Amy & Garth Wed In Scenic Carmel Valley!
- James Marriott
 
Amy and Garth are soul mates. You can see it when the two of them are together. They are made for each other. On May 17, 1997 they were officially joined as a couple in a beautiful wedding ceremony that I was honored to attend.
 
When I first met Amy fours years ago she was just staring to date Garth. They were set up by his bother Mark, whom Amy had worked with in a teen center while in college. Mark felt that Amy and Garth would make a great couple and how right he was.

Amy moved to Monterey last June after they had become engaged to be married. They bought a little fixer upper house and put a lot of sweat and tears into fixing it up this past year.

The wedding was at Holman Ranch in the Carmel Valley. It is a great place to get married. The ceremony part took place on a grassy knoll overlooking the hills (the ranch itself is up in the hills as well) around it.

Amy, along with her bridesmaids looked incredible. Garth and his large entourage looked dapper in their tuxedos.

The weather was a bit hot, record temps for the area, but after the wedding ceremony we moved to shadier grounds and were welcomed by Mango Margaritas and other cold beverages.

After socializing for a while dinner was served and afterwards we were treated to a video that Amy and Garth's parents put together featuring pictures of Amy and Garth as they grew up. This came as a complete surprise to Amy and Garth as neither were aware of this.

Dancing rounded out the night and then some of us headed to the hotel where Amy, Garth and her parents were staying for a few more drinks and more talk.

Amy and Garth honeymooned in Costa Rica for two weeks, away from here, away from all worries, and together alone at last!

A Tragedy and Personal Responsibility.! – Spike

 The recent accident at Concord’s Water World was a tragedy. A bright young girl was killed during a stupid, but what they thought was harmless stunt or prank.

Losing a child, especially one so young is a parent’s nightmare. In life, parents are supposed to die before their children. You expect at some time that your parents are going to die. I don't think many parents plan on seeing their children die.

Quimby Ghilotti and thirty or so of her friends and fellow students decided to end the day at the water park by "clogging" the slide, a feat that past classes had done, and this year they wanted to beat the record number of students on the slide at one time.

We all know what happened, the side gave way and 32 students were injured, Quimby died from her injuries. Again, this saddens me. No harm was intended, my roommates Pam and Jamie said they would often do the same thing at the Manteca water slides during their high school years. Manteca’s slides though are built on a dirt foundation.

So what do you do though when your daughter is killed in such an accident? Sue of course. Sue the park, sue the city and sue anyone who may have been responsible for this tragedy. Wrong!

I know Quimby’s parents are hurting, I know they would like to have her back with them. I would like this for them too, but it is not going to happen.

The Ghilotti family and the families of all of those injured need to realize that sung the city and the park will not help them. It is just the normal reaction of today’s society. Sue, Sue, Sue!

I am fed up with people today suing over everything. They need to take personal responsibility for them selves and their family.

The students are the ones to blame for this, they on their own chose to try this stunt, they themselves went past the signs indicating only one rider on the slide at the time, they themselves went past the teenage lifeguard who tried to stop them, who blew her whistle at them.

Unless there is clear negligence, I feel we should own up to what life deals us. If I fall off of a stairway am I going to sue them because I slipped? No. Should someone sue if they do something stupid and get hurt? No. Do they? Yes, and too damned often!

It seems that the time when one took pride in him self, felt that they should be moral and civic is long gone. Everybody is out for a quick buck. Slice your finger cutting a bagel? Sue! Crash your Sea Doo while riding dumb? Sue! Just sue away, cost all of us millions of dollars each year with lame lawsuits.

Spike, when is ok to sue? I do believe there is a time and place to sue. When you or your family is maliciously hurt by someone something while they were doing whatever they were doing in the right manner.

If you are going down a water slide, one at a time and it collapse, ok, I don’t have a problem, sue. Another classic example of when I believe you should sue involves one my friends. A drunk driver hit him while he was riding his bicycle. His neck and head will never be the same, nor will he for that sake.

He was not in the wrong in any way. He did not chose to have a drunken driver to get behind he wheel and drive on the same road as him. He did not ride his bike across a freeway full of traffic. He rode his bike down a country road.

Be responsible for yourself. If you screw up, face up to what you have done. Don't try and blame someone or something else. We all pay for that, we all lose.
 
