Gidget (and Roverallover)

Whew! long days yesterday and today...I had been receiving some e-mails from some of the guys I used to work with at Goodrich Aerospace - I did engineering then IT work there for 13 years. Good place and good people.

They were getting a kick out of the pictures of Gidget so I thought we'd pop in for a visit. As usual I was running late so it was 70-80 mph on the freeway to get there ... really hoping I wouldn't be the first to get a ticket in a Smart. Surprisingly ... 80 mph wasn't as unstable as I thought it would be. She held her own very well.

Here's a bunch of the guys.... but where's Gidget?

Sow how many computer people (I'll be nice - I was one once) does it take to hide a Smart?

After lunch, we decided to hop on hover to the old office to see who was still around (I left there 6 years ago). My old boss had gotten promoted - she was really cool (still is) ... I almost killed her on a horseback ride once. Many other folks were still there and excited to see me ... which was a really nice feeling. But the one person I really wanted to see was the Wookie.

His real name is Mike ... and is 6' 8" tall and probably around 280 lbs. Not a small boy by any means ... Mikee! Heeeeeey Mikeeeee ... c'mon over here!

We used to work together and gave each other a lot of crap so I felt compelled to stuff him inside Gidget. I'd swear she winced when she saw him! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him standing next to her, but you can get an idea from this:

He "almost" fit inside ... I got him to scoot over to the driver's side for kicks and giggles and guess what - he actually fit!

It was tight, but it looks like the driver's seat is actually a little lower than the passenger seat so he could sit in comfortable and just the top of his hair hit the roof ... he was amazed because he hardly fits into anything - including his full-sized pickup. As he drives from Ramona to Chula Vista everyday for work, he's taken a little interest in the Smarties.

On the way home was another fill-up. Stuffed it full with 5 gallons with another 213 miles on the odo. That's almost 44 mpg combined ... not shabby at all!

Sunset on La Jolla Cove

We spent the afternoon over in La Jolla with my friend Paula ... I'll get a pic of her and her hubby, Mark soon ... great friend. Check this out... She signs my buddy Chuck and I up to do a little market eval on some software and we each get $50. Not bad, right? ... while we're there, she suggests getting a drink afterwards. "Hey - that sounds great ... let's do it!" ... ok, so a couple vodka-tonics each ... an appetizer ... and then the bill. Oh - how convenient!

Chuck and I just happened to have some money.... I see how this works. I'll bet Paula's got a kick-back deal going at the bar.

While I was there, it was just at sunset ... while this isn't Swami's, I tried to get a few pics anyway. I'll be up in that area (Swami's) on Thursday so I'll try to get that shot for you Doc540 ...

The reflectors work really well ... this is taken from Brockton Villa. Across a wide street and up some stairs and the flash still reflected in the taillights.

Poor Gidget - all alone with no boy-Smarties to keep her company on this picturesque evening...

After the sunset is when we went for the cocktails ... and once again, Gidget gets Rock-Star parking ... right in front of the Wyland Gallery in La Jolla.

You know the nice thing about white cars? They don't show the dirt ... Gidget is really in need of a bath, but she' still photographs well.

4x4 42
Oh was today fun! Gidget got all excited as we were going to go visit our buddy Riggles and his mom Nikki for a little horsie-action. We took Steel (my horse), Rio (Nikki's other horse) and Paula's horse for a
looooong ride yesterday so I agreed to ride Riggles (I call him Mr. Wrigglesworth) today before the impending storm gets here.

In order to get there, we had to do some extensive off-road driving ... really tested the ETC (traction control) ... which over a very grueling 25 yards worked stupendously:

Here's Mr. Wrigglesworth and his mom Nikki. He's a Belgian/Percheron/Morgan cross-breed but still bigger than My Shire Steel:

He's only 4 years old ... and definitely weighs more than Gidget! When we first pulled up, Nikki's dog decided she liked Gidget too.. in she came and out she refused to go. Thank goodness its little thing - easy to hoist out like a little football.  But can you blame her for wanting to stay?