You Never Forget Riding a Bike

One of my goals during my time off was to teach Dustin how to ride a bike. I had taken him out twice prior and he was a wreck, having absolutely no clue on how to maintain balance. On his third try, there was a glimmer of hope but it quickly crashed into a chainlinked fenced, so we called it a day. On Saturday, with a pocket of bandaids and water ready, we embarked to the Val Vista Park in Pleasanton. The park offered wide open paths and no fences. He got on and just went. Isn't it just amazing how when you "get it" you just get it? I remembered how I learned, I was in Jimmy's backyard and he just pushed me (really hard) and off I went. That was a proud moment in my life, as was Saturday. My sense of childlike wonder had been restored.

Later that day, it was taco and burrito night at our house. The guest list included the usual suspects, our favorite MJ players. But we didn't play MJ at all, instead we played on the Wii. Oli brought over two more remotes and we got some multiplayer tennis and Red Steel action going. Unlike MJ where we have to shoo the kids out of the room, the Wii we can actually play with them. With it's simple controls, the Wii truly levels the playing field and bridges the age gap between players and nonplayers, and kids and adults. Truly a great game that gets everyone involved. No one feels left out.



Sunday Banquet
Sunday evening we were treated to a banquet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Machella and Martin's parents at Peony Restaurant. We got to sit with our favorite florist, Dave Wong. If you haven't seen Dave in a while, he's lost a LOT of weight and is all muscle now. He's busy as ever, booked up yearlong (all by word of mouth), and coaching a girls volleyball team in Fremont. Unfortunately, his humor hasn't changed :) still the goofball we all enjoy and love. My boys were all over him all night (which allowed me some time to enjoy my dinner).

Photographing the event was none other than XCI Scott Lim. I haven't seen Scott in 19 years, since his days at Fusion Electronics (1988). The stereo he sold me and the speakers he built are still doing their jobs in my living room. Unlike Dave, Scott put on a few pounds (which is good because back then he said he was 108!). He looks healthy, happy and still has a great head of thick black hair. For those of you wanting to learn about photography and Photoshop, Scott is a big time award-winning, photo guru and seminar speaker. You can check out his website. Maybe if you tell him I sent you, he'll cut you a deal. Um, no he won't.

Scott's assistant was Mike Muramoto, another guy I haven't seen in ages. Back during my single days, a group of us single guys all used to go wannabe-extreme mountain biking up in the Oakland hills. The group included Dave, Jimmy, Wingate, Edmond, Mike and a few others. We all had Bridgestone bikes except Dave with that sissy Bontragger :o After a tough ride, we would reward ourselves at Top Dog with our favorite Bratwurst. Come to think of it, I don't think any one of us were dating... strange, considering the stud-muffins we all used to be. Go figure. Anyway, last night, we were still talking about the Cinderella Trail at Roberts Park, the most treacherous single-track rock hill that's claimed a few knees, elbows, and faces. I think I finally "graduated" that trail on the fourth trip. Oh man, those were great times! Don't know about Mike, but I'm nowhere as nimble as I was in 1992. I'm tempted to revisit Cinderella again, but for certain if I fall, I won't heal nearly as fast. But no worries. As a government worker, I have great health insurance! Like Scott, Mike's work is posted at his website.

A nice weekend to reflect on indeed. No wonder I haven't gotten any work done today.