I'm very limited when it comes to internet time lately :(
But there will be stories to come!
Stay tuned for a fantastical tale of adventure that takes place in a backwoods mountain community, with a terminally ill poodle making an otherwordly leap that may or may not change the fortunes of one of the heroes in the ongoing saga known as all aKIMbo.
Big bonus points if you figure out the ending of this untold story, based only on the title of this post. Yeah Jarad, you're probably the only one I'm talking to.
Free Til Tuesday (when my new job starts)
Fish and I went sailing on his boat Friday evening.Saturday, we sanded the El Toro. It had a red hull, white interior, and black foredeck. Under the black paint was blue paint, with white stars! If he kept those colors I'd suggest naming the dink "Scud." You know, in the spirit of naming boats after instruments of war, right?
Sunday Mocha joined Fish and I to meet my dad, Nan, Brian, the Kayak Grrrlz (not the Twins, but even more identifiable by their love of kayaking) Thad, and a nice cell biology student named Jared up in the Cascades. We mixed concrete and measured things. Everyone was really excited about making the cabin happen.
Farrell-thon?
Does anyone else see that Will Farrell in Stranger Than Fiction looks exactly like a young Tom Waits? This movie was great, and the first one I'd seen where he was serious. Months ago, after listening to an interview with him on NPR, I developed new respect for the actor as a person, and this movie supports that feeling. ok but i'm still annoyed by too much Spoon. I can only take them in small doses. I think it's from watching their yawn-inspiring set at Bumbershoot 2 years ago - the heroin chic lead singer's performance made palatable only by David Cross dancing around like a fool during the instrumental parts.
I'm getting my movie fix by staying over a few nights this week at the Kayak Twins' houseboat.
They are delivering a 47' yacht named Bright Ayes to New Jersey from the Bahamas.
Yesterday Fish bought a wooden El Toro sailing dinghy. We're going to fix it up, paint it light blue and maybe name it after me! Orange letters with gold trim!
Nickle just sent me a pic he took of me at Ohana last week. The guys really liked the cyborg eye thing I had going on.
I'm getting my movie fix by staying over a few nights this week at the Kayak Twins' houseboat.
They are delivering a 47' yacht named Bright Ayes to New Jersey from the Bahamas.Yesterday Fish bought a wooden El Toro sailing dinghy. We're going to fix it up, paint it light blue and maybe name it after me! Orange letters with gold trim!
Nickle just sent me a pic he took of me at Ohana last week. The guys really liked the cyborg eye thing I had going on.
Bananas & Boats are OK
The decision to quit my job came about due to a few different factors. Finding a liveaboard slip for my sailboat allowed me to out of my place in Georgetown, which is where the wine warehouse is located. When I moved to Georgetown last fall, thanks to Fluffz hooking me up with his bandmates who owned a nice house there, I went to Craigslist jobs and typed "Georgetown" in the search field and applied to the first decent job that came up. It worked out wonderfully and I was able to ride my bike to and from work every day. Lately I've been searching Craigslist jobs in two ways - "Boats" or "Ballard." The boats search brings up more viable prospects. Let's face it - I'm 34 and although far more capable of office work or any typical non-skilled/tradeswork position requiring special schooling than most office monkeys, my resume doesn't reflect it. My resume reflects what I'm more proud of - boat stuff. In fact my objective even states too truthfully that my passions are equally divided between maritime culture and promoting community. Therefore it's the boat related employers that have responded the most.
I had an interview with WestMarine scheduled. I don't know why... I guess for the discount? I canceled it. There's been a few offers from old employers at the University of Washington as well. The most interesting prospect so far is a position as captain for a small locally owned ferry. Over the last year it became apparent that I was hesitant to work as a captain. Afraid of success, maybe? Insecure about my abilities? I'm not sure. I am sure that I've been disappointed with my lack of ambitious pursuit of a job that I specifically trained for. For the first interview, I did not dress up nor try very hard to impress them. I went to gauge their interest in me and I them. That interview was fun and I answered the questions well enough. They called me back for a 2nd interview and I got excited. Here's where I now go off on a tangent and promote a retail store...
I have no nice clothes. The tattoos and lack of unprofessional clothes/haircuts keep me from working in offices and the usual uptight places. But I wanted to look good for the 2nd interview. I got off work at 2pm and my interview was at 3pm. I walked into the first decent clothing store I passed Banana Republic. My black pants and low heels were in my backpack, but I needed a collared shirt, and couldn't find a plain white one there to save my life. Then this girl offers to help, and we find a perfect shirt, I try it on and she says a large is too big for me and gets a medium. I tell her my situation - interviewing in 20 minutes. She offers to steam the shirt for me and allows me to change in the dressing room I walk out with probably the most expensive shirt I've ever owned ($63) but worth every penny for such great service. Sorry sweatshop kids, Banana Republic has a customer for life.
Three other men were being interviewed at the same time, by different boat captains. My impression was that all of these men had done work in Alaska or in the Merchant Marine. My guess is that they were all more experienced than I. Instantly I felt guilty - what if I get this job because I'm younger and female and all smiles, regardless of my time at the helm, and they remained jobless? Worse yet, what if they had families to support and were out of work due to the shitty economy or not enough fish or physical problems taking them out of the harder jobs/locations/boats? The saltier interviewees wore jeans and alaskan fishing jackets. I arrived in slacks, heels, and a shirt that fit a little too well if I wasn't in the mood to accentuate my femininity. I kind of felt like a joke, or a hypocrite. After all there's a reason I don't own shirts that nice.
That interview went just OK I thought. I walked to the Starbucks next door and changed into my jeans and teeshirt. I figured there was no way I'd get this job with my limited time at the helm. Back on the boat I put the shirt in a plastic ziplock and squeezed all the air out. Owning things of value stresses me out.
Yesterday they called and asked for a final interview. I'm not working now so it was easy to arrange - I considered ironing or drycleaning the nice shirt but instead went for something a little more low key - a $14 outfit from Goodwill consisting of olive corduroys and a USED Banana Republic striped button down. I changed in their dressing room and just took the tags to the counter. Yes I'm gross I didn't even wash them first. They were clean! This interview went much better than the first two. At one point one of the men interviewing me said "You know I have to ask, everyone says 'Have you met Kim? She's great- you have to meet Kim!' but what I'm really concerned about is your availability..." And I thought wow, that's really cool. I guess I did better than I thought at the other interviews. At the end they said they'd call me tomorrow, so it looks promising.
That's it. That's my interview story. Are you still reading? If so, maybe you should think about how you spend your time.
But wait I have movie reviews and a picture.
KNOCKED UP is so well done. So funny. Great script, good acting!
ELIZABETHTOWN is OK. I cried a lot for some odd reason. Actually I cried a lot in Knocked up too (???). My hormones are a little intense this week judging by that and the fill of my bra.
300 is epic in both a cool and sometimes hilarious way.
