(# 24) The Segway is a great way to have fun.

This weekend my friend and I went to Mission Bay down in San Diego. We went to Little Italy (never been there before either, but I'm not going to count that) and Seaport Village for lunch. Then we rented Segway "Human Transport Systems" and rode them up and down the beach along Mission Bay. It was really fun, and the Segway is a great way to have a little bit of fun. "We had a splendid time". We were the coolest nerds on the beach. In fact several people yelled "Those are so cool"(I'm sure they were talking about the Segways, not us) as we raced up and down the sidewalk at a break neck speed of about 2 miles an hour. Segways are a lot of fun and all about balancing. Lean forward to go, stand up straight to stop and lean back to back up. Very easy and very simple. We learned to ride them in about 5 minutes and they made us do a little obstacle course in the rental place, but once you pass the course (which is not hard trust me) they let you go out and have fun. I think sidewalks without sand would be a safer trek, because the tires slide a bit if you take off to fast, but the beach is always so beautiful you just can't beat it. I would definitely do this again. I think everybody should try this at least once. Have a splendid week :) Sue

Save the last dance (that's #19)

Hi Everyone, Today was mine and Bernie's last Salsa lesson. We learned how to do lots of different steps, turns, spins and even a very cool "snap" move. We both had a great time and really enjoyed everyone in the class, but our all time favorite partner was Jonah. He's 11 and a very smooth dancer. I think Bernie liked dancing with him best because they're about the same height :). I highly recommend taking a dance class, it's fun and doesn't even feel like exercise. Have a great week! Sue

(#23) Sushi 101

Today my son Doug and I took a Sushi making class. This was his pick, but I've never had a Sushi making class before, so hey why not. It was taught by Mineko Takane Moreno, she Co-authored "Sushi For Dummies" and you can buy that at almost any Barnes and Nobles, or you check it out from the Library. She was very informative and we learned a lot about making Sushi. For instance I thought it was called that because of the raw fish. I was wrong. It's because of the way they prepare the rice, that makes it "Sushi". It originated in Japan 2000 years ago as a way of preserving fish. The way that Sushi is now made and served has really only been around about 180 years. Street vendors in Japan made the small bite sized Sushi to be sold on the street and at sporting type events. We did a pretty good job for beginners. We learned to make 1) the Sushi Rice, 2) Tekka-Maki (sliced tuna rolls), 3) Kappa-Maki (cucumber sliced rolls with Shiso leaves (Japanese mint leaf) , 4) And my favorite of the day California Rolls. Rolling up the Sushi roll in the bamboo mat and making the rolls tight and even does take a bit of practice. They make it look so easy at the Sushi Bars, trust me it's not. We had fun making it, but both decided the best part of the class was eating the results! Have a great week everybody.