Those iPhone photos are really terrible. These are with my new Leica, which I'm still trying to figure out.
Those iPhone photos are really terrible. These are with my new Leica, which I'm still trying to figure out.
Sunday, May 31, 2009 - Saturday June 6, 2009
Burlingame, CA
From the time Olivia was 6 months to 27 months, Olivia went to Deborah's daycare. Olivia loved Deborah and her whole family, especially Denny, who she asks about all the time. When Kate was out, Deborah was nice enough to take Olivia for a Friday, which was great because she missed Deborah and all of her friends. Deborah was kind enough to invite us over to her son Clifford's graduation party the next day. Olivia had a great time playing in the backyard with all of her friends. As always, Denny's food was incredible.
Olivia was very lucky to grow up with Deborah's and we miss seeing them every day. Congratulations again, Clifford!
You may recall that Lucas and I enjoyed field trips together to Best Buy. After several subsequent trips, the TV I had been eying became progressively cheaper until one day, it was too good to pass up. Often hailed as the "best tv ever," this was my chance to own a piece of history, as Pioneer announced earlier this year that it was exiting the plasma tv business.
My patience was tested like Caine on Kung Fu (RIP David Carradine):
After tapping into power and cable in the attic, I put all the components into the closet directly behind the tv. Overall, everything went well, but I did learn a few lessons that I'm happy to pass along.
Ultimately, my patience was rewarded. The picture is stunning. I have yet to convince Grace why it should be professionally calibrated, but even with the recommended settings, it is really impressive. Also impressive is the amount of heat generated by the damn thing, which is awesome in June when you have no A/C. At least I can look forward to being toasty this winter.

On June 4th, Kate was not feeling well, so I stayed home with Olivia and Lucas. While I was in the shower, Olivia appeared, and was upset ... and purple! Already, the white rug was purple, so I told her to stay put while I assesed the damage. Her comforter, sheets and carpet were trashed. I followed her little purple footprints back to our room where I found her in her safe spot, right next to our bed with her purple paw on the sheets. Yikes, I couldn't contain the fallout. Eventually, we got things under control, but in the process I became purple, along with some sinks and the tub. Remarkably, everything came out. Grace worked some magic on the linens and I ran the SpotBot continuously for a day. Crisis averted. I also upgraded the child-proofing.
May 2009
Special thanks to Kate, for not only doing so many fun, new things with Olivia, but also for taking such great pictures during the week!
Liz and Jeff invited us to Benjaimin's 4th Birthday party at Pump It Up on Sunday, May 31st. It took a bit for Olivia to warm up to the various jumpy things and slides, but eventually she held her own with the big kids. Benjamin still loves his trains (esp. Thomas) and had a great cake. Olivia loves Thomas, too.
Sunday, May 24, 2009 - Saturday May 30, 2009
Burlingame, CA
Kristine was gracious enough to host the entire sales team at her lovely house in Marin this evening. Split into four teams, we all helped to prepare the meal. The drinks, appetizers, and kebabs were all great (nice work on the grill, Brian). Nicole, Sarah and I were in charge of the brushed tomato flatbread and it was unanimously declared a disaster. I enjoyed it, nonetheless. It was a great chance for everyone to get to know one another outside of the office and we definitely saw some new (and sometimes unexpected) sides to our colleagues. As you can tell from all the laughter, a good time was had by all.
Sunday, May 17, 2009 - Saturday May 23, 2009
Burlingame, CA
Sunday, May 10, 2009 - Saturday May 16, 2009
Burlingame, CA
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Charles arranged brunch for the families at the Lafayette Park hotel. Afterwards, we went over to Addy and Charles' house for swimming and dinner. Olivia loves to play in the kitchen and also loves the pool. Thus, she brought all the kitchen toys into the pool. Thanks to Addy and Charles for hosting us!
Sunday, May 3, 2009 - Saturday May 9, 2009
Burlingame, CA
Lisa and Brian invited the family to Katie's birthday party at SF Gymnastics. We left the crawfish boil at Crissy Field to give us plenty of time to feed Lucas and find the place. We headed out of the park and into Cow Hollow. Lucas fell asleep, so we decided not to feed him. I looked up the address on the iPhone and the map put the pin out in the middle of the bay, just to the west of Golden Gate Bridge. Then, I entered the address into the navigation in the car and we were on our way. We drove through Pacific Heights a bit to ogle at houses. As we followed the directions, they led us directly back to Crissy Field, about 300 yards from where we just left.
We've been going to quite a few "gymnastics" oriented birthday parties lately, but this place was a little more advanced. It was huge and had an amazing array of activities and apparatuses. It was great to see all the families and especially the kids playing together.
Brian was very generous with the cake portions, so the kids had to burn off a little more energy after the pizza and cake. It was a great party. Happy Birthday, Katie! Thanks for having us!