The first hour of ANCHORMAN is pretty funny. As a person Christina A. seems cool but she's always sucked as an actress. Will Farrell is flawless. Paul Rudd is adorable. I used to confuse him with Campbell Scott for some reason.
oh! and THE JERK is pretty freakin great.
Lastly, here's a picture of my friend Rick's driver's licenses throughout his life. This isn't his finest work, but it's true that he is an artist. Maybe his funniest work in print.
I had an interview with WestMarine scheduled. I don't know why... I guess for the discount? I canceled it. There's been a few offers from old employers at the University of Washington as well. The most interesting prospect so far is a position as captain for a small locally owned ferry. Over the last year it became apparent that I was hesitant to work as a captain. Afraid of success, maybe? Insecure about my abilities? I'm not sure. I am sure that I've been disappointed with my lack of ambitious pursuit of a job that I specifically trained for. For the first interview, I did not dress up nor try very hard to impress them. I went to gauge their interest in me and I them. That interview was fun and I answered the questions well enough. They called me back for a 2nd interview and I got excited. Here's where I now go off on a tangent and promote a retail store...
I have no nice clothes. The tattoos and lack of unprofessional clothes/haircuts keep me from working in offices and the usual uptight places. But I wanted to look good for the 2nd interview. I got off work at 2pm and my interview was at 3pm. I walked into the first decent clothing store I passed Banana Republic. My black pants and low heels were in my backpack, but I needed a collared shirt, and couldn't find a plain white one there to save my life. Then this girl offers to help, and we find a perfect shirt, I try it on and she says a large is too big for me and gets a medium. I tell her my situation - interviewing in 20 minutes. She offers to steam the shirt for me and allows me to change in the dressing room I walk out with probably the most expensive shirt I've ever owned ($63) but worth every penny for such great service. Sorry sweatshop kids, Banana Republic has a customer for life.
Three other men were being interviewed at the same time, by different boat captains. My impression was that all of these men had done work in Alaska or in the Merchant Marine. My guess is that they were all more experienced than I. Instantly I felt guilty - what if I get this job because I'm younger and female and all smiles, regardless of my time at the helm, and they remained jobless? Worse yet, what if they had families to support and were out of work due to the shitty economy or not enough fish or physical problems taking them out of the harder jobs/locations/boats? The saltier interviewees wore jeans and alaskan fishing jackets. I arrived in slacks, heels, and a shirt that fit a little too well if I wasn't in the mood to accentuate my femininity. I kind of felt like a joke, or a hypocrite. After all there's a reason I don't own shirts that nice.
That interview went just OK I thought. I walked to the Starbucks next door and changed into my jeans and teeshirt. I figured there was no way I'd get this job with my limited time at the helm. Back on the boat I put the shirt in a plastic ziplock and squeezed all the air out. Owning things of value stresses me out.
Yesterday they called and asked for a final interview. I'm not working now so it was easy to arrange - I considered ironing or drycleaning the nice shirt but instead went for something a little more low key - a $14 outfit from Goodwill consisting of olive corduroys and a USED Banana Republic striped button down. I changed in their dressing room and just took the tags to the counter. Yes I'm gross I didn't even wash them first. They were clean! This interview went much better than the first two. At one point one of the men interviewing me said "You know I have to ask, everyone says 'Have you met Kim? She's great- you have to meet Kim!' but what I'm really concerned about is your availability..." And I thought wow, that's really cool. I guess I did better than I thought at the other interviews. At the end they said they'd call me tomorrow, so it looks promising.
That's it. That's my interview story. Are you still reading? If so, maybe you should think about how you spend your time.
But wait I have movie reviews and a picture.
KNOCKED UP is so well done. So funny. Great script, good acting!
ELIZABETHTOWN is OK. I cried a lot for some odd reason. Actually I cried a lot in Knocked up too (???). My hormones are a little intense this week judging by that and the fill of my bra.
300 is epic in both a cool and sometimes hilarious way.
The first hour of ANCHORMAN is pretty funny. As a person Christina A. seems cool but she's always sucked as an actress. Will Farrell is flawless. Paul Rudd is adorable. I used to confuse him with Campbell Scott for some reason.
oh! and THE JERK is pretty freakin great.
Lastly, here's a picture of my friend Rick's driver's licenses throughout his life. This isn't his finest work, but it's true that he is an artist. Maybe his funniest work in print.
Down in a hole (in a good way...)
Last night I spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Jimmie McManis,* getting updates on all the tallshippy haps. He's on Linx* right now with a guy named Craig as relief captain, whom he loves, and M.Kelick as regular captain. Plus some good and bad eggs from all over on deck. He's only been there a week and there's already trouble. Not caused by him, though. As he put it, it mostly has to do with "VAGINA" (some guys are getting none, some guys are getting more than they agreed to). Anyway, he's on for this summer's west coast events and it'll be great to see everyone up here.
Week in review:
Last Saturday, with the help of Nan, Brian, Fish and KT1, my new home was delivered to a marina in Seattle, where I now live aboard. It wasn't easy. Going west across the Sound was easy, on the smooth-bottomed Newport 30 captained by Brian. Cold, but easy. Comparatively, anyway. We arrived at my boat and rigged the derelict-looking girl with found objects, then back to the Newport for tea and cocoa before beginning a true slog north. Once out of the ferry lane and flukey winds in Eagle Harbor, we found this girl points at... about... 60 degrees? Yeah. To her credit, she needs a rig tune, new sails, and comments were definitely made about how we were carrying our very own Rocky Coastline/Shellfish Restaurant below the waterline. Right off we looked over and saw clusters of mussels bigger than my head. My brilliant idea was to scrape the windward sides with one end of a pole while heeled. Which maybe accomplished sloughing 1/100th of the growth.
At this point we realized that the little critters might actually be helping to keep the rudder and keel attached to my vessel, so we abandoned the sloughing and spent the next 6 hours beating OFF the wind, no sexual innuendo intended. Three hours into it the crew on my boat completely lost morale when we looked across the Sound and saw the Eagle Harbor buoys slightly north of our position. To my credit as captain I did manage to find the most effective trim position - main sheeted fully to WINDWARD and giant genny leading as far aft and tight as she could go. That might give you an idea as too how stretched the mainsl was. The most important thing was that we made it. My crew disappeared before I could blink one eye and I sat there, tired but relieved. Now I sleep aboard and it is cold, but I am happy. That might have something to do with quitting my job too, but it feels really good to wake up at the marina and just be on a boat all the time again.
So I trained the new guy how to deliver wine, and on Friday the boys and I went to Ohana for pupus and blue hawaiians. Saturday night I bartended for a few hours at Old Engine Adrian's "May The Fourth Be With You" party (it was on the 10th this year). That was good fun but I regret not wearing a costume. I didn't even know it was a costume party until earlier that day when I took the time to actually read the bulletin to find the address. Then again, Adrian wasn't even wearing a costume. He was sporting a big shiner courtesy of the dumpster kicking his ass, though. Leah* successfully pulled off a look that artfully combined a 1920's pin-up flapper girl with Raquel Welch's character in One Million Years BC. At 11pm a bearded lady took over my bartending position and a little while later I took off. Adrian had an awesome setup down in Georgetown, with bonfire, stage and shows, smoke machine, stage lights and effects, plenty to drink and even a giant rented steaming hot tub. The party was scheduled to go on until 9am but honestly, I'm not much of a partier. Wish I was sometimes. I've never had much stamina for endless partying.
