This sign proudly displayed at the "Auld Dubliner" in Orange County in no way describes the weekend I had.  It wasn't "Kilr" nor did it contain high amounts of "Rocktane".  In fact what you are not seeing here is that the Irish pub was filled on this day with 60 year old people from the East End with Hello Kitty bags and a small PA system to conduct what is their weekly meeting.

My lifelong friend Bill Hunt and I walked into the pub just looking for a place to watch the Dodger's game on Saturday afternoon.  Soccer covered every screen in the place and after careful pleading we did get it on the big projection screen prior to the "East Enders Club" showing up.  I am not sure what weighty issues were to be discussed, but as I can't even pull off a passable English accent anymore I was not about to find out.

This was pretty much the weekend in a nutshell.  Just about as tame as it gets, and it was what I needed.  Seems like I have frantically run around in circles for the last several weeks forgetting that these low-key moments are probably the most recuperative thing I can think of.

I woke up earlier on this day to the wafting smell of freshly brewed coffee and found Bill in backyard reading.  I got my book and did the same.  Bill's wife was out of town visiting family in Iowa and my kids are spending a few weeks in Minnesota with their grandparents so there were no distractions.  I think Bill was pushing through one of the Master and Commander books while I am reading "Being Wrong" by Kathryn Shultz.  When I explained what I was reading Bill simply said, "Well, I am reading for enjoyment."  So after a couple hours of apparently needless self-reflection for me we found a sushi place where the food comes on a winding conveyor belt where the enthusiastic staff cheers your arrival and departure.

The "Great Park" in Orange County held a big opening gala this weekend and air show.  We walked to and back from that getting a work-out in and more opportunity to geek out to the air show assembled for the event.  The Great Park is at the old El Toro airbase, famously destroyed in the movie Independence Day by aliens.  It is amazing what they did with the place.

We closed that night by watching more sci-fi in the home theater then woke early the next day to go to an auction of real space memorabilia in Beverly Hills.  For instance bits of the moon flag from Apollo 11 were available for 50-thousand dollars if you had the cash, or autographs from any of the hundreds of astronauts or mission patches, pieces of heat shields, etc.  It was the most 'male' thing I had ever seen.  There was only one woman around and she worked for the auction house.  These guys were all serious collectors spending big money.  I learned a lot about how auctioning at a high level works.  Bill bought a very rare piece.  I simply marveled at all the space stuff.  For hour after hour this went on.  At about 1:30pm I decided if I had several billion dollars I could buy enough used bits, plans, schematics, patches, and old pieces from the auction to get back to the moon myself.  No, there was no solid rocket fuel being sold but I figured with enough Rocktane I could maybe get everything to work.

This weekend was definitely a weekend where only people who'd seen every episode of Star Trek need attend.  It was exactly what I needed.