Taking a Leap

Well, as my stay in San Diego is drawing to a close, I'll remember most the meals I had. Whether that makes it a good or bad trip, I'll let you decide.

Monday night we went to Sushi Ota, where I had some very enjoyable tuna. I'll have to remember that for return trips to the area.



Tuesday night, it was off to Fleming's Steakhouse, where I had what may be the most expensive meal I've ever had. Not the best -- I've had better for 1/10 the price and worse for 1/2 the price. But pretty darn good. The bill was augmented by the wine ordering. I had a 2001 Frog's Leap Merlot and a Stag's Leap Petit Syrah (I didn't catch the year).

Wednesday, after a reception related to the meeting I'm at, we played NTN at the Sports City Cafe and Brewery. It had an NTN feature I hadn't seen before -- individual TVs at each booth. I guess that's a non-NTN feature if you're not playing, but it was handy not to have to crane our necks.

Last night, I was full after a week of eating, so I just hit the concierge lounge at the Marriott. I did go to Rubio's for tacos for a couple of lunches.

First Ski Trip of the Season

This is the fourth winter Christina and I have been skiing together, and it's the latest we've gotten started, what with bad weather and then all of her traveling in January. But we got underway last night with the late night ski at Whitetail. Each of the three Pennsylvania ski areas owned by SnowTime, Inc. has two nights during the season where they sell you a 3 or 4 hour lift ticket for around $15. Compared to the regular prices, it's a pretty good deal.

Last night was a good way of shaking out all the cobwebs before the "real" ski trip we're hoping to take on Thursday. The first time out, I had incredible pain in one of my boots. Christina helped me set it right, but it took a while. I think they key lesson is that I need to take a lot of time putting on my boots to make sure it's done right.

It was also freaking cold last night. That's what finally did us in after a couple of hours. I think we need to buy masks to keep the wind off our faces. Either than, or not go skiing at night when it's so cold.

I was pretty happy with how I picked up from 11 months without skiing. By the end of the evening, I was OK skiing the hardest green (easy) and easiest blue (intermediate) slopes. I didn't make it to the "real" blues, from the top of the mountain. That would have been nice, as the lift runs a lot faster -- and there are fewer bonehead skiers on those slopes.

Return of the King

No, this isn't a post about Joe Gibbs returning, though maybe the excitement over that is my excuse for not seeing the latest Lord of the Rings movie until now.



The real excuse, though, is that between the holidays and Christina's extended stays in North Carolina and Rhode Island, we haven't had much of a chance for an evening out at the movies. So after calzones at Alario's, we headed to the Regal Bowie 14 to see Return of the King.

I don't have much insight to add to all the reviews. I will say that Chris Kattan has ruined Gollum for me. Overall, though, I enjoyed the epic sweep of things. It's been years since I read the book, but the memories of the story came back to me as I saw it acted out on the screen. Definitely a reasonable use of (yikes) $9.

Still Crazy After All These Years

One of my birthday gifts from my parents was The Paul Simon Collection. I really enjoy Paul Simon; I had the pleasure of seeing him perform on the Mall a few years back. The liner notes mentioned that the song "Still Crazy After All These Years" coined that phrase. I was somewhat surprised to hear that. It seems such a familiar phrase -- could that really be true? A little Googling turned up this 1993 interview, where Simon almost claims the coining of the phrase:

It's a title about which I've often thought - did I make that up? It seems like it's such a familiar phrase.

I think I'm right to be suspicious of claims for the origin of phrases. Recently, Gregg Easterbrook claimed, "The phrase "there's no such thing as a free lunch" originates in" Robert Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. That struck me as odd -- I read the book, but never got the sense that was the phrase's origin.

According to the site Wordorigins.org, I was right to be suspicious.

The exact phrase, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch, is also first used in the city by the bay in the 1 June 1949 edition of the San Francisco News (although this is claimed to be a reprint of a 1938 editorial so it may be even older, but the original has not been found).

The science fiction fans come into the picture in 1966 with the publication of Robert Heinlein's novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. He did much to popularize the phrase and seems to have coined its acronym, TANSTAAFL. More recently, it has become a favorite saying of economists, buoyed by Milton Friedman's frequent use of the phrase.

Gertrude's Galley

Christina and I had a nice lunch today at Gertrude's Galley, a seafood restaurant up here in Rhode Island. She had a crab cake sandwich, and I had a blue cheese, carmalized onion and baby spinach frittata. I'm having a nice, albeit brief, visit to the Ocean State.

I flew up from National last night to celebrate the last hour of my birthday with Christina, who is working up here. It has been about two years since I flew out of National, but I took advantage of a US Airways e-saver fare to catch a direct flight from there to Providence. The last time I flew into National, I remember looking out the window and seeing the scar in the Pentagon just starting to be repaired. This time, it was healed over and looking better than new.

I've had a relaxing day bumming around the hotel room while Christina is hard at work. Maybe I should feel vaguely guilty, but it's not like I'm the one making her work all weekend, right? And she's being paid an hourly rate, so we both benefit from the long hours she's putting in. Tonight we'll spend some of those long hours (or associated per diem) at a restaurant. I'm thinking sushi.