Role redux?

I know I'm among the very few, but last night I caught the second episode of the new NBC TV series "Kidnapped". Yes, the storyline is nothing new. Yes, it supplanted "Law & Order" from its longtime slot. But the primary actors in the series are all very good: Jeremy Sisto, Timothy Hutton, Dana Delany and especially, Delroy Lindo.

Because I'm a big fan of trivia, especially in movies, I noticed a few references from previous films of the actors. Whether or not this is intentional, I don't know.
1. Timothy Hutton's character's first name is Conrad. Conrad was Hutton's character's name in his Oscar winning performance in "Ordinary People".
2. Last night, as Jeremy Sisto's character Knapp is walking along Manhattan chatting with an informant, there was a large sign in the street scene showing "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co." The family bodyguard, Virgil, is Mykelti Williamson, who portrayed Bubba in "Forrest Gump".

Josh and Amy tell me that ABC's "Boston Legal" does this with constant references to William Shatner's previous TV roles (Kirk, T.J. Hooker) constantly.

To me, it's a clever device that's fun and keeps fans on their toes.

Tissue parade

I caught a cold Friday. Because of my allergies, I often confuse the start of a cold as a bad allergy day. On the drive home from Michael's (Bloom) gig in Half Moon Bay, I was still in denial even though I was grabbing tissues every 3 minutes. By the time I got into San Francisco, the wads had taken up most of the map pocket in my car. It wasn't until I woke up Saturday with sinus pressure and a sore throat and came to the conclusion this is now a cold.

On top of that, my left eyelid and forehead have welts which give the impression I lost a boxing bout. This happened very early Thursday morning, after a buzzing mosquito woke me up, probably looking for another area of my body to attack. I also have welts on my left wrist and right shoulder. The last time I swelled up like this from insect bites was in high school, only a lot worse. My right eye completely swelled shut and my lower lip looked like I had a collagen injection overdose.

Despite these maladies, I will be out the door (obviously not so bright-eyed and bushy tailed) Monday morning to go to work.

Dining table on hold

Today I called Michelle at Sphere Designs to check on the status of the dining table we ordered about 2 weeks ago. It was supposed to be in sometime or around September 15. She called back while I was returning from lunch.

The table was supposed to be have been shipped from the factory today, but wasn't included in the shipment. The next order won't be ready until next month. As a result of the error, she offered 2 options: a) deliver immediately a medium table (ours was large) to use temporarily until the large one comes in; or b) immediately credit $100 off the purchase.

Since we still have the kitchen table from our old place, I decided to wait until the large table comes in and accept the $100 credit. No big deal, we'll just keep the old table for a few weeks longer. Plus, what was originally $499 is now $399. Michelle offered compensation without any prompting on my part, which is how we all should be serviced.

Happy b-day, Pop

Today is Dad's 71st birthday. I usually call him to wish him a happy birthday. Because of his limited command of English, the conversation is no more than a few minutes. He then puts Mom on the phone for me to find out how things really are. My phone call today wasn't any different.

For the second time in about 3-4 years, both my parents forgot about today. No, I'm not worried that they're suffering memory loss. It's just that both of them like my brother Sherman don't like to make a big deal about their birthdays. I think it's a cultural thing, as Chinese value the importance of family over individuals. On the other hand, it can also inhibit a person to speak up for himself/herself.

Mom's birthday is in less than a month. I need to make sure I call. One year I forgot and Dad called the next day to remind me. It caused a slight tarnish in my otherwise scary recall abilities. Not to worry, it remains intact. I got yesterday notification of 2 possible matches of people I once knew previously. One was the right person, the other wasn't. I knew this because the high school and current residence matched what I remembered. The other wasn't as the birthday was different.

Just don't count on me as your star witness at a murder trial.

Treadmill tale

This morning I went to the gym in Foster City rather than at the USF Koret Center as I usually do. This was because I wanted to go into the office, cleanup and organize the piles of paperwork that have accumulated on my desk since taking on the Treasury and Cash Management duties last month.

Since our move to 8th Avenue, I've cut back on gym visits from 4 to 3 times a week. It's been good because the time I would have used at the gym has been spent browsing for our condo, plus my muscles haven't been as sore. I was probably overtraining and wasn't allowing enough rest time between workouts. As a result, I've been running faster and longer on the treadmill and have more strength on the rowing machine.

When things with the condo settle down, I plan to go back to 4 workout days, but the 4th visit away from the gym. I'm not sure what it will be, but I've read it's beneficial to cross train to prevent burnout. I'm not a spring chicken anymore, so I'll do whatever works for me to continue exercising.

Nine Eleven

Many of us will have his or her own memories of September 11, 2001. Up until then, it still was a significant date (Josh's and Amy's wedding anniversary, Lisa's former wedding anniversary, and my ex-roommate Humda's birthday).

Sherman, my parents and my grandparents live in lower Manhattan and did in 2001. My grandfather passed away last year. Lisa and Joe called me that morning to make sure my family was OK. I had just talked to Cindy in Ohio to find out if she heard anything. She would an hour later and everyone in my family was OK.

Later that week, I got a call from Mindy, who would become my manager at my current job. While Mindy is no longer here, my 5 year anniversary is October 1. This will be my first job where I have worked 5 continuous years.

Tiki Arthur-Bloom

This afternoon, Lisa and Michael hosted a brunch from their home in Half Moon Bay. Although they moved back to the Bay Area in late January, this was the first time all we got to see Casa de Arthur/Bloom.

We also got to meet their newest addition to the household, a gray tiger striped cutie named Tiki. She first appeared during their garage sale and never strayed far from the house. Michael and Lisa took her in a few weeks later and is now a permanent resident. She's about 12 weeks old with very soft fur and is very social. When Lisa brought her up to meet the other guests, she laid on her bed and calmly listened to the numerous conversations in the room.

Our kitties, Che and Jawa don't handle strangers well. Both of them have tried to stay put in a room of strangers, but their "fraidy-cat" instincts have them bolting to our bedroom within a few minutes.