April 22 - April 28, 2012

	Monday April 23, 2012   Catarino is here at 7am and we will go out in the vineyard soon to confirm where the 2326 vines will actually be planted. It will be exciting. We have the passport event scheduled this weekend so all kinds of things are going through all of our minds. Also our Dave's Club shipment is going out today and we have to be prepared for Fed Ex to come. One time Fed Ex did not show up to pick up the boxes so we may have to call and wait for Tuesday. I made one of my best pizzas last night. I still need a challenge everyday of my life. BBQ pizza is a challenge! Ok I started with a pizza dough that was really moist. I could hardly handle it unless I grabbed a little flower. I rolled it out in a very thin dough and rolled up on a stick.....then rolled back off on to a stainless paddle which contained some Rice flower.....the best...I don't use corn meal. I scooted it back off on a very hot BBQ grill and covered it with olive oil. As soon as the olive oil started bursting I turned the dough over and covered the other side with more olive oil. In all, on this gas BBQ, it takes 4 minutes. I also have a commercial pizza oven that would have the pizza on the table by 7 minutes....long story....and not as much fun. Ok I have the pizza dough crisp on both sides....the olive oil has integrated with the crust. I now cover the middle with goat cheese and cilantro, Pat is not a fan of this big middle so that is mine. I cover the rest with a pizza sauce made from our garden tomatoes last year. Then top with what ever you want. Cook mostly indirectly on the BBQ checking the bottom to make sure it is not burning. I could go into more detail but use your imagination and experiment. On coals the whole operation would be quicker. On this grill I have to be patient because to do it right it can take 25 minutes. You have heard my rants before. Remember Best Buy and Manley Honda. Really I have not been too unhappy with DirecTv over the years but the last two days have really upset me. I have the luxury of having two DirecTv receivers in the same room. We call it the movie room. I have a nice projector, an 8 foot wide screen and a nice sound system similar to the winery. The problem is I am getting sound on some channels and not others. Everything was fine for months until I started to program the remote to operate the two receivers separately. The remote now is getting confused and sometimes does not work. It could be the processor....I have everything unplugged for now and will deal with it later. I have many things on my mind right now.  I have said before Nadal is one of my passions. I love to watch him play tennis. I love to here him strain so last night there was no sound in the movie room for what I had recorded SO I had to go downstairs and watch in the office. Why was there sound in the office and not upstairs? The mystery continues.    8:00 Pm: What a day...I won't go into it. It would take too long. The DirecTv problem took up two hours of my time and the agents were wonderful. They tried everything even though I said it could be a processor problem. I won't mention the brand but the processor was blocking some surround modes....long story. The tennis channel does not like Dolby Digital but does like DTS.....figure that out!! This is a long story so I will finish now. I know how to get sound. Catarino and I finally got out in the vineyard and had a great conversation at about 2 pm. I rejected him until that time because of way too many things to deal with including DirecTv and our phone line going dead for 30 minutes. Fed Ex picked up all the wine!! Also my Mother wants to be on her own again with no care givers...a concern for Lynda and I. She is doing better but is she capable to provide for everything? We will see. My partial knee replacement is scheduled for May 9 so I will have more to say soon.   Tuesday April 24, 2012 Some of us have been married for many years....... Pat does not read this diary very often and when she does she does not read for awhile after that so sometimes I can get away with insignificant things. This should be insignificant and I know it is to most of you. As you know I am trying to get ice every night. I am always successful because it is important to me. I usually get what I want BUT how easy is it??? Some of you who have read this diary recently know I have a frig upstairs which does not make ice consistently and I want to get it replaced. Go back and see in the diary if you want more static......this ice maker is A....P....SH...... I won't go there. OK I asked Pat to let me bring up the not as glamorous frig from the garage which makes perfect ice easy to put a great deal in a glass for sparkling water and an occasional Tequila....only once a week. So she says NO! Ok I will deal with it because she is my best friend. I now have to go down to the basement with a bucket....collect some ice from the frig that produces ice easily and carry it up stairs.....and dispense it into the bad ice maker. The good news is when the bad ice maker is not on........the auger in it dispenses ice just fine......The bottom line is I will deal with it......Ice is important late at night! 11:00 Pm: As some of you know I can get gruff at times...irritated...I usually get over it in a short time....if it is insignificant....some times it is difficult. I went off to Costco.... no problems.....went off to the bank....no problems....then off to Safeway not expecting any problems. I head into the parking lot at Safeway. Usually there is no problem...it is a tight space to get in and out of spaces.....then just as I am getting in someone stops right in front of me abruptly. Seriously right in front of the store and we all had to stop on both sides.....she took up a lot of room. So I raised my hands up to the top of my head and she saw me....so she gives me the finger!!! Believe this...it took me at least 5 minutes to get into a parking space because of all the commotion.... people trying to get into the parking lot and not retreating very quickly because we were backing up and maneuvering. I finally get into a parking space and I see her come out with a cart from Safeway....you know the ones that someone debilitated can travel on. I look at the curb and there actually is a yellow stripe in front of it....does that mean loading zone....right in the main traffic area. I head into the market and hope to see her and give her a piece of my mind....a few minutes later I am over it but then I see her. She is with a dilapidated very old man. I feel sorry...but she says: "We deal with what we have to". I said: "Too bad". I don't know what I meant and either does she.  Life goes on. Wednesday April 25, 2012 Preparing for the Passport event this weekend is taking up most of our time now. When Catarino has time he has been out in the vineyard planting some of our 2326 new vines. It sprinkled yesterday so I will be out sulfuring Friday. The vines are bursting with green and Catarino says it looks like a big crop. Time will tell. Thursday April 26, 2012 There is so much on my mind I could not type fast enough or have the time. Like I have said before, my mind is always thinking. Sure I am happy Amazon and Apple are up in the stock market but I have more important things that actually upset me. Years ago, 1997 an owner of a bottling line told me he thought in 10 years, most wine would be sealed in screwcap. He was wrong. I am so disappointed when I read today that consumers are still so ignorant to the fact...... screwcaped wines are superior. It isn't just consumers, many winery owners and some winemakers believe it too. I read today in one of my rags about the industry that natural cork is preferred still to this day by 94% of consumers because it depicts a better wine and they thought it was more important than where it was produced. Who are these uneducated people? So I have started to think about getting out in the world again after about 10 years. I know I said I needed a change. I have signed up for two events to pour and maybe more and I will talk about great wine and screwcaps are part of it. Somebody I respect came by today and he doesn't read my diary so I can relate......said he had his knee replaced 5 years ago. He looks like a tough guy. He warned me I would have a really hard recovery and went on and on again......all including Pat laughed when I tried to relate....I like pain. Of course I didn't really say pain but I related the story about my Appendicitis.  Then............. http://www.coffaro.com/diary/30_31_32_33_2007.html I digress more tomorrow...........
	Dave david@coffaro.com
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