On Sunday I joined Nan, Brian & Thad at their mountain property east of Seattle. We finished digging 18 holes for the pier block foundation, then after several calls to my father and all of us trying to decide the best way to fill these holes, we set to work laying gravel, rebar, and mixing concrete BY HAND in each hole. It wasn't as hard as it sounds, but that's because we're all sailors and pretty damn tough. To put it in perspective, 18 year old Thad got tired before we did. He and Brian actually had to BEND rebar, using the truck rack. Ever tried to bend rebar? It's not easy. I lasted one or two sticks before I predicted I'd inevitably pull yet another important muscle attached to my neck/spine.
Here's Nan & Brian digging so vigorously that the camera can't even focus.
Thad, me & Brian digging, prepping holes.
Thad and I posing
Self portrait while Nan checks hole depths.
Me carrying sack of cement (80 pounds!). I think I'm clenching my buttcheeks for added strength.
Brian and Thad bending rebar. Brian must be sore today...
Nan making decisions. Check out those beautiful trees!!
For Mother's Day Thad wrote his mom a really loving and eloquent letter, commending her ambition and follow-through on so many daunting tasks over the last few years. He's a great kid and he truly respects his mom. It's nice to be a part of their extended family :)
Similar to the Mexico project, this cabin will at times be available for Nan, Brian, and K.Landen's friends to use. Both places will be offered as guest accommodations based on the "Sweat Equity" you have accrued, depending on availability. Next weekend we'll be mixing and pouring the concrete for the piers, then over Memorial Day Weekend, some of us are camping out while building the ENTIRE CABIN!! Just like an Amish barn-raising, eh? Should be a blast - join us!
.................*names have been misspelled to protect folks from being googled....................
Week in review:
Last Saturday, with the help of Nan, Brian, Fish and KT1, my new home was delivered to a marina in Seattle, where I now live aboard. It wasn't easy. Going west across the Sound was easy, on the smooth-bottomed Newport 30 captained by Brian. Cold, but easy. Comparatively, anyway. We arrived at my boat and rigged the derelict-looking girl with found objects, then back to the Newport for tea and cocoa before beginning a true slog north. Once out of the ferry lane and flukey winds in Eagle Harbor, we found this girl points at... about... 60 degrees? Yeah. To her credit, she needs a rig tune, new sails, and comments were definitely made about how we were carrying our very own Rocky Coastline/Shellfish Restaurant below the waterline. Right off we looked over and saw clusters of mussels bigger than my head. My brilliant idea was to scrape the windward sides with one end of a pole while heeled. Which maybe accomplished sloughing 1/100th of the growth.
At this point we realized that the little critters might actually be helping to keep the rudder and keel attached to my vessel, so we abandoned the sloughing and spent the next 6 hours beating OFF the wind, no sexual innuendo intended. Three hours into it the crew on my boat completely lost morale when we looked across the Sound and saw the Eagle Harbor buoys slightly north of our position. To my credit as captain I did manage to find the most effective trim position - main sheeted fully to WINDWARD and giant genny leading as far aft and tight as she could go. That might give you an idea as too how stretched the mainsl was. The most important thing was that we made it. My crew disappeared before I could blink one eye and I sat there, tired but relieved. Now I sleep aboard and it is cold, but I am happy. That might have something to do with quitting my job too, but it feels really good to wake up at the marina and just be on a boat all the time again.So I trained the new guy how to deliver wine, and on Friday the boys and I went to Ohana for pupus and blue hawaiians. Saturday night I bartended for a few hours at Old Engine Adrian's "May The Fourth Be With You" party (it was on the 10th this year). That was good fun but I regret not wearing a costume. I didn't even know it was a costume party until earlier that day when I took the time to actually read the bulletin to find the address. Then again, Adrian wasn't even wearing a costume. He was sporting a big shiner courtesy of the dumpster kicking his ass, though. Leah* successfully pulled off a look that artfully combined a 1920's pin-up flapper girl with Raquel Welch's character in One Million Years BC. At 11pm a bearded lady took over my bartending position and a little while later I took off. Adrian had an awesome setup down in Georgetown, with bonfire, stage and shows, smoke machine, stage lights and effects, plenty to drink and even a giant rented steaming hot tub. The party was scheduled to go on until 9am but honestly, I'm not much of a partier. Wish I was sometimes. I've never had much stamina for endless partying.
On Sunday I joined Nan, Brian & Thad at their mountain property east of Seattle. We finished digging 18 holes for the pier block foundation, then after several calls to my father and all of us trying to decide the best way to fill these holes, we set to work laying gravel, rebar, and mixing concrete BY HAND in each hole. It wasn't as hard as it sounds, but that's because we're all sailors and pretty damn tough. To put it in perspective, 18 year old Thad got tired before we did. He and Brian actually had to BEND rebar, using the truck rack. Ever tried to bend rebar? It's not easy. I lasted one or two sticks before I predicted I'd inevitably pull yet another important muscle attached to my neck/spine.
Here's Nan & Brian digging so vigorously that the camera can't even focus.
Thad, me & Brian digging, prepping holes.
Thad and I posing
Self portrait while Nan checks hole depths.
Me carrying sack of cement (80 pounds!). I think I'm clenching my buttcheeks for added strength.
Brian and Thad bending rebar. Brian must be sore today...
Nan making decisions. Check out those beautiful trees!!
For Mother's Day Thad wrote his mom a really loving and eloquent letter, commending her ambition and follow-through on so many daunting tasks over the last few years. He's a great kid and he truly respects his mom. It's nice to be a part of their extended family :)Similar to the Mexico project, this cabin will at times be available for Nan, Brian, and K.Landen's friends to use. Both places will be offered as guest accommodations based on the "Sweat Equity" you have accrued, depending on availability. Next weekend we'll be mixing and pouring the concrete for the piers, then over Memorial Day Weekend, some of us are camping out while building the ENTIRE CABIN!! Just like an Amish barn-raising, eh? Should be a blast - join us!
.................*names have been misspelled to protect folks from being googled....................
Things I Should Have Asked
1. What is the police report number for this accident?
2. Why are you lying to me, Mr. Tow Truck Driver, when you say that there is no daily storage fee in the Lincoln Towing yard? Certainly you must know it's $45 per day...
3. (to Lincold Towing dispatcher) At one point is the vehicle declared abandoned?
This would have turned out a lot better if I'd only willingly succumbed to the American Way: Go to College and get a degree. Get a job that pays a lot of money and probably makes me miserable. Rack up tons of debt just in cars, houses, toys, credit cards. Then I could have afforded insurance, and my own car, and been more prepared for getting financially raped by a drunk driver, a cop, and a tow truck driver all in one night!
