All work and no play makes Chris a very dull boy. Today I went to have my knee looked at because I think that I have been running for 3 years now with a torn meniscus. Dr. Diana ( his real name ) looked at it and explained the procedure. I hope that my insurance covers it. I will have an MRI scan done and we will decide after that if it really is a torn minimizes or just a little arthritis. In any case, the day was boring. I later went shopping at Trader Joe's. I like that store. Always feel like I got some good stuff for low prices. Anyway, I am back tinkering on my puter, hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.

Saturday and pondering...

Nothing to do, nothing to do... put some mustard in your shoe. Drive a nail in your foot, fill your hair full of soot. Rub some jelly on the wall, lick it off and call for more. I think that this was the Shel Silverstien poem that I started to memorized back in high school. I like it because I sometime's feel bored and yet I am still trying to think of things to do to keep my mind occupied. I don't need that much anymore. I am trying to assess what I have left up there.

Freaky Friday

Yesterday, a group of us went to see the Giants play at SBC park. We drove from Greystone in the company bus and got there about an hour before game time. Our seats were located in the left field bleacher section. The Game was sort of ho-hum. The Giants ended up losing to the Arizona Diamonbacks. The big drama of the day happened when one of our staff passed out (not from alcohol, but from dehydration) and the medics had to be called. He turned out to be okay after he was observed for about an hour. We all had plenty of snacks and a lot of fun the whole afternoon. Sam did a great job of getting us there and back around 9pm.

Wednesday's Wurlitzer

Well, I sure say "well" a lot. Today has been busy. I have been designing the picnic flyer for our company picnic and it has turned out to be an ordeal. Should it be color or black/white? Should I say this or should I say that? Oy vey. As much as I enjoy composing posters and flyers, I must say that it involves a lot editing. If I were just involved in making posters and flyers for a living, I would not make it through the winter months here in St. Helena.The other thing I wanted to mention is that I discovered a new search engine for looking up long lost friends and relatives. It is called Zabasearch.com. Check it out.

Sunday will never be the same

I liked that song when Spanky McFarland sang it. Today is turning out to be a pretty one. Of course I am pleased that I will have the next two days off. Last night I went to William Bennett's first birthday party. The kid is very happy go lucky, but don't tell him " No " or he will burst into tears. He got lots of presents related to sports, so if the kid turns out to be nerd it won't be his parents' friends fault. I was fed a steak and sausage dinner and spent the time chortling about youngsters and the changing times. I think last week I said that I was going to ride my bike and swim on my days off. These next two days I intend to do exactly that.

Fourteen !

Here is a little Quicktime movie for your enjoyment. Download it here

Moving beyond my last blog

A Big Thanks if you listened to that last audio blog...but if you hadn't, you would be no worse for the wear. I promise not to kivetch like that in the future. It was just an experiment like I suspect the next one will be, and as I get more comfortable with the medium, I'll perhaps be more creative. I spent the last two days working on the computer and it sounds like one is actually accomplishing something when they say that, but you know and I know that this can perpetuate a myth. The myth I am thinking about is the one that the computer is making your life easier. Just as nature abhors a void, I think the personal computer necessitated a growing population, a more complex business and living arena, and has facilitated a large playing field with an expanded dimension to our everyday reality.

Banteron's Muse or Musings (?)

Well, what do you think? Is the name catchy? Does it spark your interest? Give me some feedback...

Anyway, here is another blah... blah...blah Download it here.

Sunday at Greystone

This morning I got up after a long evening of re-organizing my itunes library. It looks like I will have to upload a few songs that I had burned to CD's and lost out of my playlist when I upgraded to Tiger. I felt pretty good this morning though, and work today should be fun. I am looking forward to having a couple of days off, however. I intend to ride my bike at some point and go swimming this summer with the kids in the neighborhood. Arturo finally graduated from High School this year and he is not sure if he wants to go to the J.C. in the Fall. I am trying to tell him that the J.C. is a lot better than an extended however sunny vacation in Iraq.

Attempting to Podcast

Hi There. If you would like to listen to this little experiment then...

Download my podcast here

Thanks !

All Wet Wednesday

Today is my Monday since this is my first day back after two days off. It is raining today and it is very busy. I have had constant interruptions and weird, offbeat kind of guests have been appearing at the door with a variety of nosey, stupid questions. I don't suffer fools lightly and their are quite few today. Around 10 am was a high school class from St. Helena with a whole array of obnoxious teen agers, and an even more obnoxious teacher.Then their's the visitor from Tibouron who prefers the Pacific Northwest. Well my attitude is... WELL GO THERE and stay the hell out of my face!

Monday all over again

Okay, So I haven't kept up with this blog for a couple of days... big whoop. I am off today and plan to go have my tire fixed. I drank too much coffee yesterday and stayed awake last night. Grrrrrrr ! Today is another beautiful day in Calistoga. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. Now Isn't that swell? Nuff said. I am reluctant to put anything in this blog that someone might actually read, because then I would have to be accountable for what is written. Now I know why what is written has more clout than what is said because their is no wiggle room ! It has been transcribed.

My yearly review

I was called into the Administration Office for my yearly performance/Salary review. I met expectations on all counts,and exceeded expectations on only one... Technology. My pay will stay the same but I am getting a one time bonus of 5 hundred dollars. I am a bit disappointed because I had higher expectations. I have received numerous letters and cards thanking me for being of service. I even went out of my way to create an employee database, a map of the herb garden and a scrapbook of the CIA at Greystone. I deserve more.