Emily, O'Brien, Simone, Marty, Kim, Kurt, Jen & Don hosted another Crawfish Boil at Crissy Field on Saturday, May 30th. It's hard to believe it's been 2 years since the last one they held at the same spot. From what I understand, they cut down on the amount of food because they were eating crawfish for a year. Olivia and Lucas got their first good look at a crawfish. It was great to see everyone, including Stephanie and Jack, who we haven't seen together since Grub's wedding. The Patches and Idemas also made it up from the 650.
Olivia had fun playing in the sand and kept saying she wanted to go "into the ocean." A wave did sneak up on her while she was standing on the shore. That was the end of that outfit (thanks aunt Jen for that one). I will now refer to it as Olivia's Cobra Kai outfit. This may be the first time she's worn black.
Good times! Thanks for having us.
Mari and Steven hosted the BMC mommies group for a BBQ at their house on Memorial Day. The kids are all growing up fast and are really fun to watch playing together. Steven went all out with the food and everyone brought over something special. Highlights included Steven's cajun shrimp and chicken and his cole slaw, all of which had quite a bit of heat (nice grill, btw). The dads took the toddlers out to the drive way to blow off some steam. They must have done at least 10 laps of going up and down the driveway. Very amusing. It was fun to get together and we should all do it again soon.
I traveled alone to Toronto for the Memorial Day weekend to celebrate Patty & Lou's wedding. It was a wedding for which our entire extended family has been waiting, so I wouldn't have missed it for the world. However, we decided that I would represent the family and that Grace, Olivia and Lucas would stay at home. After going and seeing all the cousins and all the other kids there, I regretted the decision, but the long flight home reminded me why it may have been the prudent one. In any case, it was great to see the entire Rhee, Hau, Kwon extended clan, and especially to spend more time with Patty (we only had a chance to meet once before) and her wonderful family.
I took a lot of pictures, so I split the albums up into the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony and reception, and other photos from the weekend, including a very full day of post-wedding activities. Highlights included:
Aside from a nice welcome by the Mr. Chung, Eemoh, as well as toasts by several members of the bridal party, additional memorable moments included a slideshow of Patty & Lou as well a fun quiz show hosted by the siblings. All good fun. Kenny also provided some entertainment back at the hotel bar, where a Millie vs. Kenny arm wrestling rematch from Christmas 2005 took place. Kenny restored some honor to his family with a win, but was quickly put away by Ellie, Sandor's fiancee (recently engaged, congratulations). Welcome to the family!
Patty was a beautiful bride and Lou never looked happier. It was a truly memorable wedding and the reception atop the hotel lasted until late into the evening. Props to Sandor for emceeing the evening and providing much of the entertainment. Clarence's speech included both his deadpan humor and his heartfelt congratulations. However, it was Millie, who checked her gloves at the door and gave quite the rousing retelling of Lou's dating history.
Sunday was a busy day, which included a family brunch in the morning. Patty arranged a sightseeing tour to Niagara Falls and a winery for our families. Transportation was first class in our limousine van (complete with neon and fiber optic lighting). I hadn't been to Niagara Falls in over a decade - somehow they seemed smaller than I remember them. We also stopped at the Jackson-Trigg winery in Ontario for a tour and tasting. Finally, we ended the evening over at Patty's parents house, where the Chungs served an amazing feast.
We couldn't be happier for the newlyweds - congratulations!
Today is a day for which I have been planning, but not for which I had fully prepared. I sold the M Coupe. I bought it sight-unseen on eBay about 4 1/2 years ago. We've had some good times over the years, but ever since Olivia was born, she has seldom been driven (the car, not Olivia). As a rare car with a cult following, I had to be patient for the right person to come along to take care of it. Rob, the new owner, fit the description perfectly, and i'm confident he'll get even more out of it than I did (as I never did get it out on a track as I had intended).
Jalopnik had this to say about it when it found a spot in their Fantasy Garage:
"More so than just a Fantasy Garage entrant, the original BMW M Coupe may very well be the Official Car of Jalopnik."
Given the current economic conditions, I would not call this a seller's market. Despite that, the car depreciated just under 10% during the time I owned it (there were times when I could have sold it for a tidy profit). The S&P is down over 25% over the same period. I'm pretty confident that the car could have been collectable and perhaps would have been more highly sought after if it weren't for the insane amounts of horsepower cars are shipping with these days. In its day, 315 HP was a lot (and still is) when strapped to a small car with two seats. Now, it seems you need 500+ HP, as if they were trying to bend space and time. Ironically, the average HP of the remaining cars goes up slightly, which kind of makes my point (except my daily driver is 15 years old, so its 322 HP was warp drive for its time).
Ultimately, this car was one I always wanted to own and drive. The itch has been scratched and I can check it off the list. Who knows, one day I may buy one again, though it will unlikely be as clean and minty as the one I let go. Maybe Steel Gray next time? Nah, Silver over Black always.
The upside of this transition is that it is a buyer's market for a number of other cars on the list. I'll make sure the next one has at least 4 seats, but 2 of them need only fit toddlers. Stay tuned...
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