2. Why are you lying to me, Mr. Tow Truck Driver, when you say that there is no daily storage fee in the Lincoln Towing yard? Certainly you must know it's $45 per day...
3. (to Lincold Towing dispatcher) At one point is the vehicle declared abandoned?
This would have turned out a lot better if I'd only willingly succumbed to the American Way: Go to College and get a degree. Get a job that pays a lot of money and probably makes me miserable. Rack up tons of debt just in cars, houses, toys, credit cards. Then I could have afforded insurance, and my own car, and been more prepared for getting financially raped by a drunk driver, a cop, and a tow truck driver all in one night!
DRIVERS! DON'T HIT ME! PLEASE!
i think this is what it feels like to have been strangled by a giant gorilla while being bodyslammed by a bloat of hippos.
my neck feels really strange. not like spine damage strange, just muscle and tendon strange. swallowing, smiling, and looking up are difficult. as though my neck has been replaced by a thick, short bungee cord. i'm going to make an appointment for the doctor. maybe get some xrays and see if i can finagle some massage therapy.
i probably should not have gone to work today. it can't be smart to be in this condition and maneuvering a hand truck with 8 cases of wine down a cobblestone hill. my coworkers were stressing out about all the usual shit, but that whole face-to-face with mortality thing and feeling physically strained in general made me not care about anything today. i feel pretty safe high up in the Sprinter, and i've always been a more aggressive than passive driver, but right now the thought of getting into a little sedan freaks me out. i was even walking down the street and feeling a bit paranoid (had to walk home from work today! gotta love georgetown - man all those tricks/johns sure make me feel beautiful with their 'compliments') - paranoid because any one of these cars could run red lights, drive up and kill me on the sidewalk, ANYTHING!!! haha. i'll get over it. or just get away.
my neck feels really strange. not like spine damage strange, just muscle and tendon strange. swallowing, smiling, and looking up are difficult. as though my neck has been replaced by a thick, short bungee cord. i'm going to make an appointment for the doctor. maybe get some xrays and see if i can finagle some massage therapy.
i probably should not have gone to work today. it can't be smart to be in this condition and maneuvering a hand truck with 8 cases of wine down a cobblestone hill. my coworkers were stressing out about all the usual shit, but that whole face-to-face with mortality thing and feeling physically strained in general made me not care about anything today. i feel pretty safe high up in the Sprinter, and i've always been a more aggressive than passive driver, but right now the thought of getting into a little sedan freaks me out. i was even walking down the street and feeling a bit paranoid (had to walk home from work today! gotta love georgetown - man all those tricks/johns sure make me feel beautiful with their 'compliments') - paranoid because any one of these cars could run red lights, drive up and kill me on the sidewalk, ANYTHING!!! haha. i'll get over it. or just get away.
the fun never ends!
i sometimes keep a piece of paper where i write a word to remind me of some small event in the day that i might want to blog about later. several things were written on this paper today, but then my happy day ended up in a mildly traumatic event. more on that in a minute...
it sounds like several friends are reading my blog, and a common thing i've always heard about my blog is how i'm "prolific." hopefully readers understand that i like to write but i do it more for myself than for an audience. even if nobody were reading, this would be here. the nice thing about knowing people sometimes read it is that i stay a little more on the positive side and do not focus on arguments with family or boyfriend, or how much i hate certain things. i purposely do not use correct capitalization, and i don't care that i use "i" too much or have run on sentences because i'm not writing some well thought out essay - it's just my brain spewing forth. a typical blog like this takes about 20 minutes tops because i barely think about how each sentence sounds. i just keep rambling on. so new readers, don't worry - you will tire of reading this blog quite quickly and probably forget it exists in the not-too-distant future.
so this is what was on my note:
"my ride is FAT" > a bumper sticker on an SUV in Everett. annoyed by the fact that it wasn't at least spelled "P-H-A-T," i drove past the vehicle, half hoping to see a few really obese people inside. no luck.
"row of milk" > today was my last day ever having to deliver to a big grocery store. these consumer meccas with long long rows of milk, yogurt, whatever... it's disgusting.
"pearl harbor" > so strangely in this same large grocery store there's this 91 year old man sitting next to a table with a sign that says "i remember pearl harbor." he was one of the only people in the store, because it was 8:30 in the morning. i spoke with him - he is one of 5 living survivors that were aboard the Arizona. cute old man trying to sell some little books he wrote. each were about 100 pages and he swore they'd sell for $1000 each on the internet, but he was offering them for $10.
"pol's bday" > i was on the phone with sonja, lamenting how i'd forgotten polly's birthday last week. i go on and on about this and then sonja says "hey i'm not trying to make you feel bad, but my birthday was last saturday." yeah she wasn't kidding. how much do i suck now?
"compliment" > one of the guy shopowners i deliver to said to me "i've been meaning to tell you, you're looking particularly good lately." yes. nice to hear!
"Meyers Briggs" > i suggest everyone take this personality test. i am an "ENFP" aka "The Journalist"
OK after work i went and helped fisher move his boat to a new slip. we had some nice mellow hang out time at the marina. on the way back to georgetown, driving nanette's jeep, i'm stopped about 4 cars back from a light when a car going 40 mph slams me from behind. stunned, i just sit there for a minute. i'd been pushed into the car in front of me, and he pulled off to the right. i pulled off too. the asshole that hit me slowly rolled past, his front end crumpled, then turned right and drove away. i make a habit of memorizing license plates for anything the least bit suspicious and shit, at that moment i wasn't even sure what just happened, but i got his plates: 227 SRM. i smelled gasoline and everyone within yelling distance told me to turn off the jeep right away. 2 hours prior i'd filled the tank and now it was pouring all over the street, right down the waterfront and into the ocean :( no bucket, no absorbent boom or anything - not like anyone keeps those things in their cars anyway.
so the gas keeps flowing out of this gigantic hole in the tank, and this girl in a minivan wearing chucks and a fishnet shirt or something pulls up next to me and asks me if i'm alright and says "ok now you need to pull over and i'm going to help you push your car out of the way. and then you must put a sign on it saying that it's leaking gas, and make sure nobody around here lights a cigarette." i was still a little stunned and my neck hurt and this probably 22 year old girl was like an angel. all i could think was how much all of this was going to cost me, and how the gas was going into the ocean! that is literally ALL i could think. the thought of the cost of this was more immediately traumatic than anything else. we pushed the jeep over and put the sign up and out of nowhere she finds this orange cone and puts it behind the jeep. the guy i was pushed into seemed drunk or something and said he was on the way to the airport and spoke to the cops but then got the hell out of there.
so eventually there's 2 cop cars and a fire truck hosing down the street with fire retardant or something, and telling me they have to flush the jeeps gas tank with water. from the back, the jeep has a bit of a fucked up bumper, and you can see the gas tank all messed up below, but besides that, not much damage. the spare tire cover was a bit torn. i lift the back license plate to open the gas tank and voila! no gas tank cover, no tank spout or anything! the gas tank took the brunt of the crash, and everyone agrees i'm lucky to not have blown up.
