Sydney, Australia (Day 20) - 20 Days of Chill

"Go to the Uetibergbahn and get a ticket at Seinau station for the upper station.  From there, walk to the summit of Uetilberg.  You will know what to do once you get there."  That had been the last text message I received while on the plane after it had landed in Zurich.  I still had to find Herman, so I made my way to the Uetibergbahn and bought my ticket.

All the while, I kept thinking, why had Herman gotten me into this?  How had someone gotten into my house?  How had someone dognapped Herman from my back yard.  We had gotten Herman while we were on holiday in Sydney, Australia.  He was just a puppy, but we found him on a street corner along with several of his littermate as we had been walking around on the waterfront at Sydney Harbor.  The boy was trying to get rid of the dogs before he had to take them to a shelter.  My wife fell in love with Herman almost immediately, but then again, she fell in love with Jack the same way.  She saw Herman, he bounded over and put his paws on her pant legs and it was all over.  We had to have Herman.  And man, was that an adventure getting him home.  All the paperwork, just to bring a dog stateside.  

Now, however, Herman was a 130 pound German Shepherd that no one wanted to mess with if he was in his own territory.  On a walk, Herman was another story, the friendliest dog known to mankind.  But in the back yard, he'd rip an arm right off of someone who tried to come into the back yard without me giving an approving command to him.

I was startled out of my thoughts by the station conductor announcing the upper station.  I got off at the end of the line and started to make the walk to the summit.  You know, Herman would really like it here, I thought.  And that's when I saw him.  Herman was heading to me like a friend train.  BAM.  He hit me and knocked me over.  Now I was on the ground with him licking my face.  What the heck is going on here?  "Herman!  Good boy.  How did you get here?"

"Those questions will be answered in short order."

I looked over to my right and saw where the voice had come from.  Quickly, I was on my feet and running, with Herman beside me.  Then, Herman turned around, growled and charged the man, who had pulled a gun out of his pocket.

"Herman!  No!"

It was too late, the man shot and I saw Herman fall on his side.  Then the man looked at me, aimed and fired.

The next thing I heard was, "Did you hear what I said?  That's a really big tree."

Yep, is sure is," I said.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that there is a tree in California that had a branch that was larger than this entire tree.  It was at that point in time, that I realized that I needed to stop daydreaming so much and actually enjoy some of the adventures I'd been thinking about while standing on that rooftop in Philadelphia.

For the completion to others who took part in the 20 Days of Chill, please click here.

Popularity (Day 19) - 20 Days of Chill

I got nothing here, so just take a look at this.

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White (Day 18) - 20 Days of Chill

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas.  No, I'm really not.  Although I was born in northern Indiana, I have only one recollection of snow back from those days, of building a snowman and then watching from inside the house as my dad knocked it down later.  My dad tells me of one time when I walked off the back porch and fell head first into a snow bank.  He reached down and pulled me out by the ankles.

So snow is white, but then again, a lot of things are, but how many of them are as cool as a beluga whale?  Polar Bears maybe, but I don't have a photograph of a polar bear, so a white whale will have to do for today.  But we won't call him Moby.  No.  Besides he has too nice of a smile to be Moby, although I can understand why Moby wasn't a happy camper.  I think you'd be unhappy too if someone was always trying to spear and kill you for no reason outside of wanting some of the oil in my nose.  Heck, just mine your own teenagers nose.  There's enough oil there to fuel an entire house for a year.

For more stories about White, click here.

Dreams (Day 17) - 20 Days of Chill

Sweet Dreams are made of this.

A dream is a wish, your heart makes.

Thunder only happens when it's raining.

I believe you can get me through the night.

I thought of the theme today and four songs came into my head, in this order.  Can you name them all or at least give me artist or movie they came from?

For more stories about dreams, click here.

Cheese (Day 16) - 20 Days of Chill

Up until this past year, I'd only ever known P.J. was through the Internet.  I used to write a blog entitled Electronic Breadcrumbs, which was all about geocaching.  I believe this is how we first met, and when I got tired of writing that blog, I created this one and he eventually followed me over here.

