wing review: Bareback grill

They don't really have wings, but "tenders". It was about a 6 oz chicken breast sliced up, cooked and rolled around in what looked like a dry rub. The chicken was pretty tender. I also got a side of calamari. Both of these were ok, but i would stick to the burgers next time.

www.barebackgrill.com

4640 Mission Blvd
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 274-7117

first imperssions: Olympus 770 SW

After a bit of research, I purchased the Olympus 770 SW (Amazon ~$200). I got it specifically to take with me while surfing. I took a bright orange shoe string and attached it to the strap eyelet. When surfing I either keep it in my trunk pocket or around my neck.

Cons:

• The xd "H" memory card is hard to find (curently using the "M"
• No view finder, you have to use the screen - which is tough to see in direct sun
• Photos turn out best when the right mode is selected (like underwater) - there are 20+ modes!
• It's hard to quickly change modes and they aren't ordered the way I would like (wish you could customize this)
• Water stays on the lens which has messed up several pictures
• There are tiny drops of water in the battery/memory card area after opening the door
• Very hard to read the white button labels (camera is dull silver) , more contrast is needed
  

Pros

• great size
• tough (I have landed on it with no damage)
• Can take a burst of pictures in most modes - great for action shots
• good photos
  

After a few days, I'm overall very happy with it. I have a lot to learn about shooting in the water, but that's part of the fun. I've been taking about 70 shots per session ... I got a 500 gb external drive to store the photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/barreled/Olympus770SW/

install hardwood floors

We ripped up our old carpet in our living room and replaced it with hardwood floors last weekend. Turns out the subflooring is concrete. I was surprised because we are on the second floor or a two story condo. We were thinking of going with a light bamboo, but we heard too much negative feedback about it's durability. We did buy a sample and were able to scratch it up pretty easy.

We used engineered Tigerwood floors by Homelegend instead. I liked the variation in color. All in all, they were easy to install once you got the rhythm down (they make a clicking sound when properly set). I did have to restart about 1/3 of the way through because there was a gap that wasn't closing up well. I was using the rubber mallet too much ( don't force it). But that's the beauty of the floating floors, you don't have to glue or nail down as you go.

One thing I would do differently would be to use a table saw instead of a jigsaw to get straighter cuts. I ended up using a hand saw and mitre box about 1/2 way through. We did need the jigsaw for the odd shaped buts, like around the door frame.

We covered about 220 square feet and the actually labor took about ten hours total. We still have to finish up the baseboards by adding something to cover up the gap. We also need to do the transitions to the front door, balcony doors and kitchen area (which is terracotta tile).


Check out the photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/barreled/TigerwoodAtOurHome

Items:
4 Clamps (to hold planks while cutting) $4
Knee pads $15
Rubber mallet $5
Utility knife with the blades (to cut up padding and carpet) $5
Putty knife to remove chunks of padding $2
Chisel to remove baseboards and carpet nail strips $7
Jigsaw $70
Spacer and tap kit $16
Harmony sound dampening and moisture barrier (3 rolls) $150
Click wood planks (11 boxes) $600
Stick on felt pads for furniture $10

So that's about $900 in tools and materials so far.

We also had to eat out every meal since we had so much furniture stuffed into the kitchen.

If you are thinking of doing a similar project my advice would be to get a table saw, give yourself a few days and don't force it. Be patient. If there is a gap, backup and try other planks. There were a few duds that I was able to use later for the small cuts.

wing review: Luigi's At the Beach

We got a half dozen wings at Luigi's At the Beach last night. They were not very good unfortunately. The sauce was too strong with one spice (almost like too much cumin). They weren't too hot. They were really tender though. They just fell off the bone. We were able to fill up on some good pizza and beer.

Luigi's At the Beach - luigisatthebeach.com - (858) 488-2818

Bikini bar & grill

So the place that used to be Dakine's, then a Dakine's spinoff, then a Dakine's knockoff apparently is now going to be a bar and grill.

They are building up the deck area which should give a better view. I hope the food is good and reasonably priced. You have to wonder if the stop-serving-by-9 pm beer license is going to work for them.

UPDATE: Ok, so they are no longer going to be the Bikini Bar... I guess someone else in the mall didn't approve it. I'm going to guess it was Hooters that pulled out the veto stamp. There's a yellow piece of paper stuck to the door now that says "Surfer Bar".

UPDATE #2: The sun has set on the Surfer Grill. They opened at a bad time in a bad spot with marginal food. They did do a good job of fixing up the deck and they had a pretty good happy hour, but never much of a crowd. They were closed every Monday and for the whole holiday break. There's simply a hand written "Closed" sign with a sad face.

6' 0" Island Egg

I got a new board yesterday From Star Surfing Co. This is the first off the rack impulse buy I've done in a few years (the price was great). It's also my smallest board at 6' x 21". And to be honest, I was worried that it might be too small for me, but I took the gamble. Not really a lot of info on the board other than the dimensions, turtle logo and an doctor like signature. The receipt says Island Surfboard and I think the signature says "Will Smith". If so, it's good to see his shaping between making movies.

Update: I rode by the shop yesterday to give them positive feedback and the guy that helped me when I bought the board informed me that the shaper's name was Mark Smith.


I took it out yesterday afternoon near the pump house in PB and got several good rides once I figured out it was more of a front foot surfer. It displaces a lot less volume than the 6' 2" fish I'm used to ridding and I did miss a few waves I normally would have gotten. There was some descent size in the waves, so I'm sure that helped. I don't know if I will be taking her out on those ankle to knee slapper days.


On a side note, there are a lot of Irish kids vacationing in San Diego these days.

Swat standoff in North PB

Sniper at the ready


More photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/barreled/Taco
More info: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080601-9999-1m1swat.html