It was time for another trek to the Silicon Valley to meet various people. I decided to put a few days up front of visiting family and so headed to Newark Airport to catch the flight to Los Angeles on a beautiful Thursday with the New York skyline very visible even if the camera could not capture it all. While the security people were taking a break from frisking people, I tried once more to get the skyline with only slightly better results.

On the other side, I stopped at Stop Look where the UPS truck was ready to pick up all of these boxes that Shelby and Sean were helping to organize. Shelby insisted that her picture hadn't come out well so I took another. Next I recorded the destination tags in case these are needed for legal purposes. I hope Israel likes what he gets and am glad I didn't have to bring it all back in my suitcases. As Chris loaded things into the truck, Larry printed a few more labels and Sean and Shelby made a train of boxes much to the amusement of Mikey, their dad, who was trying to figure out what it means to get an hit on your internet site.

Once Shelby discovered that these pictures were for real, she posed with a smile on her face as did Chris who also showed off his fine UPS socks which go for $5 a pair. We didn't realize at the time that there would be more pictures of ankles to follow as the day went on. After a picture of the metal guys (Jesus and Gilbert) I took another picture of Sean and Shelby as they explained that Larry must be smarter because he clearly has less hair on top. We also didn't realize at the time that there would be more pictures of the back of Larry's head. The visit to Stop Look concluded with a picture of their floppies, the last remaining chocolate covered Macedamia nut and these 2 pictures of their employee -- the man they call Martin.

Next we were off to 1411 Pine Tree Court where I saw Gregory's Xmas present because sometimes taking something away is a better present than bringing something and then a picture of Gregory himself on a break from packing. Dusty climbed up on my lap which made it hard for me to get at the M&M's and nuts designed to make me fat as we all watched Keith Jackson try to justify the Rose Bowl as Janet talked on the phone and Larry checked some emails, though I didn't see him answering any of them. Gregory introduced me to Erin or at least to her family via their Xmas card which had to be scanned by camera. Meanwhile, I installed Snood on their new computer so that we could delay our excursion to dinner and introduce many future delays into Larry's life.

Dinner was at El Cholo's, the old standby where they are still celebrating the new year. Gregory played with his airplane as Larry watched and Janet grinned while we waited to be seated. Janet was also nice enough to take this picture so that I didn't have to do a Blair Witch version of myself. The chips came quickly but the green ones were eaten before I could get the camera out. Then came Janet's sangria for which I forgot to record the lime , the iced tea that Larry and Gregory had and my margarita while they quickly got our food together.

The main event was quesadilla for Janet, burrito dorado for Gregory, Chile relleno and cheese enchilada for me and tostada for Larry and also for lunch the next day. The waiters were happy to have their picture taken and helped us to get pictures of the ink that the waitresses had on their backs. This must be an El Cholo tradition? There was the dragon because she likes dragons and could get it done elsewhere for $140 rather than the $500 charged down the street. Then there were the pralines they brought with the check. Next we saw the cards dedicated to Mike because she married him and the rose on the lady who was also happy to show us her ankle and its tattoo. In the end, this saying which represents most of the Spanish that I know is the best summary of our dinner at El Cholo.