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.