during all this, this sweet young guy on rollerblades rolls up with his friends and says "hey! the car that hit you is all messed up and right around the corner! the guy ran off, saying he didn't have time and had to go! i think he went to a bar... he was drunk." but then a train came, and blocked the cops and i from going after the guy. after the tow truck took the jeep away, fisher was there to get me, and we walked over to the perps car. it was a new altima, airbags deployed, but otherwise empty, and the front end was freakin OBLITERATED. that spare tire on the jeep was only nicked but it had obviously pushed the radiator over a FOOT deep into the engine of this car. fisher took some pics with his phone. there was a cop there, and the tow truck was hitching it up.
i was fine, even laughing about how fucked up all of this was, until i got into fisher's car. then i cried over how fucked up all of this was. and how for a moment i was really scared of being in another car accident.
anyway, my neck hurts but i think i'll be ok.
it sounds like several friends are reading my blog, and a common thing i've always heard about my blog is how i'm "prolific." hopefully readers understand that i like to write but i do it more for myself than for an audience. even if nobody were reading, this would be here. the nice thing about knowing people sometimes read it is that i stay a little more on the positive side and do not focus on arguments with family or boyfriend, or how much i hate certain things. i purposely do not use correct capitalization, and i don't care that i use "i" too much or have run on sentences because i'm not writing some well thought out essay - it's just my brain spewing forth. a typical blog like this takes about 20 minutes tops because i barely think about how each sentence sounds. i just keep rambling on. so new readers, don't worry - you will tire of reading this blog quite quickly and probably forget it exists in the not-too-distant future.
so this is what was on my note:
"my ride is FAT" > a bumper sticker on an SUV in Everett. annoyed by the fact that it wasn't at least spelled "P-H-A-T," i drove past the vehicle, half hoping to see a few really obese people inside. no luck.
"row of milk" > today was my last day ever having to deliver to a big grocery store. these consumer meccas with long long rows of milk, yogurt, whatever... it's disgusting.
"pearl harbor" > so strangely in this same large grocery store there's this 91 year old man sitting next to a table with a sign that says "i remember pearl harbor." he was one of the only people in the store, because it was 8:30 in the morning. i spoke with him - he is one of 5 living survivors that were aboard the Arizona. cute old man trying to sell some little books he wrote. each were about 100 pages and he swore they'd sell for $1000 each on the internet, but he was offering them for $10.
"pol's bday" > i was on the phone with sonja, lamenting how i'd forgotten polly's birthday last week. i go on and on about this and then sonja says "hey i'm not trying to make you feel bad, but my birthday was last saturday." yeah she wasn't kidding. how much do i suck now?
"compliment" > one of the guy shopowners i deliver to said to me "i've been meaning to tell you, you're looking particularly good lately." yes. nice to hear!
"Meyers Briggs" > i suggest everyone take this personality test. i am an "ENFP" aka "The Journalist"
OK after work i went and helped fisher move his boat to a new slip. we had some nice mellow hang out time at the marina. on the way back to georgetown, driving nanette's jeep, i'm stopped about 4 cars back from a light when a car going 40 mph slams me from behind. stunned, i just sit there for a minute. i'd been pushed into the car in front of me, and he pulled off to the right. i pulled off too. the asshole that hit me slowly rolled past, his front end crumpled, then turned right and drove away. i make a habit of memorizing license plates for anything the least bit suspicious and shit, at that moment i wasn't even sure what just happened, but i got his plates: 227 SRM. i smelled gasoline and everyone within yelling distance told me to turn off the jeep right away. 2 hours prior i'd filled the tank and now it was pouring all over the street, right down the waterfront and into the ocean :( no bucket, no absorbent boom or anything - not like anyone keeps those things in their cars anyway.
so the gas keeps flowing out of this gigantic hole in the tank, and this girl in a minivan wearing chucks and a fishnet shirt or something pulls up next to me and asks me if i'm alright and says "ok now you need to pull over and i'm going to help you push your car out of the way. and then you must put a sign on it saying that it's leaking gas, and make sure nobody around here lights a cigarette." i was still a little stunned and my neck hurt and this probably 22 year old girl was like an angel. all i could think was how much all of this was going to cost me, and how the gas was going into the ocean! that is literally ALL i could think. the thought of the cost of this was more immediately traumatic than anything else. we pushed the jeep over and put the sign up and out of nowhere she finds this orange cone and puts it behind the jeep. the guy i was pushed into seemed drunk or something and said he was on the way to the airport and spoke to the cops but then got the hell out of there.
so eventually there's 2 cop cars and a fire truck hosing down the street with fire retardant or something, and telling me they have to flush the jeeps gas tank with water. from the back, the jeep has a bit of a fucked up bumper, and you can see the gas tank all messed up below, but besides that, not much damage. the spare tire cover was a bit torn. i lift the back license plate to open the gas tank and voila! no gas tank cover, no tank spout or anything! the gas tank took the brunt of the crash, and everyone agrees i'm lucky to not have blown up.
during all this, this sweet young guy on rollerblades rolls up with his friends and says "hey! the car that hit you is all messed up and right around the corner! the guy ran off, saying he didn't have time and had to go! i think he went to a bar... he was drunk." but then a train came, and blocked the cops and i from going after the guy. after the tow truck took the jeep away, fisher was there to get me, and we walked over to the perps car. it was a new altima, airbags deployed, but otherwise empty, and the front end was freakin OBLITERATED. that spare tire on the jeep was only nicked but it had obviously pushed the radiator over a FOOT deep into the engine of this car. fisher took some pics with his phone. there was a cop there, and the tow truck was hitching it up.
i was fine, even laughing about how fucked up all of this was, until i got into fisher's car. then i cried over how fucked up all of this was. and how for a moment i was really scared of being in another car accident.
anyway, my neck hurts but i think i'll be ok.
lora lee
yesterday fish was saying to me "i really need to talk to a real do-it-yourselfer boat person" or something along those lines and i replied "it's time to introduce you to cass and eric."
i hadn't realized how much i missed these two friends! we brought beer, wine and veggies for stirfry over to their new home, S/V Lora Lee, and talked boats boats boats. eric had just finished installing an entirely new electrical system that afternoon.
i found an excellent picture of them in Lora Lee's galley on flickr. link here and check it out!
today fish and i took some pssg folks sailing and had a nice day of 12kt winds and mild weather.
fisher is almost entirely absorbed in the refitting of his vessel, and learning more about sailing. i love this about him, even though i complain about not getting enough attention. he is obsessed. luckily, he's also in love with me and determined to teach me more about vessel maintenance. i'm really effin fortunate to have people like fisher and nanette who aren't even related to me, and can't depend on me hardly ever for financial backup, yet include me in their major life plans. they know they can depend on me for everything else, of course. i'd do anything for those two.
speaking of that, in may we are building nanette & brian's cabin in the mountains! even my dad is going to help! come the apocalypse, yr gonna wish you were IN with our crowd...
