The car is sold! I took part of the payment in exchange for the car, and when I get the title, I’ll sign it over to him and get the rest of the payment. It’s hard to describe the feeling of someone else driving away your car. This one was special, since it was the first (and only) new car I have purchased. I see this as a good way to prepare for living in Japan. I’m going to have to give up a lot of creature comforts, and learn to adapt in unusual situations. So “farewell” to a great car, and “hello” public transportation.

The smog test is over, and my car passed with an “A”. Tonight at 7 o’clock the guy is coming over to do the final stuff to sell the car.

Sara mentioned going to the Tactile Dome at the Exploratorium in San Francisco the day she flies in. I’m pretty excited about going – it’s been a long time since I’ve been and it should be a lot of fun.

Turns out the car guy was serious, and I think I might be selling my car this week. I’m taking the car in to a mechanic to make sure that everything is sound, and if that goes well, I’ll be paying off the car, getting the title, and transferring ownership. I’ll be sad to see the car go, but in a way, it’s a reminder of a different lifestyle and personal philosophy that I have left behind.

Harry Potter 5 was excellent. I finished it this morning, and I’m ready to read the next one. The book was pretty long, and I’m not sure that it was necessary for it to be that long, but I’m not reading it because it’s necessary. I read it for the escapism and to find out how things shake out. Good stuff! Teeth are still a little sore, but I think the pain might be starting to fade.

I’m waiting around for a guy to come look at my car. He hasn’t even seen it yet, but over the last 18 hours he’s called me six times, and he’s already haggling the price. I considered calling some neighbors over here when he arrives for added security, in case he just got out of an institution or something. He just called to tell me he’s caught in traffic and he’ll be another 30 minutes or so. I’d love to go out and pick up the new Harry Potter book, but until this dude makes an appearance, I’m just sitting around.

All the numbness has left my mouth, and I can move the right side of my face. Drool is much easier to keep in my mouth now. Unfortunately, I’ve got a headache and some soreness. Still, could be worse. Just one more drilling session and I’ll be ready to eat jawbreakers and Sugar Daddies again.

This morning I got a phone call from the dentist – they had a cancellation and were wondering if I wanted to get on with the drilling. I cancelled my Japanese practice and went in. I figure, might as well get it over with. I had two cavities filled, and it went really well. It’s a pretty simple thing, and it was fun to listen to the dentist and assistant talk about the tools they use and the lingo they throw around. So now I’m in front of the computer typing with drool running down the side of my face – the difference today is that I have a medical reason for it.

In the front yard today a doe and fawn were hanging out, relaxing and staring at me through the window. I snapped a couple of pictures, but when I let Maggie and Sadie out to investigate, they took off.

I’m off to figure out what I can eat tonight that won’t slide out of the paralyzed side of my mouth.

At 8:30 a.m. I visited the dentist for the first time in almost five years. The results: 3 cavities. I guess I’m going to pay the price for waiting so long. The dentist knows that I’m leaving the country next month, and she’s going to try to juggle people around to make time. She’s been my dentist since I was a little kid, and so some of that small-town magic is working in my favor. If you call getting your teeth drilled magic. Because it has been so long since I’ve been to the dentist, I got to experience the SonicBlaster(TM) that creates intense pain at high frequencies. The best part is the chance to gargle a combination of cold water, plaque and blood while trying to breath. So why did I wait so long to do this?

  

After the dentist I ran out to Annadel State Park near Santa Rosa. I hiked about 7 miles around the park, went out to a lake in the center of the park, and then took the long way back. Park of the trail passed over a huge field of obsidian chips. I have never seen so much in one place. I also saw plenty of squirrels, lizards, four wild turkeys and several red-tailed hawks. It was great to get hiking again. Other than my trek across the Golden Gate, I haven’t been able to get out much lately.

I’m playing an old PC game called “Neuromancer”, based on the book by Willam Gibson. It’s surprisingly good, despite some dated graphics. If you dig around on the net you can pick up for free. Highly recommended!

I’m getting macked on by mosquitoes here in Glen Ellen. Just thought you should know.

Today I had a busy one driving around. I started by hiking across the Golden Gate Bridge, which is something I’ve never done.

The day was pretty nice, and I was lucky to avoid the fog. I also was able to visit some of my old haunts in San Jose – The Shark Tank, my old apartments, Vasona Lake, and Los Gatos Brewing Company. I’ve been driving around a lot lately, so I’m looking forward to the chance to do a little relaxation. Tomorrow I’m sending my parents off to Texas for a long weekend. They are travelling with Nancy and Lynn to visit my mom’s cousin, and catch up on old times.

Hey cool, my mom is watching me write this!

