Terry's Weekly Email Newsletter; 14 Feb 10

Hi all,

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mike had his Editor-in-Chief interview for the Santa Clara Law Review last Friday and was told yesterday that he has the position! Today, he met the Managing Editor - Lara - and he and Lara and Santa Clara Law faculty participated in the election of the rest of the Board of Editors - total of 36 in all. It will be a lot of work, but Mike is very excited about it!

Jenn has secured the letters of recommendation that she needs to apply for summer internships. She's hoping to get something in Binghamton, as she is renting a house (a different house than the one she's living in now) for her senior year, and so she'll have a place to live there. Binghamton U has several internships available that sound interesting to her.

Joe and I have decided to take a long weekend and visit Mike during his "spring" break. It coincides with Joe's birthday - we did the same thing last year and had a good time. We got a good price on the airfare, although we have to fly the dreaded Continental! We did get most of the money back from the flight insurance that we paid for the Madrid trip - we also wrote to Continental customer service, but we haven't heard back from them. We'll be leaving Friday, 5 March, and flying back on Monday, 8 March. We're thinking of going to the Chalk Hill Winery one day for a wine tasting - rest assured that I will be tasting the Merlot!

The dishwasher is in - we're running it for the first time tonight! We'll let you know how quiet it is! It was a little effort, but not too bad. It looks very nice. Yesterday, we also bought a new refrigerator - NY State is running a "cash for appliance clunkers" that includes $105 rebate for refrigerators - when we were shopping for the disposer and tile for the counter backsplash, we found one - a Samsung - that we really liked the looks of, so we decided to go for it. We're getting it delivered on Friday. Joe had written to Kohler about the problems he had with our kitchen faucet, and they are sending us a kit and new bonnet (to replace the one that he dinged trying to get it off). So we're going to keep our faucet and just replace the sink, disposer, and backsplash. We'll also be looking for a new cooking range, but there's no big hurry on that.

Last full day in Madrid -

Sunday, 27 December, we spent several hours in El Rastro, Madrid's celebrated flea market (first picture). It was established in the Middle Ages and had its heyday during the 19th century. The stalls carry everything from new furniture to second-hand clothes. Mike bought a shirt-jacket, and I bought some scarves - 5, to be exact! (I think I had one on New Year's Eve.) I've actually been wearing mine at work - I've discovered that I love wearing scarves! Joe also bought a scarf, and Jenn picked up some gifts for friends. For our big meal we went to El Pabellon Del Espejo (second picture), as restaurant that we had passed many times during our walks. It is in the median of Paseo De Recoletos, and is surrounded by windows, so it was very fun to relax and watch the Madrilenos walking by! That night, we walked around the Puerta del Sol and Plaza Major for the last time - one thing that impressed me about Madrid was the beggars. They are different than, say, panhandlers in New York City. We saw two distinct types - those that dressed up in a costume (third picture, JC himself) and those that exposed their deformities. A couple of times I saw a man with both arms amputated - he was stripped to the waist and held the cup for money in his mouth. Across from our hotel was a small church and near the steps was a man who begged every morning and evening that we were there - he was missing one arm, and would arrange his clothing to expose his shoulder. Then he would rock back and forth while seated near the church and liltingly beg for money. His "song" was very unique - we commented near the end of our stay that we would recognize him anywhere! Most of the costumed beggars were comic book characters, but the Jesus Christ beggar was fairly unique - you can't tell from this picture, but his feet are not on the ground! He appears to be floating, and he blessed everyone that left him some money! The next day, Monday, we were off - got a shuttle to the Madrid airport and were back in Rochester that night.

So, in 2009 we had two great trips - Tokyo and Madrid! Joe and I are starting to plan our 2010 trip in October - for our 25th anniversary, we're thinking of southern Italy - Rome, Naples, and Sicily. It's still in the planning stages!

That's it - hope everyone is well.

Kind regards,

Terry

Terry's Weekly Email Newsletter; 07 Feb 10

Hi all,

This weekend, Joe and I have been researching and buying a new dishwasher! Joe got our old, loud, Kenmore out today, and we ordered a (hopefully) much quieter Bosch. We should be getting it later this week - Joe is just hoping that the new one goes in as easily as the old one came out. We are also going to replace the sink and the faucet - the faucet was leaking, and Joe dinged it taking it apart to try to fix it - and the sink is starting to rust in places. So, as we replace the dishwasher, we'll also be replacing the sink, faucet, and garbage disposal. Since the faucet was leaking, the backsplash also warped, so we're getting ideas on what to do with that. Then we'll need to decide if we upgrade the stove and refrigerator - but first, it's the dishwasher and sink area.

Mike and Jenn are doing well. Mike received an invitation to join the Santa Clara Law Review Editorial Board - in fact, he'll be interviewing for the Editor-in-Chief position later this week. It will be a lot of work next year, but it should be a great experience.

It's been cold, but we didn't get the snow that the east coast got. I'm reading "Last Night in Twisted River" by John Irving. Joe and I finished up watching the British TV series "Life on Mars" that we've been renting from Netflix. The ending was very good, as well as the series in general - my idea of how TV can be good entertainment. But, I'm biased - I watch very little TV and I favor detective shows!

Madrid -

Day 5, Saturday, 26 December, we toured the bullfight arena - Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas (first picture). Unlike the tour of the Madrid soccer stadium which was self-guided, this tour had a guide - and he was bilingual, delivering his talk first in Spanish and then in English (so Jenn got to hear it twice!) (second picture). There were no bullfights at the time, and the arena was being used to house the Circus that was in town - we were close by when the elephants, not the bulls, were lead into the tent that was set up on the field (third picture). The arena has really good acoustics, and it's often used for other venues - the Beatles and U2 have performed there. The guide told us quite a bit of how much bullfighting is part of the culture, but also how many influential people are now saying "enough is enough" and that it's time to change, no matter the culture. That evening we went to a bar near the Plaza Major and saw Flamenco dancing - it was not a professional show, but it was a lot of fun.

That's it - hope everyone is keeping warm and is well!

Kind regards,

Terry