Friday was the orientation to the Master in Public Policy graduate program at Cal Poly. Of the 18 people who are in my cohort (part of the new graduate vocabulary I will begin using), there were 12 who showed up to the 1/2 hour meeting plus "reception" afterwards.
There is quite a variety of interests by my fellow cohorts, and it looks like the males outnumber the females, too! I feel like the only one who has a clear direction, but that could also be because I am one of the few who have been graduated for more than a year. Many are recent bachelor's degree recipients. A few of us are locals (meaning from San Luis Obispo county and hold bachelor degrees from Cal Poly already), but most are from out of the area.
Our "reception" was a little funky at first because it was really just us and a few professors from the department. So, we had to mingle and force interest in each other since we were encouraged by the director to form social relationships with each other early on. I found one or two people interested in talking. Some just didn't seem like they cared to get to know anyone. I even met a man who worked with my dad at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. We shared some fun stories, and I even found out that he was the Easter Bunny at the PG&E Easter Egg Hunt when I was just a wee one. That'll be an interesting friendship.
Eventually after asking around I found out that some of the folks would be going out afterwards. Heck, I wanted to get a jump on the social development aspect of our program since I know I'm usually lacking in that department. Spike's was the place, the pub down on South Higuera Street. I'd actually never been there before but was game.
Turned out I was the first one there. I hate that. So I went to Ladies room to kill some time. In the end there were 9 of us, 6 being part of this year's cohort, and 2 from last year's cohort (aka 2nd years). The remaining individual, in case you thought my math had suddenly gone fuzzy, was the husband of a 2nd year cohort, so take that!
We ordered beers: some of us ordered food. I got a Stella and fish n chips. I don't really know my drinks. I tried asking if anyone had ever had wheat beer with orange (it was recommended by my Polo player). The guy from Berkeley who went to school at Monterey State then ended up in Massachusetts said that it wasn't that great as traditionally citrus was added to wheat beer because it had gone bad and the flavor was supposed to mask that off-putting rottenness. Whatever. He spent his time with the owner of a bike shop, not with us.
So, the night was not a late one. It was pretty pathetic to think that we left at about 9pm. I guess the younger crowd will be more interested in beer nights at the local watering holes as they made sure that they got the run down of the bars in downtown SLO. Yippee! Just what I'm looking forward to.
I think we are all chomping at the bit to get started. Monday's the big day! It will feel strange to be a student again. Although I do look forward to the part where I get to study and learn new ideas.
Showing posts with label beer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beer. Show all posts
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
A secret weekend
I entertained a secret visitor this past weekend. I had been out of contact with this person for awhile and wasn't sure if I should re-connect or not. The last time I had spoken with them I didn't really end the conversation in a positive manner. However, curiosity outweighed propriety and so the invitation was extended. Surprisingly enough it was accepted. Hence the weekend would come to fruition after all.
Initially there was nowhere to put this person as I wasn't ready to share the news with my mother. All I could hope for was a pet sitting job where I needed to stay at the house, thus avoiding any parental issues. The person was supposed to be arriving on Saturday afternoon. On Tuesday I received a call from a new client requesting my services for the weekend. Such perfect timing!
The house was perfect. It was a really cute small house in a very nice neighborhood. The two weiner dogs were very sweet and adorable. If I were to have a house of my own, that is what I would like it to look like.
Saturday, I picked up my special guest just after 1:00pm. I had it all planned out. Walk around Downtown San Luis Obispo to find a place for lunch. We ended up eating at Mo's Smokehouse BBQ. Yummy! Two pulled pork sandwiches, homemade potato chips and two local draughts of Firestone Ale. Delicious. The lunchtime conversation was amiable and very frank at points. Bring it on!
We continued walking before heading back on the road to hit Avila Beaches to check it out. We went out to Port San Luis pier to walk out on it and back before continuing south to Pismo Beach. I got back on Highway 1o1 because I love the drive up out of Avila because just as you come up the hill you have the first view of the Pacific Ocean after having driven inland for quite a long time. We took the first exit for Shell Beach to look at the views from the cliffs.
I drove along the frontage road into Pismo Beach to cruise downtown. I wasn't going to stop because I didn't want to pay for parking. Plus I wanted to continue down to Grover Beach to actually stick our feet in the sand and walk down to the Pismo pier. That was what I really wanted to do. It was a lovely day with the sun out and clear sunny skies. We came back to Grover and ended up having some Margaritas at Fin's Seafood Restaurant. It was great because there was live music and the sun was on its way down.
The plan for that night was to see the evening performance at the Great American Melodrama: "Showdown at the Slick Rock Ranch". Before the show we needed to head back to the house to rest a little and so I could take care of the dogs. They needed their dinner and a trip outside.
I love going to the Melodrama because it's such an intimate atmosphere with a small crowd and live acting. There always crowd involvement through sing-alongs and birthday and anniversary cheers. We got there just in time to pay for the tickets and order some grub before the house lights dimmed. Showtime! With two intermissions and then the final Vaudeville, the performance ended at about 11:00pm. My guest was very pleased by the evenings entertainment and vowed to return for another performance in the future. Now I would heartily welcome that.
That evening was filled with some TV viewing of the Olympics, sipping of a nice red wine I bought (and spilled!), with a bit of late night fun thrown in. I think bedtime was somewhere in the 2:30am range. Tomorrow (oh wait, that would be today!) would be the last day.
