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Today Susie and I went to the Gilroy Garlic Festival with Jeff, Nicole and the kids. The festival was a disappointment, and I doubt we will ever return to it, but we had a great time with Jeff, Nicole and the kids!
Technorati Tags: Sue Graziano Sloan, Jeff Sloan, Nicole Sloan, Madison Sloan, Jacob Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
In the wee hours of this morning Sheree and Richard returned to Vermont. We had a great visit with them, and their daughter Jordan, who is doing an internship out here. They are very nice people and we really enjoyed having them stay with us.
Technorati Tags: Sue Graziano Sloan, ssloansjca
[Click here to see more photos]
Last Tuesday's whine and dine bicycle ride and jug party are here. That was one great Tuesday! The weather was perfect as was the evening. We had three rides and a hike and a long party. I led the mellow ride up Sanborn.
I brought a bottle of jug wine from Preston (that Amy Marsh turned me on to.) Here is an article in the SF Chronicle about the jug wine.
Today we had our Saturday Edition Whine and Dine Ride. This was a lot of fun. About five of us had a pancake breakfast at our house then rode 42 miles up Croy and then, on the way back, we had a lunch at the Gourmet Mexican Deli at Cottle and Santa Teresa where three more cyclists joined us. It was a lot of fun! Later this evening we went to Dave and Dorothy's for a party.
Sheree, Richard and their daughter Jordan are out visiting from Vermont. Sheree and Susie met as students at the University of Vermont in the 70's. They have remained friends since. In 1981 the two of them took a half year road trip across the US. San Francisco was one of the highlights of that trip. Yesterday we all went there together. We had a great time.
Technorati Tags: Sue Graziano Sloan, ssloansjca
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[Click here to see all my photos from this event]
This was the 2008 Whine and Dine ride at the Russian River Rally on July 19, 2008. Last weekend's Russian River Rally bicycle ride was great. Special thanks to David Adler and Sandy Lorber for driving SAG and doing such a fine job taking care of us on the ride. Thanks to everybody who pitched in food and money for the grub. The bread from Freestone and the cheese from Wisconson were both yummy (not to mention the wine!) Nancy, Pat and Mylo put on a great event and many others pitched in to make it possible. Our ride was a blast, the weather perfect and both wineries said we are welcome to return next year.
Sorry, no captions. Hope you enjoy the photos!
Technorati Tags: Bicycling, Whine and Dine, Cycling, ACTC, ssloansjca
"And the sons of Pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel."
Steve Goodman must have been a child of a railroad man. Goodman's song, The City of New Orleans captures what it feels like being the child of a railroad man so concisely in these three stanzas.
I am the son of an engineer. Thirty-one years ago yesterday my father died and I still miss him so much. This is a picture I took of him at work. Everything about him was so unbelievably bigger than life. I dream about him very often. To me, he was steel.
Technorati Tags: Lloyd Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
On this day in 1994 we were married at La Foret in San Jose. Oldest son, Steve Jr., was the best man. My three sons were the groom's party. It was a wonderful wedding. Susie and I have many wonderful memories. She is the best thing that has ever happend to me. Now all the kids have moved out and we have six grandkids. Susie is my best friend. Life is good, very good.
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Here are more photos from some recent whine and dine bicycle rides:
This was a great ride, led by Peggggy, we went up Reynolds then back via Hicks. On the way back Catherine got her first flat. Laurel showed Catherine how to change the flat. She said, "every woman should know how to change a flat tire." I just documented the event. When it comes to teaching changing flats, Laurel is a great teacher. The academy should recruit her!
Bicycle club rides are great (and I even love riding on my own) but what I especially love is just getting together with friends and going for a bicycle ride. Here are some photos from some recent fun friend rides:
Technorati Tags: cycling, bicycling, ACTC, ssloansjca
This morning I got a call from cousin Debbie in Boise. Debbie is the oldest daughter of my cousin Dolores. Terry (Dolores's youngest daughter Susan's husband) died yesterday of complications following a fall he had from a ladder last week.
According to Debbie, Terry was hurt badly in the fall. He broke many bones but they did not think his injuries were life threatening. But, he developed pneumonia in the hospital. Yesterday his blood pressure started dropping. His heart rate elevated, he suffered a heart attack and died. I also talked to Susan, of course she is devastated.
I visited them lasy year, in June of 2007, and stayed with Dolores. We all went out to dinner. I sat next to Terry and we had a long conversation. He was a great guy.
Dolores's husband Ben died on Feb. 11, 2007. They have a very close family and are all mourning Terry's death.
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"This is a summer without precedent," that is what I heard the radio announcer say the other day. I have never seen the sky so brown and the air so bad. This week we have had a string of spare the air days. Last Tuesday I went on a bike ride. It was our weekly whine and dine ride. It was hot but the ride was fun. I thought it was fine to ride until I woke up Wednesday morning coughing like a smoker. I have not ridden my bike since. I've never seen anything like this.
Patterson, the tiny central valley town my older sons grew up in made the New York Times today.
A week ago it was so chilly that some of the bicycle riders were bundled up after the July first Tuesday Whine and Dine ride. This week we're facing record breaking heat. Some of the other ACTC rides scheduled for Tuesday have already been canceled due to heat. We plan to hold this ride as scheduled on July 8, 2008.
[Click here to see more photos from last week's ride]
Technorati Tags: ACTC, ssloansjca
My wife Sue is a lead technical writer and she has been quite busy. Since companies have moved from printed to on-line documentation delivery, documentation is no longer based on print based production cycles. Documentation is constantly being reviewed and revised and so writing organizations are hard pressed to keep up. Deadlines are constant.
Technorati Tags: Sue Graziano Sloan, ssloansjca
The wind has blown the smoke away. The sky is blue and the sun is normal again. Life is good.