i hadn't realized how much i missed these two friends! we brought beer, wine and veggies for stirfry over to their new home, S/V Lora Lee, and talked boats boats boats. eric had just finished installing an entirely new electrical system that afternoon.
i found an excellent picture of them in Lora Lee's galley on flickr. link here and check it out!
today fish and i took some pssg folks sailing and had a nice day of 12kt winds and mild weather.
fisher is almost entirely absorbed in the refitting of his vessel, and learning more about sailing. i love this about him, even though i complain about not getting enough attention. he is obsessed. luckily, he's also in love with me and determined to teach me more about vessel maintenance. i'm really effin fortunate to have people like fisher and nanette who aren't even related to me, and can't depend on me hardly ever for financial backup, yet include me in their major life plans. they know they can depend on me for everything else, of course. i'd do anything for those two.
speaking of that, in may we are building nanette & brian's cabin in the mountains! even my dad is going to help! come the apocalypse, yr gonna wish you were IN with our crowd...
gruner veltliner and oyster shooters
today at pike place market a truck full of oysters and mussels parked next to my van. the driver made a funny comment about what if our trucks ran into each other and it was something along the lines of that old reeses pieces commercial.
it was a long day. usually i work until 2 or 3 on fridays. today i worked until 5.
saw the biker who pulled that Jurassic Park spit on my van. resisted the urge to follow him and hunt him down.
carried 10 cases of wine up 2 flights of stairs at the market. spent a solid hour and a half at leschi market, where this kid from a big distribution company was chatting me up. he said his company dropped 20 cases there, and he was putting them away. i said oh, so you're a merchandiser? he said emphatically: "LEAD merchandiser. I lead the team. I go where the loads are really big." He also explained how he's going to get many more tattoos - for his kids and his friend who died in the war, and a full sleeve... I said "you're going to have to get a second job to pay for all those!" but he didn't think that was funny. I was actually kind of serious. I'd love a full sleeve myself but there's no way I can spend that kind of money on such function-less things.
fridays can be really crazy. it seems like so much goes wrong and yet there's tons of people doing nice things as well. i hurt my back this morning BEFORE carrying all that wine up the stairs at the market. i missed half my morning cut-offs (restaurants won't allow deliveries during lunch rush). and the tourists and parking at the market were nuts. but then there's that nice cop, NOT giving me a ticket for parking 2 feet instead of 30 feet from the stop sign. I think one of our clients talked her out of it. and then there's all these people opening doors for me- at least 5 times today! by the end of the day i think humanity came out ahead and i felt pretty positive.
had the urge to recognize my closest friends in the universe:
Nanette, who's always there to listen and include me in her plans.
Sonja, with whom i share all my secrets, even if they're shameful admissions. she never judges and loves me regardless.
Polly, who has been through a lot with me, and even though we're totally different, we always listen and learn from each other and rely on one another's support.
and last but not least is Jarad, who keeps me going when i need a guy to talk to, or just to talk about music or whatever. we know each other pretty well - i give him relationship advice and he makes sure to always tell me how smart, sexy and strong he thinks i am.
i have really incredible friends. i love them very much.
it was a long day. usually i work until 2 or 3 on fridays. today i worked until 5.
saw the biker who pulled that Jurassic Park spit on my van. resisted the urge to follow him and hunt him down.
carried 10 cases of wine up 2 flights of stairs at the market. spent a solid hour and a half at leschi market, where this kid from a big distribution company was chatting me up. he said his company dropped 20 cases there, and he was putting them away. i said oh, so you're a merchandiser? he said emphatically: "LEAD merchandiser. I lead the team. I go where the loads are really big." He also explained how he's going to get many more tattoos - for his kids and his friend who died in the war, and a full sleeve... I said "you're going to have to get a second job to pay for all those!" but he didn't think that was funny. I was actually kind of serious. I'd love a full sleeve myself but there's no way I can spend that kind of money on such function-less things.
fridays can be really crazy. it seems like so much goes wrong and yet there's tons of people doing nice things as well. i hurt my back this morning BEFORE carrying all that wine up the stairs at the market. i missed half my morning cut-offs (restaurants won't allow deliveries during lunch rush). and the tourists and parking at the market were nuts. but then there's that nice cop, NOT giving me a ticket for parking 2 feet instead of 30 feet from the stop sign. I think one of our clients talked her out of it. and then there's all these people opening doors for me- at least 5 times today! by the end of the day i think humanity came out ahead and i felt pretty positive.
had the urge to recognize my closest friends in the universe:
Nanette, who's always there to listen and include me in her plans.
Sonja, with whom i share all my secrets, even if they're shameful admissions. she never judges and loves me regardless.
Polly, who has been through a lot with me, and even though we're totally different, we always listen and learn from each other and rely on one another's support.
and last but not least is Jarad, who keeps me going when i need a guy to talk to, or just to talk about music or whatever. we know each other pretty well - i give him relationship advice and he makes sure to always tell me how smart, sexy and strong he thinks i am.
i have really incredible friends. i love them very much.
bike laws
we delivery drivers have a love-hate relationship with bicyclists. we love the ones who ride sensibly. we hate the assholes. my friend lamar who drives for another wine company, says he's seen the guy who went all crazy and suicidal around me (this guy has a kind of black star tat on the back of his right calf). my coworker said that if the same thing had happened to him, he would have made it his personal goal to hunt that guy down. it's good for both of them that it didn't happen to him. i've seen rick when he's pissed... and it happens that yesterday rick was driving in fremont, ready to take a right turn on a red, waiting/looking for traffic coming from the left. there's 4 bikers on the opposite side of the street waiting for the light to turn. one of them meanders into the crosswalk, even though the don't walk sign is up, and does a little circle right in front of rick, so that rick cannot turn right. then he looks up at rick and flips him off and mouths the words too - just in case rick missed something. rick flipped out for a little bit, then decided it'd be better to keep his job. i'm not convinced he'd have been fired by our company for beating down an outright asshole. who knows, maybe this guy recognized rick from somewhere else... but rick definitely didn't recognize him.
in georgetown there's a yahoo group where the whole neighborhood discusses events, issues, crime, stuff for sale, etc. there's about 3 or 4 postings per day. today they were discussing a new farmers market for the neighborhood and one of the guys posting had an automatic signature that said he was a bike lawyer. i linked to his site and read up on washington state and seattle bike laws...
raves:
it's LEGAL to ride on the sidewalk in seattle!!!
it's ILLEGAL to open your drivers side car door if it's going to hinder car or bike traffic.
rants:
it's LEGAL to ride in a crosswalk! though the law DOES state that they cannot suddenly enter where a driver might not see you.
kudos to this sensible lawyer though - he writes:
"Nevertheless, to quote my father, “it doesn’t matter if you are in the right if you are dead.”"
i'm so glad that next week is my last week of driving. then i go back to biking every day, and i'll be damned if i EVER taunt or harass or even give a dirty look to ANY DRIVER. there's a hell of a lot more pent up tension on the other side of that steering wheel.
