Relaxing at the Beach House

Despite a hectic week and being out of town for two days on business, I managed to squeeze in a little time to relax at the beach house. I enjoy hearing the roar of the ocean, it can be so calming. The rhythm of waves crashing has such a melodic pace. While I still prefer the desert climate, the beach house offers a respite from the intense heat of Palm Springs.
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Its easy to relax at the beach house with a nice refreshing cocktail! Our ever-loyal housekeeper, Mrs Danvers makes the most fantastic Mint Juleps when we are in San Diego. She makes them using Kentucky bourbon, organic sugar cane juice (instead of sugar) branch water, crushed ice, and fresh mint from the herb garden. (In Palm Springs she only serves Bombay Sapphire Gin and Tonics, so these are always a refreshing change). After a hard day at work, I quite like to sip my cocktail and listen to the seagulls call out to one another as they circle the coast searching for an evening meal. It only takes one or two Mint Juleps for me to unwind. They're a perfect way to relax before dinner and reflect on the day's events.

How she does it I'll never know...
One of the challenges of splitting time between the desert and the beach house is trying to keep both houses stocked with food; in particular fresh produce and perishables. Fortunately Mrs Danvers does most of the shopping and is quite good at making things work. She usually stocks the kitchen with a variety of organic fruits and vegetables and fresh cheeses. She also bakes the most fantastic herb breads, with fresh grown herbs from our garden.
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Dinner is served precisely within one hour of my arrival home, regardless of the hour. While I enjoy cooking, it's something I prefer to do on weekends; it's nice not to have to cook dinner on a week night. Somehow Mrs Danvers keeps up with my work schedule, keeps both houses running smoothly and never complains. (Well, she only really complains about that young Mrs DeWinter who I understand is just evil to the core...but that's a story for another day).

Being overcome by thirst, I can write no further.

-Rick Rockhill

The Pet Food Forum & Jesse Jackson...huh???

I'm in Chicago for a few days attending the Pet Food Forum, which is billed as a premier event for the pet food industry. It is a combination of informative seminars, technical presentations, a mini-trade show floor with suppliers, and plenty of networking opportunities (aka "schmoozing") with the main players in the pet industry.

Now that I've nearly put you to sleep, let me say that it's an interesting time to be here, with all the buzz about the continuing pet food recall. Plenty of sidebar conversations, hallway gossip, and theories abound.

My journey here yesterday was relatively uneventful, although once again, I could not understand who all those tacky people were crammed on my personal plane. I guess my private jet wasn't so private after all.

One interesting note was that on my not-so-private jet, the Reverend Jesse Jackson sat in the same row as me, across the aisle. Now I've never been impressed by Rev. Jackson, and I certainly don't agree with his politics but I must say, I was even less impressed with him after observing him in flight for nearly four hours. He seemed somewhat of an elitist, barking out orders to the flight attendants during the flight. Oddly enough, when I finally got my bag from luggage claim hell and made my way to the hotel, who did I run into at the hotel front desk? The Reverend Jesse Jackson! One of his people was checking him in while he waited off to the side. He seemed a little tired by this point, and I can't blame him after a long late night flight, even if it was all the free cocktails that were slowing him down. I didn't bother saying hello. I figured he wouldn't be much interested if he knew I am a fiscally conservative, log-cabin republican from Palm Springs with a fictitious British housekeeper named Mrs Danvers anyway.
-Rick Rockhill

Happy Holidays from the household staff

It's time for me to introduce the domestics, without whom I just could not manage. I want to publically thank them for their service and hardwork all year. Merry Christmas to you both!
Below on the left is Mrs Danvers, our loyal housekeeper who keeps both Palm Springs and San Diego homes running smoothly...she is utterly devoted to us. Below on the right is our faithful housemaid Mrs Smith, and her wild daughter, Shanaynay Smith who is visiting from Las Vegas for the holidays.

Amazingly, they still insist on calling me "Mr Rick Rockhill", even though I've told them they can call me just: "Mr Rockhill."