Drug question of the day: What is Derbisol? (As asked by the Mrs.)

I wonder how long it would have taken me to answer that question in the days before google. The delinquents were obviously taking a standardized test. Mrs. Lasko told them: "If you've never heard of it, you probably haven't taken it," to which one replied: "I've taken a lot of stuff I've never heard of." Mrs. Lasko then told them the truth, forever messing up all those illicit drug use statistics you hear all the time.

To keep the Thingnamers interested: Derbisol sounds like a fake drug name to me...but that might be because I know all (well maybe not all, but nearly all) real drug names. The biggest problem with the name is that it sounds nothing like a drug of abuse. The -sol suffix is quite popular among hemorrhoid treatments (Proctosol, Anusol) otic treatments (Vosol, Acetasol), and parenteral nutrition (Travasol, Normosol, Hepatasol).

If you're still reading: here's a cool list of fictitious drug names. When I have more time, I'll go through and determine which ones are well named fake drugs.

Slow day at work today. As it's too early to send people home early, I'll try to get some staff to take extended (unpaid) lunches. As further proof that there is little upside in trying to be funny, here's the email I sent to the crew. (I'll post replies as they come in).

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Extended Lunch Today?

The successful applicant will:

1) Provide scheduled lunch start/end times
2) Provide proposed (extended) lunch start/end times
3) Use no portion of extended lunch for needlepointing, needlepoint instruction, or the purchase and/or barter of needlepointing works and/or needlepointing supplies.
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#1)
scheduled lunch start/end times: 10:30-11AM
Provide proposed (extended) lunch start/end times: 11:15AM-1:15PM
CHESECAKE FACTORY HERE I COME!!!
P.S. PLEASE DON’T DENY MY REQUEST, YOU WILL BE FURTHERING MY DEPRESSION IF YOU DO.
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#2)
Lasko does not like it if your extended lunch has anything to do with expensive handbags.
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#3)
Ok.
1/ 11:30-12pm
2/ 11:30-2pm
3/ ?? Not domesticated like that.
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#4)
1) 12:30-1pm
2) 12:30- 2
3) Will cross stitch and buy cross stitching suppplies
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#5)
RPh: 11am to 1pm

Me: Please follow directions

RPh: Keep it simple, my friend.
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#6)
my lunch 12:45pm-1:15pm
propose 11:30am-1:30pm
??? ??? ??? !!!!
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#7)
Ditto for me whatever xxx e-mailed! Wahooo. Lunch at Cheesecake. I love extended lunches.
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99 bottles of beer on the wall

I used to have this theory that if one buys a rack for compact disc storage, one will quickly buy more compact discs to fill up said rack...requiring the purchase of a second (and third, and fourth) rack to make room for the additional CDs. My CD buying habit has been somewhat curbed in the last decade or so, but Nico and I must have >400 discs between us; (I know this because the 300 disc changer is full, even after removal of the music Nico would not want anyone else to know she owns). Obviously, CD storage is not really a problem anymore (I only keep the jewel boxes for nostalgic purposes...I suppose I only keep the 300 disc changer for nostalgic purposes, as well).

Wine storage however is another story. We have now filled: 1 small wine refrigerator (20+ bottles that we cannot afford to drink), 1 under the stairs wooden rack (80+ bottles as assembled by Nico), 1 old rusted metal thing that I painted green during pharmacy school, and has now begun to rust again after sitting in the garage for the last 5 years (15 bottles).

With the storage problem in mind, I have entered into full drinking mode. Maybe not full drinking mode...in full drinking mode, I would move to Las Vegas with my wine collection, and finish it all in 6 weeks. But I am forcing myself (and Nico, though Nico does not require much forcing) to drink a glass of wine a day. At this rate, we should be out of wine in about a year and a half (assuming a mild re-purchase rate).

So far, we have emptied:
1) Sterling Rutherford Carbernet (2004). Pretty solid cab for the price; it's on sale at Bevmo right now. I would buy more, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

2) Some organic red table wine...we suffered through a few sips before deciding it belonged down the sink. I think someone brought it to a wine party we had a couple of years ago. Note to winemakers: Nobody really wants sulfite free wine, they just think they do.

3) Bonny Doon Anglianico (2002). The 2002 was an Italian import; Better than I would have guessed, it tasted a lot like a typical Bonny Doon wine: Rhoney.

4) Bonny Doon Anglianico (2004). The 2004 was made with California grapes...we opened this one immediately after finishing the 2004, for a weird horizontal/vertical effect; I guess that would be a diagonal. Following the 2002, this bottle struck me as kind of light and fruity, but the next day (when tasted on its own), it also tasted Rhoney.

If you want to look at my feet, say so....but don't be a God-damned sneak about it.


Jacket required, tie optional; but since I had been waiting for an occasion to wear my new Brook's Brothers suit, I thought I would overdress a little for dinner at the French Laundry. Unfortunately, my one pair of dress shoes, which were not new at my wedding, got a little beat up in the suitcase. Even more unfortunate, after walking around Yountville for a few blocks, my shoes officially made the transition from "beat up" to falling apart. Fortunately, I was able to adeptly hide under the table cloth (at least until we were well into wine #2, at which point I no longer cared what my shoes looked like).

I vowed not to take any pictures during dinner...if that's what you're looking for, or an in depth review of each course, you can easily find photo-crazy people here and here. I did snap a (blurry) Juke photo of the SNAKE RIVER FARMS “CALOTTE DE BŒUF GRILLÉE”...it was not my favorite course, but it was in the top 3 or 4...and the mini brussel sprouts from the garden out front were the best vegetable I have ever eaten.


Conversation with Nico during the steak course:
Me: You should totally get an order of these brussel sprouts.
Nico: There were only two of them, a whole order would cost a fortune.
Me: No it won't. They'll only bring you four of them, though.