in georgetown there's a yahoo group where the whole neighborhood discusses events, issues, crime, stuff for sale, etc. there's about 3 or 4 postings per day. today they were discussing a new farmers market for the neighborhood and one of the guys posting had an automatic signature that said he was a bike lawyer. i linked to his site and read up on washington state and seattle bike laws...
raves:
it's LEGAL to ride on the sidewalk in seattle!!!
it's ILLEGAL to open your drivers side car door if it's going to hinder car or bike traffic.
rants:
it's LEGAL to ride in a crosswalk! though the law DOES state that they cannot suddenly enter where a driver might not see you.
kudos to this sensible lawyer though - he writes:
"Nevertheless, to quote my father, “it doesn’t matter if you are in the right if you are dead.”"
i'm so glad that next week is my last week of driving. then i go back to biking every day, and i'll be damned if i EVER taunt or harass or even give a dirty look to ANY DRIVER. there's a hell of a lot more pent up tension on the other side of that steering wheel.
more reasons to be nice to people!
today a taxi driver pulled out of a business and parked in the road right in front of my van, that was coming up behind him. this was a one lane road and he took up the entire lane, got out of his car and went to talk to another car parked on the side of the road. this wasn't downtown - it was in the industrial area of seattle, so i didn't have too much trouble driving around him. i gave him my usual well-aren't-you-a-fucking-brilliant-driver look that i use about 3 or 4 times a day, and he looked right at me and clearly did not give a shit. he was obviously in the wrong and looked at me as though i was non-existent. and really, it was no big deal. i have to drive around people like this all the time. usually, though, they are tourists or yuppie women picking up their yuppie friends and not wanting to park. whatever. for some reason, though, i started thinking about seattle has always been such a polite, semi-orderly place, and how this guy, like many taxi drivers in town, are such blatantly bad drivers or really truly do not care about double parking no matter how many people back up behind them. maybe this always happens in new york. i don't know. i never knew it happened here. so my mind always follows it's own course to a Bigger Picture and I begin thinking about how so many taxi drivers are from the middle east and southern asia. they're working hard and making their way here in america, but when it comes right down to it, how could i think that a dirty look from me due to him not following traffic laws would EVER even register a blip on the radar of someone who's probably been closer to war, crime, struggle and real poverty than (knock on wood) I will ever experience in my entire life? our PRISONS are probably more comfortable than civilian life in many countries.
earlier today i recalled a conversation with a girl whose aunt works to help military families get counseling. this position was created for her after the first year that many gulf war II vets were discharged - well over a thousand of them had killed their wives. i think the number of wives killed was about 1500, according to this girl - who is a friend of one of my coworkers, and about my age. she said when these guys were in iraq they had to assume that every normal looking person, woman, child or couple on the street could try to kill them. then they get home and have fights with their wives and revert to this mode of extreme violence and anger that became 2nd nature - was even encouraged, i'm sure - while on duty.
there must have been tons of refugees and troubled vets living around us after vietnam. i don't know if it's because i wasn't old enough to really experience that, or because seattle seems so much more crowded now, but i'll admit i'm a little wary of where people's boundaries might be. i realize how stupid my road rage is when i think that me giving someone the finger might be the tipping point that makes them reach for their gun.
earlier today i recalled a conversation with a girl whose aunt works to help military families get counseling. this position was created for her after the first year that many gulf war II vets were discharged - well over a thousand of them had killed their wives. i think the number of wives killed was about 1500, according to this girl - who is a friend of one of my coworkers, and about my age. she said when these guys were in iraq they had to assume that every normal looking person, woman, child or couple on the street could try to kill them. then they get home and have fights with their wives and revert to this mode of extreme violence and anger that became 2nd nature - was even encouraged, i'm sure - while on duty.
there must have been tons of refugees and troubled vets living around us after vietnam. i don't know if it's because i wasn't old enough to really experience that, or because seattle seems so much more crowded now, but i'll admit i'm a little wary of where people's boundaries might be. i realize how stupid my road rage is when i think that me giving someone the finger might be the tipping point that makes them reach for their gun.
gattaca revisited
today i got ready, walked out the door looking at my keys thinking "i'm forgetting something" and then shut the door behind me, realizing only then that i'd picked up the wrong keys. locked out! 5 minutes prior my roommates had left for the bus stop. i ran like the wind to the nearest stop. nobody. i ran 5 more blocks to the main stop to see my roommate pete waiting there, and a bus about to pull up. he was still 2 blocks away! run run run cough cough cough "PETE!" he was probably afraid at first because only hookers and methheads run around yelling in this neighborhood but then i explained and he gave me his key. whew. i had 10 minutes to get to the Eagles hall for TWlC enrollment.
As it turns out, I live 3 blocks from the only TWlC enrollment center in Seattle. If that's not a sign to get my ass in gear I don't know what is. So here I go, deeper into the Matrix. Most of the guys waiting were around 50 and either truck drivers or merchant marine. A lot of them had not pre-enrolled online. One guy came in and said he didn't even have a computer, and all he had was cash (they don't accept cash). He could only offer his concealed weapons permit from the FBI as ID. I'd like to listen to some of HIS stories! While waiting for my turn, I could hear another guy behind the curtain - he sounded pretty old, and apparently his fingers were so well-worn that The System was rejecting his fingerprints. Two Matrix employees spent 20 minutes trying to mash his poor fingers onto the scanner. How funny that it almost seems without our numbers, papers, and fingerprints we barely exist in America. Ok ok so anyway it's my turn and the kid doing my paperwork is in a black suit, with a shaved head, about 25 years old. There's a few monitors, a scanner, some other doodads and a green glowing fingerprint scanner in front of me. While waiting for the scanner to copy my papers, he leans back and puts two splayed hands together, only fingertips touching. I could not resist asking "Do you ever feel like you're playing a part in the movie The Matrix?" Here he becomes very talkative and animated - "You're not the first person to say that!" and then I tell him how all of this, especially the green glowy fingerprint thing, reminds me of that movie Gattaca. He says "Oh my god that's like my favorite movie!" Surprise surprise! He really loves that movie. I said yeah it's really creepy to which he strangely agreed. But I'm probably being doomsday and dramatic about it all, I mean he had a great point when he commented on how the card and chip would make things easier. He said "I see all of you coming in with your licenses and letters, having to carry all of that around wherever you go. At least all of that information will be stored on the chip." And that part is true. If this whole house burnt down I'd probably risk my life just trying to get my Passport, MMD and license/cert stuff out. It's such a hassle to try and get new ones.
