August Retrospective

The past month I've still been doing stuff, but I've also gotten hooked on Google Plus so all my pictures and stories have been going there while I decide whether or not I like it. Not yet using G+? Let me know and I'll send you an invite.

Anyways, a summary of the last month's activities:

Went to Lake Tahoe to go kayaking, minigolfing and mountain climbing with Nick and Chloe and Stephen. Pictures. Mount Tallac, which we clambered up and down for pretty much a whole day, was probably the most challenging mountain I have climbed yet, especially the middle part with the rather steep pile carpet of big rocks. Also, snow was still there, which I don't think is something I've ever handled in August before...

Went home to visit my parents in Rhode Island. Had my obligatory annual clambake with delicious clam chowder, clamcakes, steamers and corn on the cob, a feast which I've only gone without for two summers of my life. We would have had fresh lobster but by the time we got there we were too stuffed to go on so we saved the meat for lobster salad sandwiches the next day instead. If you've never had this seafood fest I highly recommend it! Particularly with my Dad's stellar clam chowder.

After I got back to Oakland, I went up to Sonoma with Ralph for some wine sampling, thinking about the movie Sideways all the way. We checked out a couple places and tasted some very good wines, particularly a late harvest wine which is made from grapes that were left out in the fields for about a month more than normal, and so resulted in a very sweet flavor. We ended up purchasing a particularly good wine from the Jacuzzi family for dinner later.

Other than that, things have been relatively quiet! I've been picking up on the work side of things, and also I recently set myself up with Mint, which has successfully placed financial order on my life and so has kind of put limits on how much I go about and do. It will be worth it though when later this year I will have saved up for a shiny powerful new laptop...