Last summer, he went to a lot of baseball games, 75 of them in all.  I really love baseball and I think in my best year, I probably went to no more than about 20 games, so 75 is an incredible amount.  Anyway, his last three games were out here in Southern California late in September.  He flew in Saturday morning and attended the Dodger game that night, then he and his friend drove down to San Diego on Sunday morning and I met him down there and we met for the first time.  We then to the train from Qualcom Stadium to downtown San Diego and took in a Padres game at Petco Field, the first time I'd been to Petco.  Monday night he went to Anaheim to see the Angels play and then flew home.

This story, however, is about where he ate.  Since he's not from around here, he'd never been to In-n-Out.  If you live in Southern California, or have lived in Southern California, you know what In-n-Out is.  Best burger place ever.  Consistently good.  When my son went to England to study abroad, we stopped at the In-n-Out to get his last meal before leaving the country.  That's where this photo was taken.

So P.J. and his friend went to In-n-Out Saturday night and ordered standard fare.  I think he Tweeted about it and got a response back from one of his followers something on the order of, "Did you order off the secret menu?"  THERE'S A SECRET MENU???

So needless to say, we went to In-n-Out Sunday night after the game.  On the drive up there, we'd talked about the secret menu and other things related.  They ended up in one queue and I ended up in the other.  I did my standard order, "Cheeseburger, extra toasted bun, whole grill, fries and a medium drink."  The server didn't bat an eye, although extra toasted buns and whole grill are not on the main menu.  I know I've never seen whole grill on the secret menu.  P.J. wanted something a little bit more "out there" so he ended up ordering fries "Animal Style."  That's fries, with special sauce, grilled onions and cheese melted over the top.  Delicious, but not really good for my waistline anymore, so I usually don't order it.

There server was very entertained by their order.  You could tell they weren't regulars, because they stumbled over their order, but it was fun to watch. Regulars rarely stumble and if you click on the secret menu link I've posted, there are plenty of things that still aren't listed there, including the two I usually order.  

Now, I think I want to go to In-n-Out and order a order of fries Animal Style and have them hold the special sauce just to see what they'd do.  Cheese and grilled onions on fries sound good all by themselves.

For more stories about Cheese, click here.

Zurich, Switzerland (Day 15) - 20 Days of Chill

"Your attention ladies and gentlemen.  The captain has put on the seat belt light.  We are beginning our descent into Zurich."

I started awake and quickly looked out my window and could see the sun shining off of Lake Zurich and the Swiss Alps in the distant background.  Yesterday, I had been in San Francisco and now I was getting ready to land in Switzerland.

I started to think back over what had happened in the last 48 hours or so, but it was a blur.  All that I knew is Herman was here somewhere and someone wanted me to go here as well.  It was all very suspicious, but I hadn't paid for the ticket, so I figured I was getting a free vacation out of the deal. 

My next thought was realizing that we were taxiing to the gate.  I reached in the overhead for my carry on, the only thing I had brought with me.  Suddenly, my phone buzzed.  A text.

"Go to the Uetilbergbahn and get a ticket at Seinau station for the upper station.  From there, walk to the summit of Uetilberg.  You will know what to do once you get there."

To be continued...

The Next 10 Years . . (Day 14) - 20 Days of Chill

In the next 10 years, assuming we haven't destroyed one another, the leaves will still change in the fall.  The snow will fall (hopefully), and the seasons will change.  

The one thing that will be different, from my perspective is, I will be retired.  I've been teaching the hormonally schizophrenic (otherwise known as middle school students) for 34 years.  I started out teaching in Buena Park, California.  I taught there for one year, then took a teaching position at Cucamonga Junior High School, now known as Cucamonga Middle School.

I'm not quite ready to step down yet, but I can see that opening at the end of the tunnel, and it's no longer a train barreling down the track, but an open window on a new world.  I know many people who have no desire to retire for the simple reason they feel they'd be bored.  Not me.  

As I noted in another post, there's a lot of things I want to do.  One of them is to experience different places in the fall.  Having grown up in Southern California, we don't really have fall.  Leave turn colors all through our winter as it gets colder. I want to see an actual fall sometime.  I haven't been able to do that, because I'm always working in the fall.  I guess my first trip when I retire will be to New Hampshire.  Who knows?  It could happen.