It started bright and early for me: much earlier than I really wanted. I think the dogs got me up so they could be let out. As a result I spent the rest of the day sleepy. After some morning coffee and my homemade banana bread we eventually headed out to breakfast at F. McLintock's in the Village of Arroyo Grande. I got the oatmeal and then my partner ordered eggs and bacon with another cup of coffee. How original. From breakfast we headed straight to church for the 11am service. The topic of the message was greed.
After church it was back to the house to do the final packing and resting before heading out again. I wouldn't return to the house since the owners were returning that afternoon. Now we headed back to the beach for some more strolling. This time I went down to the Oceano offramp. It wasn't as nice down there as there were lots of trucks and RVs heading back home. Not only that but it was windy. Now we were hungry for lunch and seafood was craved. We returned to Fin's for fish and chips with Corona beers.
I don't think I had ever had so much alcohol since my days in Denmark. Not that it was really all that much, but for me it was a lot, plus I was doing all the driving. Total for me since Friday afternoon: 1 pint of beer, 1 Margarita on the rocks, 3 glasses of red wine, and 1 Corona.
The final attraction before the visit ended was a drive out to the Gopher Glen apple farm. I love apples this time of year and will probably eat one a day until the apple season ends in November. See Canyon apples are the best I've ever had. I bought some Galas that are a nice sweet and crunch apple, and also bought some Elstars, which are more tart, as a gift for my mom. The actual last stop before departure was to Food 4 Less to buy a bottle of the wine we drank at the house: Peachy Canyon's Incredible Red.
Initially there was nowhere to put this person as I wasn't ready to share the news with my mother. All I could hope for was a pet sitting job where I needed to stay at the house, thus avoiding any parental issues. The person was supposed to be arriving on Saturday afternoon. On Tuesday I received a call from a new client requesting my services for the weekend. Such perfect timing!
The house was perfect. It was a really cute small house in a very nice neighborhood. The two weiner dogs were very sweet and adorable. If I were to have a house of my own, that is what I would like it to look like.
Saturday, I picked up my special guest just after 1:00pm. I had it all planned out. Walk around Downtown San Luis Obispo to find a place for lunch. We ended up eating at Mo's Smokehouse BBQ. Yummy! Two pulled pork sandwiches, homemade potato chips and two local draughts of Firestone Ale. Delicious. The lunchtime conversation was amiable and very frank at points. Bring it on!
We continued walking before heading back on the road to hit Avila Beaches to check it out. We went out to Port San Luis pier to walk out on it and back before continuing south to Pismo Beach. I got back on Highway 1o1 because I love the drive up out of Avila because just as you come up the hill you have the first view of the Pacific Ocean after having driven inland for quite a long time. We took the first exit for Shell Beach to look at the views from the cliffs.
I drove along the frontage road into Pismo Beach to cruise downtown. I wasn't going to stop because I didn't want to pay for parking. Plus I wanted to continue down to Grover Beach to actually stick our feet in the sand and walk down to the Pismo pier. That was what I really wanted to do. It was a lovely day with the sun out and clear sunny skies. We came back to Grover and ended up having some Margaritas at Fin's Seafood Restaurant. It was great because there was live music and the sun was on its way down.
The plan for that night was to see the evening performance at the Great American Melodrama: "Showdown at the Slick Rock Ranch". Before the show we needed to head back to the house to rest a little and so I could take care of the dogs. They needed their dinner and a trip outside.
I love going to the Melodrama because it's such an intimate atmosphere with a small crowd and live acting. There always crowd involvement through sing-alongs and birthday and anniversary cheers. We got there just in time to pay for the tickets and order some grub before the house lights dimmed. Showtime! With two intermissions and then the final Vaudeville, the performance ended at about 11:00pm. My guest was very pleased by the evenings entertainment and vowed to return for another performance in the future. Now I would heartily welcome that.
That evening was filled with some TV viewing of the Olympics, sipping of a nice red wine I bought (and spilled!), with a bit of late night fun thrown in. I think bedtime was somewhere in the 2:30am range. Tomorrow (oh wait, that would be today!) would be the last day.
It started bright and early for me: much earlier than I really wanted. I think the dogs got me up so they could be let out. As a result I spent the rest of the day sleepy. After some morning coffee and my homemade banana bread we eventually headed out to breakfast at F. McLintock's in the Village of Arroyo Grande. I got the oatmeal and then my partner ordered eggs and bacon with another cup of coffee. How original. From breakfast we headed straight to church for the 11am service. The topic of the message was greed.
After church it was back to the house to do the final packing and resting before heading out again. I wouldn't return to the house since the owners were returning that afternoon. Now we headed back to the beach for some more strolling. This time I went down to the Oceano offramp. It wasn't as nice down there as there were lots of trucks and RVs heading back home. Not only that but it was windy. Now we were hungry for lunch and seafood was craved. We returned to Fin's for fish and chips with Corona beers.
I don't think I had ever had so much alcohol since my days in Denmark. Not that it was really all that much, but for me it was a lot, plus I was doing all the driving. Total for me since Friday afternoon: 1 pint of beer, 1 Margarita on the rocks, 3 glasses of red wine, and 1 Corona.
The final attraction before the visit ended was a drive out to the Gopher Glen apple farm. I love apples this time of year and will probably eat one a day until the apple season ends in November. See Canyon apples are the best I've ever had. I bought some Galas that are a nice sweet and crunch apple, and also bought some Elstars, which are more tart, as a gift for my mom. The actual last stop before departure was to Food 4 Less to buy a bottle of the wine we drank at the house: Peachy Canyon's Incredible Red.
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