.the gpb kids.

Learning to drive (again)

Posted by Jules - November 15, 2009 at 01:11:49 am

So I’ve been driving for 10 years, but have only driven automatic transmission vehicles the entire time. For the last two years, I’ve been wanting to learn how to operate a manual transmission, as I can only operate one of the two vehicles that we have. On our first outing (maybe a year ago?), I think Mike was in for a fairly bumpy ride, and stalls aplenty. Now time for business. Round 2 was 2 weeks ago at the DVC overflow parking lot- not a car in sight, except one other would-be driver. Managed to shift from 1-2-3rd gear (low gear jeep), but didn’t downshift, or reverse. Stalled a few times as I attempted to get comfortable with how much to release the clutch.

Try #3 happened today, and it was the most successful yet. I only stalled once trying to reverse out of parked position over a period of an hour and a half. As the bored passenger, Mike decided to start playing a game with me to try to speed up how long it took me to shift gears and response time by yelling out, “Stop!” “Go!” “2nd gear!” “Park!” “Reverse!” and timing how long it took me to reverse out of a parking spot and move forward in first gear. I wanted to swat him like a fly at one point when he sped up his maniacal commands, but I must admit that my response time and shifting smoothness improved quite a lot as a result. Woohoo! I think it’s time move out of the parking lot to tackle driving in a neighborhood next. A flat one please.

A minimalist kitchen

Posted by Jules - August 25, 2009 at 08:08:08 pm

I’ve been thinking about kitchens. Namely, what items I use constantly for 95% of my cooking, and what things are just sitting around taking up space until they are used twice a year. While I sometimes dream of upgrading what pots and pans and kitchen knives we have, I don’t actually want to expand our existing collection, because I think what we do have is sufficient for my cooking needs.

Our pots and pans are fairly basic, and can be counted on one hand:

1. saute pan
2. sauce pan
3. stock pot
4. Non stick fry pan
5. cast iron fry pan
6. hot pot pan

Okay, I lied. I forgot about the hot pot pan. I would say that 99% of my cooking utilizes the first 4 items, while the last two are very specialized items. I would say the hot pot pan actually gets more usage then the cast iron fry pan, and comes out of it’s drawer every 1-2 months. The cast iron fry pan, on the other hand, only makes an appearance for bacon (twice a year at most) and pizza. I don’t know why I don’t use it more. While I lust after certain le creuset items and all-clad pots and pans, these relatively inexpensive pots and pans have lasted me a good number of years- and for the amount of use I get out of them, are an amazing deal.

Of kitchen knives: 1 chinese vegetable cleaver, 1 9-inch chef’s knife, 1 santoku paring knife. Necessary and sufficient for all my vegetably and meaty and otherwise-y needs.

Eagle Creek

Posted by Mike - July 22, 2009 at 12:07:48 pm

Just some pictures from a recent hike up Eagle Creek with Jules.

Lazy Sunday

Posted by Mike - June 14, 2009 at 03:06:03 pm

I’ve been jumping between a few things today. Did a little work on a side project that I thought up on Friday, played a few video games and ran an errand for Jules. During the errand I took a few pictures.

Jules planted a ginger.

Flowers are blooming everywhere. I need to go on a hike.

These leaflets had a really nice texture to them. Really soft.

Lavenders are an excellent addition to any yard.

I can’t wait to grow my own fruit trees.

Dispatches from Borneo

Posted by Mike - May 23, 2009 at 12:05:34 pm

Renan Ozturk does dispatches from his expeditions. He describes them as “Episodic & on the fly creative content cut in the field and sent with satellite technology.” They’re pretty amazing. Here’s a series from a trip to Borneo.

Quick snack when I’m too lazy to make a real dinner

Posted by Jules - April 29, 2009 at 08:04:27 pm

I’m really enjoying all the fresh asparagus that’s been coming in our CSA boxes. Quickly sauteed with salt and pepper + a soft egg and melted cheddar on toasted sourdough.

There’s a Zombie on your Lawn

Posted by Mike - April 24, 2009 at 01:04:12 pm

In the event of a zombie apocalypse, perhaps we can use our garden plants to protect us.

Bloomin’ Flytrap

Posted by Mike - April 22, 2009 at 03:04:46 pm

My venus flytrap that I brought to work is blooming. But unfortunately I think it’s one of those last ditch efforts by the plant to produce progeny before it dies. The plant knows it’s dying so it uses up the last of its energy to bolt and create the flowers. And my “mother of thousands” doesn’t look like it’ll be a mother any time soon. Perhaps I should get some plastic plants.

Snowshoeing

Posted by Jules - March 26, 2009 at 10:03:15 pm

Who’s that weirdo on the end???

Oh yeah, that was me.

For some reason, I couldn’t get the rest of them to display much enthusiasm. Though my P.I. did raise his hand.

Lake Berryessa

Posted by Jules - March 15, 2009 at 07:03:08 pm

Copied from Mike’s post at ThisMoment:

On Saturday Jules and I wanted to go on a hike so we drove north in search of a trailhead. We passed by one little lake that only had some fishermen and no signs of trails. Even though I thought Lake Berryessa would have more boat-happy people, we made our way over there.

As it turns out, we were the only ones in the parking lot. In fact, when we got there we didn’t see anyone on the lake at all. No boats, no people. So we decided to walk along the edge of the lake for a while. The water level looked low, but with the recent rains, some of the plants that had started to grow near the water line had become submerged. You can’t really tell from my photo, but there were bubbles forming on the leaves of the plants. Oxygen creation in action?

We continued to hike around and watch the water fowl. Eventually we made our way to a small hilltop overlooking the lake and I gave Jules her birthday present: a small blue bag from Tiffany & Co. I let her unwrap it until she got to the ring case and I promptly snatched it back. I sheepishly got on one knee, opened the ring case and blurted out “willyoumarryme?” at such a rate that Jules didn’t even hear what I said. But she assumed correctly and said yes. At that point I looked at the ring case and noticed I was holding it upside down. Why would the bigger half be on top? That doesn’t make any sense.

After she said yes I proceeded to try and put the ring on her finger. Failure! The ring was too small. So we had to pack it up for later.

After a little while we decided to leave the lake and check out a dam that we saw on the map. The dam itself ended up being fenced off but we got a pretty good view from the parking area. Apparently it has one of the largest spillways of any dam. They actually referred to it on the sign as the “glory hole.” Perhaps they didn’t know?

After the dam we returned back to Yountville to prepare for dinner at Ad Hoc!

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