I had another Juke photo of Nico trying to drink the "coffee" that came with the coffee and doughnuts, but it proved to be too blurry to post. Seriously, did she think the 5th spoon they brought us was just for show? So instead, here's a picture I took in the courtyard during a much needed break after course 4.


Was it the best meal I have ever had? Absolutely.

Was it worth $800? Only if it's possible for dinner (for two) to be worth $800.

Was the experience life changing? I don't know about life changing, but it has been difficult to go back to that stuff the rest of you call food...

Our First (Organized) Century

Yountville, CA (5/4/08, 6:45 AM)

A staggered start at the Napa Valley Tour de Cure allowed us to avoid most of the early morning traffic (there were fewer than 10 single bikes listening to the pre-ride instructions with us). Tour volunteers (and the Yountville Police Department) forced us to stop at every stop sign in the deserted town of Yountville, making for a very slow first couple of miles.

Easy Napa Valley rollers marked the first 20 miles up Highway 29 through Calistoga, followed by a short climb (we were passed by many single bikes) up 128 to Sonoma County and a long descent (we passed no single bikes) into the Alexander Valley.

We hit the 50 mile mark at Ridge (Lytton Springs), but the stoker would not let us stop; I guess it was only 10 AM, and they would not have been open for another hour.

The hill (128 again) was a little steeper on the way back into Napa Valley (we were passed by many more single bikes); immediately after crossing back into Napa County, I noticed that in Sonoma they are far better at maintaining their roads. My only mishap during the 100 mile ride involved running over a water bottle (both stoker and I hope it was filled with water) to avoid two giant potholes.

More Napa Valley rollers and a strong headwind (more single bikes passing us) made the 20 or 25 miles down the Silverado Trail rather unpleasant. Finally we turned back onto 29 (with the wind behind us), and rode the final 5 miles at 25+ MPH (passing over 50 singles, though many of them were doing the 50 or 25 mile rides).

Pedaling time: 6:15
Total time: 7:15

We stopped at every rest stop, but still made it back in time for tasting at Domaine Chandon (next door to the Veterans' Home) and Milat Vineyards (where we were staying), and dinner at the French Laundry.

No other tandems on the 100 mile ride (I saw two doing the shorter routes). Next up: a mere 100K at the Long Beach Tour.

Someone with more time on his hands than Nicole:


Some guy is removing Garfield from old Garfield comics.

Check out Mother Jones for better "Garfield Minus Garfield" commentary than I will bother writing.

I can no longer remember what it's like to not be thirsty.

Via tandem in 93 degree weather: 50 miles to my childhood home in Monrovia, then back again.

Still exhausted during sailing class yesterday morning, Nico kept waking me from my slumber...everytime a wave hit the dock she'd yell: "Somebody's here!"

Protest against $4/gallon gas

(Alternative title was: I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars). I am surprised to learn that song is not Cake, but merely a Cake ripoff.

I have been telling myself for a few months that I would start bicycling to work as soon as gas hit $4/gallon. I had held off for the last couple of fill ups by going to Arco, but my mileage is considerably crappier with Arco gas than any other major brand (with the possible exception of Valero), so I decided to spring for the $4.089/gallon at Shell (premium). That is the last time I am spending $60 to fill my pseudo-economy (maybe I could have done without the turbo charger?) car.

Note to Nico: We will be bicycling up to Napa next weekend.


Reader Poll: Am I underdressed for a meeting with the vice president?


Nostalgic cycling story: I used to bicycle to school with my hands in my pockets; I'm sure I fell over a lot, but I do not recall ever crashing with my hands in my pockets. Today, my balance must be much worse, as riding with no hands has become exceedingly difficult (especially when the person sitting behind you is yelling at you to stop swerving).

As seen on TV

Alternative title was: "For when you have absolutely nothing to do"

So you've already taken "The OC" tour of Newport Beach. [Did my tax dollars pay for that pdf?]

Maybe you followed that up with a tour of the real "The OC". Did we really do that? I think we had taken the tandem to the world famous Venice Beach Boardwalk, or something...but I can't be expected to remember anything from Season 3.

But you most certainly have not done the Magical Arrested Development Tour (or the Magical Arrested Development Tour Part II).

It's April 21st, and everybody says today is Earth Day...

I must admit, I also thought this song was "Green"...I guess it's anti-environmentalist, and not anti-environment. That's sort of green.

…“What Are We Gonna Do?” parodied late–period Beatles pop to cynically skewer the bumper-sticker mentality of all-too-many armchair environmentalists. “I still don’t think people get it,” notes [frontman] John Easdale. “Environmental people listen to it and think, “Wow, this guy is really ‘Green’!” It disturbs me to think that there really are people who believe that they’re ‘spokesperson for a generation.’”

Easdale recalls the song’s genesis: “We played at the festival celebrating the 20th anniversary of Earth Day. Forget about the last 19 that nobody celebrated; ‘It’s the 20th anniversary, let’s have a party!’ And they did, at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Linda Gray from Dallas is in our trailer smoking cigarettes and drinking beers, and there’s a quarter of a fucking million people in front of us! When everyone left, we looked at all the garbage left behind and wondered just what we were celebrating.”

Wondering why John Easdale used April 21st, instead of April 22nd...I had thought Earth Day was always celebrated on a Sunday, but it appears I was incorrect about that, as well. 4/21/1990 was a Saturday; that sounds like a good day for a party in Golden Gate Park. I suppose you cannot expect anti-environmentalists to know when Earth Day is.

Side Note: Anybody catch the Dramarama Bands Reunited? You may have noticed: John Easdale and my mother are neighbors...you may have also noticed that Jodn Easdales house is crappier than my mother's.