Dodger dogs and nachos

On Sunday, our family went to see our annual game at Dodger Stadium. We actually live about ten minutes' drive from the stadium, but with annual ticket price hikes and the difficulty of going to a game with small children, we only make it out to see a baseball game about once a year.

Though an evening game would be cooler at this time of year, with our children's bedtime around 8:30 pm, we have been going to Sunday afternoon games lately. Unfortunately, the weather on Sunday was unusually warm and humid for this time of year, so our seats in the shade of the Top Deck didn't bring us any relief.

A former colleague at work gave us a couple of adorable Dodgers outfits for our daughter as gifts, and lots of people commented on how cute our daughter was in her Dodgers cheerleader outfit.

I was planning to buy the Dodgers' famous garlic fries for our daughter and a Dodger Dog or two, but the garlic fries are not sold in the relatively small top deck section, so we had to settle for nachos with cheese sauce and salsa. Contrary to what I have read on the internet and the Los Angeles Times lately, the food lines were not unreasonable (though they might have been once the game started).

We got there early, about 12:30, but we ended up leaving about 2. The weather was just too miserable, and our daughter started getting restless, and it was difficult to watch the game.

Being President has some drawbacks

I found these pictures while reading through this week's New York Times. If you read political blogs, you've probably already seen them, but I just enjoyed seeing them so much, I had to post them.

President Bush was the commencement speaker at Monday's US Merchant Marine Academy graduation ceremony in New York state.

According to the New York Times' story, Gabriel Whitney was overjoyed to be graduating "after six years of undergraduate school and 4,872 demerits."

With more reason than most to be overjoyed, the 6-foot-7 midshipman stepped onto the stage to accept his degree and hugged Vice Adm. Joseph D. Stewart, the academy's superintendent. Then he raised both arms in a victorious salute as his classmates roared their approval.

Elated and with his arms still upraised, he turned toward President Bush, who had just delivered the commencement address.

Mr. Bush, wearing a quizzical expression, responded by raising his arms as well and moved in for a hug. The midshipman — almost unwittingly — found himself squeezing the president in his powerful arms. When the president caught his breath, he shook Mr. Whitney's hand.

The first photo is by the Associated Press' s Charles Dharapak, and the series of photos above is by Reuters' Jason Reed.

Seatbelts save lives

On Sunday, on our way to a Father's Day lunch with my wife's family, we witnessed a violent automobile collision on the southbound Interstate 5, between Griffith Park and Dodger Stadium. It was the second collision we have seen on the I-5 during the last month.

Both times, the car lost control, started weaving through the lanes, and then hit the freeway's center divider head-on. Luckily, each car had lost speed and did not collide at full speed. Also, traffic was light enough that the car did not collide with another car, either before or after the collision.

It was very scary to watch, though probably nothing compared to actually being in the car.

My wife and I used our cell phone and called 911 right away, though it took about 5-10 minutes to get through. For our own safety, I didn't think about stopping and trying to see if the driver was alright, though on Sunday, a driver in front of us did, and crossed the freeway where all the traffic had stopped.

On the local radio news reports, one often hears of a vehicle "hitting the center divider" or sometimes going off the side of the freeway, but seeing it happen first-hand shows how violent an accident on the highways can be.

A pointed reminder to always wear seatbelts when riding in a vehicle.

The city by the bay

My wife, our daughter, and I took our annual vacation last week, this year to San Francisco and Monterey.

I've always had the sense that San Francisco is not a city suited to sightseeing by car, with very limited parking and excellent public transportation. We stayed two nights free at the Marriott hotel at San Francisco International Airport by signing up for the Marriott Rewards visa program, and we had the problem of how to get to the city, and then get to the places we wanted to go.

Luckily, the subway/monorail system (BART) that serves the San Francisco Bay Area has been extended to SFO airport, with a stop in Millbrae just a short drive from our hotel. So on Sunday morning, we parked our car for free at the Millbrae BART/CalTrain station, and rode for half a hour, emerging at Powell and Market streets, just a few blocks from Union Station.

Powell and Market is also the terminus for two of the city's famed cable car lines, both ending near Fisherman's Wharf. For our train-obsessed daughter, standing on the seat at the front of the cable car (with my wife holding her up), staring out the window as we went up and down the steep hills, was probably the highlight of the trip.

Once there, we strolled around the Hyde Street Pier, Ghiradelli Square, had lunch overlooking the marina, and saw the sea lions at Pier 39. From there, we caught the Muni bus line 30 to Chinatown, which impressed my wife by its size (compared to Los Angeles' Chinatown). It's also interesting how Chinatown has its tourist-oriented stores and restaurants along Grant Avenue, and one block away, stores and restaurants for the locals on Stockton Street.

We walked back through the Grant Avenue gates to Chinatown to Union Square, and did some shopping in the massive Macy's department store overlooking Union Square. We then walked back to the BART station, and ended up having dinner at the In 'N' Out burger restaurant (a Southern California institution) which has found its way to Millbrae.