Black Beauty

Summarizing the past few weeks:

New Year's Week: David travelled to Knoxville for his Aunt Margaret's funeral.

Jan. 6-Jan. 12: We drove to San Diego for a weeklong training session with my student trainee, Rachel. Raining when we got there, and cool by San Diego standards for the first couple days, but then the wind died down and the sun shone warmly. We enjoyed staying at the Pacific Terrace, a luxury hotel on the boardwalk that offers a gov't lodging rate. Since it got dark at 4:30 pm, we didn't do much in the evening but eat out. Had dim sum at Jasmine, fried calamari at Vincenzo's, wood-fired Chilean sea bass at Baleen, roast duck and satay at Karinya (Thai), and fun sushi in a restaurant that has a revolving selection of sashimi, nigiri, etc in little boats that circle the sushi bar.

Wk of Jan 14: catch up at work for both of us
Wk of Jan 21: Fed'l holiday (MLK), then i had to attend a 2-day Forest Leadership Team mtg at Sabino Cyn. Weather turned damp and rainy for those few days, so our field trip into the canyon was a wee bit chilly.

This week: Big news is that I traded in my 2002 Volvo convertible for a 2007 Volvo S80.....has 3350 miles, was the dealer demo car, used by the owner of Broadway Volvo when not out demo-ing. It's black w/ dark leather interior and has all the bells and whistles you could think of. V-8, 311 hp, GPS, built-in blue tooth, hot water power spray for cleaning headlights, Sirius radio, keyless start up, sunroof, heated AND cooled seats, rear air........fold down back seats for cargo haul.

Trade-in was prompted by today's scheduled maintenance for my 2002 and repair of the power steering system (warranty-covered) which rang up a bill of about $1K. Dealer gave me credit for these charges with the new purchase. I had 10K miles left on my 2002 extended warranty, and figured I'd be forking out big bucks real soon when it expired, so what the heck.

Only way I could afford to do this was to borrow from my gov't savings plan for a down payment. Anyway, i think i'll enjoy the automatic transmission and a 4-door for a change.

Vern's been sick with the flu, which is making its rounds at the prison. I am anxiously (NOT) awaiting my turn, now that he's sneezed and coughed all over me for 4 days.

That's it for now. Happy trails to all!
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