I’m back from my whirlwind trip to Redlands to visit my friend Renee. It was damn hot down there… I’m already getting used to the clouds and fog during the mornings in Sonoma. It was great to see Renee and meet some of her family. After graduating with her master’s degree, she is hitting the road to see some national parks (Bryce, Zion, Arches) and finally end up in Colorado to stay with some friends. What a cool way to celebrate. I tried to figure out a way to go along with her, but I have to attend my JET Orientation in L.A. on the 28th.

The trip was a lot of driving – 16 hours out of 48, but I did get a full night’s sleep and some great food.

We woke up early to head back into York. We took the bus into town, and got off at Picadilly Street like yesterday. We walked from there to the Jorvik Viking Center. It is actually the site of a Viking excavation, and they had a tour through a recreation and part of the excavation. The tour was just a big diorama. The new thing was that they had some smells of the time (which were pretty nasty). The dioramas were pretty cheesy – seemed kind of low budget. The coolest stuff was the exhibitions at the end – actual artifacts from the dig. There was a recovered skeleton that had all kinds of damage, and they even had a guestimate on how the skelton got damaged.

From there we went to the wall outside the city and walked around town. The view was pretty impressive. We took the bus back to our car, and then drove south towards London. We made a couple of pit stops and then pulled into Oxford and our next B&B. The B&B was right outside Oxford on a sheep ranch, with pretty nice rooms. We ate dinner at a local pub, and then went back to the B&B to sleep.

The next day we packed up our stuff and drove into town to return the car and catch a flight back home.

We got up late and took a ride to the supermarket to buy some take home haggis and Scotch for my dad. I saw there was some “Guinness Bitter” for sale – didn’t buy any but I thought it might be nice to buy before I left. We also bought the English (British) version of the first Harry Potter – it even had a different title – “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. We headed back and said goodbye to Hamish and Claire Thom, and hit the road going south. It was a long journey because we went the scenic way and ahd to pass trucks and farm equipment on tight roads.

We stopped for some junk food at an English-style Quikstop and beer at the pub next door. From there we drove another hour or so south, and arrived at our B&B in York. We unpacked and took the bus into town.

York was a neat old town surrounded by a huge protective wall. We walked down some very small crooked streets and found a neat back-alley pub. After some beers and directions we headed to the tourist info center to buy tickets for a nighttime ghost tour. While we waited for the tour to start we explored York Minster – an incredibly huge cathedral that took more than 250 years to build. I snapped lots of digital pictures inside and out.

The tour began at 7:30 – we just had some Chinese food for dinner before – and went on the somewhat cheesy (OK, extremely cheesy) walking tour. Part of the effect was lost because it wasn’t dark yet. It doesn’t get dark here until 10 pm. After the tour we caught the bus back to the B&B to sleep.

We started off the day with breakfast – the B&B offered some alternatives to the “full English breakfast” that we had gotten used to – pancakes and ham and cheese. I picked the ham and cheese expecting some sort of hot melt, but it really was just ham and cheese. There was supposedly a large fight outside our B&B in the parking lot across the street. My Dad and I slept through it, but Lynn said he heard the whole thing. I guess it kept him awake most of the night.

We drove out of town and headed west along the river Earn to the Loch Earn. Then we headed north and east along the Loch Tay. Finally we headed south and stopped at a small forest/park. It was nice to hike through the Scottish highlands. We walked along a river inside a forest, and found an old Victorian chamber to house the rich as they gazed at the waterfalls. We also saw salmon unsuccessfully trying to jump up the waterfall. We hiked back to the car, and drove back to Creith and on to Glenturret distillery. They had a somewhat cheesy tour – the information relating to the process of producing Scotch was intriguing, the somewhat convoluted history and marketing fluff were pretty bad. The Scotch however, was great. We tried several different kinds, and I settled on a 12-year old whisky to bring back for Sara’s grandfather. We had a quick lunch at the distillery, and then drove back to Edinburgh.

We met up again with Hamish and Claire, and treated them to a Mexican dinner. The food was really very good. During our meal a rowdy group of Americans came in – part of the Fringe festival. They were nosy and obnoxious – all the Edinburgh natives quietly ignored them. I was a little embarrassed to be an American. After dinner we headed back and I retired early.

Today we headed into the heart of Edinburgh to shop for souvenirs and see the sights. We drove downtown and parked in a large “car park”, and then walked to “Grassmarket” – a huge combination of a garage sale and farmer’s market. Marie-Claire gave me the running commentary of the sights of the city – they were in sharp contrast to the commentary we were getting from her parents. We went into St. Giles cathedral. I spent quite a while in there checking out the stained glass. No cameras allowed, but the images of the glass were very dramatic.

From there we went to Jenner’s – a Macy’s style department store with a lot of local stuff – it was very cool. We had a snack on the top floor, and then we walked back towards the car, skirting the bagpipers on the way back.

We drove back, packed up and drove North through Scotland towards Crieff – our next B&B. We had dinner at Crieff in a small “bistro”. It was pretty expensive and the food was only so-so. Then we went back to the B&B and crashed.