 
 
 

 One Red Hen.... –Spike

  It took until nearly July for the ‘gang’ to get out on the water for the first time in 1997. Pretty sad, I’d say, but we made it.

Our trip this year was up to North Lake Berryessa to a "cabin" located on the edge of Puda Creek. The cabin was ‘rustic’ to say the least. It was a two-story deal on the side of a steep hill. The upper/main level consisted of one big square room that had a kitchen at one side and the living room making up the balance. The lower level consisted on two bedrooms and the second of two bathrooms.

Access to the cabin from the water was a challenge. We launched our PWC down river and made it about 75 % the back before we hit a problem, the water was only a foot or so deep and there were big boulders in the water! We had to walk our craft's trough this 100’ section and then continue riding to the cabin. Once at the cabin we had a 300’ walk up a steep hill, but all in all it was a fun weekend.

We (The Press’ster) made many pitchers of margaritas, Jeff Cannata entertained us with the guitar and his college drinking games (therefor the title of this article) and the kids had fun in the water.

This trip also served as a chance for us to meet and plan for our Shasta trip. After much debate (diet or regular?) we came up with some good ideas. I still Liked Kevin’s idea, in order to save space and keep the load down, the women should share one make-up collection. Once again, a mans bright idea was shot down.
 
 
 
 
 

Less of Me? – Spike

Many of your were and/or still unaware that I have lost a lot of weight lately. My buddies Mike and Kirk were telling me about this diet while we were in Tahoe this past March.

The diet is Dr. Atkins "New Diet Revolution" and is a low-carbohydrate base diet. Many of you may have heard of it or The Zone. (The Zone is slightly different and not as easy, nor as fast)

After much skepticism and debating with Mike and Kirk I told them I would try the diet, as I had nothing to lose (except weight) as there was nothing special to buy other than the book ($6.95).

I bought the book, read most of it and as it recommended I went and got my cholesterol levels checked for a baseline and bought vitamin supplements before I started on it. My cholesterol levels were high as were my tri-glycerides.

In mid-April I began the diet and in the time since I have lost over thirty pounds! I was at an all time high of 237 pounds and I am now hovering around 200. My goal is in the 180’s.

Many people have asked me about this diet, and in short, when you eat carbs, your body will release insulin to store it until later. Well if you don’t burn all of those carbs it will at some point become fat. You body will burn carbs before it will burn fat making it hard to ever get to that fat burning process.

As I eat less carbs in a day that is in a Coke, my body does not release much insulin, therefor not storing those carbs for future fat, but it is burning those few carbs quickly and then it burns it’s next choices, fat and protein.

This is my lame, condensed version, if you are interested in it more, pick up the book for more details. Let me say this though, I am eating less now, but I am eating as much as I want to, I am never hungry, I rarely have cravings and I am feeling better then I have in ten years!

Thanks Mike and Kirk, and yes, you told me so!
 
 
 
 

The Spike Times is now on the Web! –Spike

By the time this issue comes out I will have al the least, this issue published on my Web site. We have been working around the clock on the web site, and since none of us had ever made a web site, it has been a slow, learning process.

Why would you want to check out our web site?

• There will be pictures available. I am about the gain access to a nice color scanner, and a friend loaned me his little picture scanner a short time ago and I was able to scan in some already.
• Back issues will become available as time allows.
• Links to cool sites
• And there will be some "web only" features found on the site that will not make to print.

What’s the address? Well for now it is, are you ready? There is no WWW in this address.

It is:
www.spiketimes.com

Tidbits.... –Spike

Hal & Jackie just sold their house in Concord.... Dave Clary has been Mr. Jet Set, flying back and forth to Chicago for eti / B of A related work.... Courtney is home for the summer, and looking for a job....

Jeff and I have made it to a couple concerts, Vince Gill and Steve Miller, both were great.... Rumor has it Eileen has found a new job....

Matt Bowman tore up the Little League this year, hitting a few home runs.... Michelle Bowman is growing up to be quite a beautiful little girl....

Jeanna bought a new car after sinking way too much into her old one, Amanda loves her Uncle Joe-Joe, and he loves her....

Yours truly is taking some computer networking courses at the local JC here....

My roommate Harold’s sister is visiting her from Holland.... working on her tan....
 

The latest issue of "PWC News" from the Dept. Of Boating & Waterways is out, and I have two articles in it. Let me know if you want a copy.... The Jet-Ski safety video I was involved in is out too.... Copies are available....