in the wake

we are still without power at the castle and it looks like it will be days before we get it back; the power pole that was brought down by the wind near us is just one small example of what pebble beach looks like as there are lines and poles down all over the peninsula.

i took a couple of walks around the neighborhood today, to survey the damages, and learned more than i expected: the pole that fell next to the castle was brought down by a falling monterey pine of about 150 feet in height. but, it brought down more than just one pole; i took two poles with it. and that is just one small incident. it is like that all over pebble.

many of the roads are still closed as crews cut and remove fallen trees, power poles and other debris.

most of the scenic turnouts on the coastal section of the 17-mile drive have been cleared of the tons of rocks, driftwood and sand brought up by the wild surf. but, several miles of the famous drive have been barricaded because of the damage described above.

it appears that most of monterey has power back up, but there are many dark sections; same with pacific grove. carmel seems to be in only slightly better shape than pebble beach.

at least the golf courses are open and busy. although, one of the holes of the monterey peninsula looks like it may no longer exist.

as far as internet access goes: i'm still living in the 1990s with dial-up instead of high-speed. so, it will be a few days before i'm able to post any pictures.

life is an adventure!

cypress coast storm damage

just a quick update on conditions here on the central california coast.

i'm on dial up. i'll not be posting pics until we get power back up. i have around 100 pics, so far, and they say the tidal surge is going to be sever. so. i hope to have more dramatic wave pics, in addition to the ones i already have.

we have no damage, here at the castle. but, there is much around us. a power pole, about feet from us, snapped in half; many trees are down, a wall at a home on the 18th-hole of the pebble beach golf links was completely crushed from an oak tree - just missing the house; not only kelp and driftwood are being tossed up onto the 17-mile drive (1/4-mile from where i not type this, dear friend), but rocks the size of rocks are strewn across the road and scenic turnouts; the waters just off downtown monterey and cannery row is full up floating debris..

power lines are down everywhere. pg&e is nowhere in sight. it could be days before we get power back. at least it is not cold here; high of 55; low of 45; not much cooler than summer.
a few surfers and powered-surfers (whatever they call riding waves in a jetski) are braving (or is that stupiding?) the giant waves.

when i left here this morning i was treated to the sight of a 40 foot wave.

they are supposed to get bigger as the tide comes in.

mother nature is so cool even with her violence!

clearing up and catching up

my posts regarding certain members of the board of directors of gbes caused quite a stir!

as a result, it also drew out the comments of biggeekjimbeau and his girlfriend, blocko1000, in the guise of other “real” geocachers. i have, therefore, deleted their erroneous comments and my original posts from this blog. i have made my point with those i intended the point be made, so there is no reason to drag it on any further. as far as bgj and b1k: i guess stealing my fst caches wasn’t enough for them! they are children in overgrown bodies and will always be children! so, i’m sorry to say, the reno caching community can expect childish games from them from time to time.

it’s been a busy week around the melrose media center! it’s car week on the monterey peninsula, with the focal point being concours d’elegance here in pebble beach.

my old friend gary peterson is in town for the festivities. i spoke to him yesterday. i hope i get to hook up with him before the weekend ends’ it’s been over 30 years since i last saw gary.

we ran into jay leno yesterday in carmel for the end of the concours tour. not sure what he was driving as we were in a hurry to get to il fornaio for lunch and a meeting with the special events director. we’re staging an event there tomorrow evening.

sometime during the craziness of yesterday, i lost my glasses. i had to use my sunglass through the night, which are quite dark.

fortunately, i was able to get a new pair today. i’ve been intending on buying new glasses anyway as my prescription was a couple of years out-dated. but, i really didn’t want to get them in a panic. but, i love it that i can see things up close again. the correction brings me back to 20/15 vision. not the 20/10 i used to have back in the 1970s and ‘80s. but, it’ll do. i have no idea what the style is called. ron calls them buddy holly glasses. the frames are not that broad, but i can see a resemblance. my new wayfarer sunglasses won’t be ready for another week or so. they’re the first the lenscrafter in monterey has sold; they just came in this morning and they don’t have all lenses in stock yet. looks like i’m gonna be the first on the block for this new style. like it really matters to me.

before visiting the optician, ron and i ran down to the lodge at pebble beach to get our media passes for concours d’elegance. but, i had no chance to use mine today between getting new glasses and errands.

today, alone, i did see while running around the peninsula, no exaggeration: at least 40 lamborghinis; 80 ferraris of various models; 200 porsches (yawn) and two of the 1.3 million dollar bugatti veyrons. what a beauty that thing is. well, for $1,300,000, plus tax, license and dealer preparation charges it should be. the bugatti veyron 16.4 is the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive street-legal full production car in the world. the w-16 engine is a sixteen cylinder piston engine in a w configuration with four banks of four cylinders (two juxtaposed v8 engine blocks), coupled to a single crankshaft displacing 8 liters (480 cubic inches, for those who still think in cid – like me), sporting 4 turbochargers and 9 radiators driving a 7-speed transmission putting out 1001 horsepower and an actual top speed of 252 mph. it’s built by volkswagen ag subsidiary bugatti automobiles in france and is sold under the italian/french bugatti marque. it’s named after french racing driver pierre veyron, who won the 24 hours of le mans in 1939 while racing for the original bugatti firm.

the car we are evaluating this week is a 2008 acura mdx turbocharged suv. compared to the veyron, it only puts out a paltry 300 horsepower. but, when that boost kicks in you’d better be hanging on.

took a short drive down to the ocean early this evening. the waves were the highest i have yet to see. i really can’t wait for the winter storms.

wait! what the hell am i saying? it’s not yet summer here.

well, maybe.

today could have been the first day of summer. don’t know what the high was here in pebble beach. but, it was the first day that i actually ran the a/c while out here. i’ve had to use it in seaside and marina and our trip to sfo last weekend. but, pebble is like a rainforest that doesn’t seem to heat-up, according to the locals, until september and october.

i got an email from my friend willy (of the infamous “adventures of monty & willy). glad to see that he’s back in action! he’s living back in prescott, az with his daughter dawn. i guess shelly, perhaps the worst person in the world, besides other things, bagged his computer, digi cam and leather furniture.

hey shelly: “can you say karma? there’s not enough medication in the world to keep you safe from karma because of what you have done! i suggest overdosing now to get it over with!”

and bea thought i could only be vicious about her.

i put up some new pics on my picasa page. i hope to have the chance to get some more car shots tomorrow.

np: the california guitar trio/an internet broadcast of their performance at nearfest back in (2003?) featuring tony levin (of king crimson) on chapman stick and basses. willy and i got to see them, sans tony, in may 2006 in carson city.

that’s me in the 4^th row on the right leaning around the guy in the black t-shirt and willy behind the woman with her hands in the air (from hideyo’s roadcam). what a treat that was to see these fine musicians in cartoon city. if you hear of them coming to a city near, or far from you go, at all costs. there are few musicians who play on this level and in intimate settings such as comma coffee, which is located across the street from the nevada state assembly building and my “fighting clowns” cache. learn more about burt, paul and hideyo at http://www.cgtrio.com

turst me on this!

they are on tour now. actually, i think they are always on tour!