March 19, 2010

Erin and dad came to Palo Alto for a short visit (too short!).  They flew into town and got in just in time for a doctor's appointment to get his eyelids checked, his eyes cleaned out, and few more stitches removed.  Michael looked so much better than when his dad said goodbye at Walter Reed.  Michael gave them a tour of the rehab center and showed them all of his cool new stuff to help him once he's home.

He and Erin decided to shoot a little pool while they were there.  The game was a random shoot and the winner was whoever made the most balls.  Believe it or not, Michael won.  Erin was actually surprised (and a little pleased I think) by the fact that Michael still retains his competetive streak and did his best to show her up. It was nice to hear them laughing and kidding each other. 

The next morning we took off for San Francisco to do the tourist thing.  We drove to the city and decided to ride the cable cars.  Parking was scarce when we got there so we parked at an open meter and jammed all the change we had in it.  After it tallied, we had about 58 minutes so we decided to do a quick round trip.  Here's Michael and Erin waiting for us while we bought the tickets. The weather was really nice and the day was beautiful.

The cable cars were pretty interesting and the ride took us up and down some pretty steep hills. 

We took a potty break and went back to the car. It seems our excursion was about three minutes longer than expected and I now get to pay the city of San Francisco an additional $53.00 for a parking ticket. What a drag! We drove to Fisherman's Wharf and got an all day parking pass and walked around to take in the sights and sounds of the seaside attractions.  Michael and Erin were attracted to Zoltar, the fortune teller from the movie Big.  According to the guy in the box, Michael's love life is soon to see some action. 

We went to the boardwalk and felt the sea breeze. We considered going to Alcatraz island but we needed to get back to Palo Alto for the banjo lesson and didn't want to get stuck in traffic.  Maybe some other time......

The other day Michael was in his computer class and asked the instructor if he could have the number to the intercom on the PA system.  The instructor started to ask why then suddenly realized what he wanted it for.  She immediately started laughing and said she knows how guys like him are and so no he could not have it. Later that evening he went to the nurses station for his medicine and asked the nurse the same question.  Without any hesitation she told it to him.  He has the number committed to memory and is now waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it......