As it turns out, I live 3 blocks from the only TWlC enrollment center in Seattle. If that's not a sign to get my ass in gear I don't know what is. So here I go, deeper into the Matrix. Most of the guys waiting were around 50 and either truck drivers or merchant marine. A lot of them had not pre-enrolled online. One guy came in and said he didn't even have a computer, and all he had was cash (they don't accept cash). He could only offer his concealed weapons permit from the FBI as ID. I'd like to listen to some of HIS stories! While waiting for my turn, I could hear another guy behind the curtain - he sounded pretty old, and apparently his fingers were so well-worn that The System was rejecting his fingerprints. Two Matrix employees spent 20 minutes trying to mash his poor fingers onto the scanner. How funny that it almost seems without our numbers, papers, and fingerprints we barely exist in America. Ok ok so anyway it's my turn and the kid doing my paperwork is in a black suit, with a shaved head, about 25 years old. There's a few monitors, a scanner, some other doodads and a green glowing fingerprint scanner in front of me. While waiting for the scanner to copy my papers, he leans back and puts two splayed hands together, only fingertips touching. I could not resist asking "Do you ever feel like you're playing a part in the movie The Matrix?" Here he becomes very talkative and animated - "You're not the first person to say that!" and then I tell him how all of this, especially the green glowy fingerprint thing, reminds me of that movie Gattaca. He says "Oh my god that's like my favorite movie!" Surprise surprise! He really loves that movie. I said yeah it's really creepy to which he strangely agreed. But I'm probably being doomsday and dramatic about it all, I mean he had a great point when he commented on how the card and chip would make things easier. He said "I see all of you coming in with your licenses and letters, having to carry all of that around wherever you go. At least all of that information will be stored on the chip." And that part is true. If this whole house burnt down I'd probably risk my life just trying to get my Passport, MMD and license/cert stuff out. It's such a hassle to try and get new ones.
I have this friend....
who repeatedly falls for borderline narcissists. Her friends and family agree that she has always been a confident person. Yet studies show that only masochists STAY with narcissists.
Couldn't it also be said that it takes a truly confident person to maintain their identity and sanity while dating a narcissist?
Just a thought.
Couldn't it also be said that it takes a truly confident person to maintain their identity and sanity while dating a narcissist?
Just a thought.
note to self, don't become a paraplegic
Apparently it's impossible to un-google my blog! I turned off all the options for making the blog readable by search engines, but I think maybe the years of archives are still available, or something. LAME.
To LS and JA in particular, I finally posted more pics from bowling/sailing to flickr. Link is at the right.
Monday is the day I do everything I didn't do all week (or month, actually). I write a long list of things to do, then go back to sleep, futz around on the internet looking for a job in Ballard, eventually spend a few hours actually doing tasks, then drive to Ballard and sail or hang out on the boat with Fish.
I'm excited to have an ambitious and energetic slavedriver (hopefully) in my life. She's trying to get me a great job and wants to help with the magazine and related projects.
Alright.... time to go to the library to find those tax forms. Don't worry - I never owe. I just got my social security readout in the mail and I haven't made more than 10K a year except the one year I worked as a naturalist giving orca whale watching tours in the san juans. Get this - in 2004 I made less than $4,500!!! What's that Sterling Hayden quote? "If you are contemplating a voyage and have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change." I think I pretty much LIVE that quote. Oh no wait this one's even better: "To be truly challenging, a voyage, like life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest."
Makes a person resourceful. Builds character!
In other news, I'm trying to figure out how to create a Living Will or Power of Atty or whatever I can do to make sure that in the event I become paraplegic or unable to make my own decisions, Nanette will be the only person allowed custody of whatever is left of me. She's promised to wheel me out to the Sea of Cortez, letting me sit on the beach, sit around at Nobio Basecamp, maybe even on the rooftop deck. I'm not afraid of dying but we were hypothesizing about what could happen to us if we were trapped in our own bodies and put in the care of people we would never want to live with.... and I've been thinking about it a lot since then. What a nightmare to be stuck in a bed or wheelchair watching TV in Everett until I die, or staring out a window and chilled to the bone in the mountains, or being molested daily as a ward of the state. Please please someone sneak in and off me if any of these scenarios ever manifests itself.
Happy thoughts!
To LS and JA in particular, I finally posted more pics from bowling/sailing to flickr. Link is at the right.
Monday is the day I do everything I didn't do all week (or month, actually). I write a long list of things to do, then go back to sleep, futz around on the internet looking for a job in Ballard, eventually spend a few hours actually doing tasks, then drive to Ballard and sail or hang out on the boat with Fish.
I'm excited to have an ambitious and energetic slavedriver (hopefully) in my life. She's trying to get me a great job and wants to help with the magazine and related projects.
Alright.... time to go to the library to find those tax forms. Don't worry - I never owe. I just got my social security readout in the mail and I haven't made more than 10K a year except the one year I worked as a naturalist giving orca whale watching tours in the san juans. Get this - in 2004 I made less than $4,500!!! What's that Sterling Hayden quote? "If you are contemplating a voyage and have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change." I think I pretty much LIVE that quote. Oh no wait this one's even better: "To be truly challenging, a voyage, like life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest."
Makes a person resourceful. Builds character!
In other news, I'm trying to figure out how to create a Living Will or Power of Atty or whatever I can do to make sure that in the event I become paraplegic or unable to make my own decisions, Nanette will be the only person allowed custody of whatever is left of me. She's promised to wheel me out to the Sea of Cortez, letting me sit on the beach, sit around at Nobio Basecamp, maybe even on the rooftop deck. I'm not afraid of dying but we were hypothesizing about what could happen to us if we were trapped in our own bodies and put in the care of people we would never want to live with.... and I've been thinking about it a lot since then. What a nightmare to be stuck in a bed or wheelchair watching TV in Everett until I die, or staring out a window and chilled to the bone in the mountains, or being molested daily as a ward of the state. Please please someone sneak in and off me if any of these scenarios ever manifests itself.
Happy thoughts!
fun = funds (sometimes)
depends on what you call fun.
for me, the marine swap meet in the fisheries supply parking lot on saturday would have been a lot more fun with funds. things i would have bought: small wooden blocks in great condition (no use for them yet.. but i love traditional block and tackle!), mini danforth anchor, chain, sextant, and a beautiful handheld compass - an antique i think. all sold off tailgates of about 50 cars and trucks. oh! and i started up a conversation with Heather Bansmer and Shawn Breeding, authors of Sea of Cortez - A Cruiser's Guidebook. they were selling this great book out of their truck. nan and the twins already have the book. we talked about san carlos and Shawn said he'd love to include Nan's Nobio Basecamp once she gets it built down there. Nobio Basecamp is going to be her and Brian's home, first and foremost, but also a place for their friends and fellow travelers/sailors to maybe have a hot meal, trade skills or goods, and even spend the night. It might also serve as a place to retrieve mail or have supplies shipped to for other DIY cortez cruisers. i'd like to figure out a way to get Nobio Basecamp, Jack Tar and Old Tacoma Marine more closely networked on the web....
the kayak twins are getting their WFR this weekend, which sounds like a lot of fun. nothin' says FUN like a backcountry injection!
even more fun than all that, and requiring no money at all, was the SUN, and the sailing with friends for hours on saturday. i look like a lobster and it was worth it!
for me, the marine swap meet in the fisheries supply parking lot on saturday would have been a lot more fun with funds. things i would have bought: small wooden blocks in great condition (no use for them yet.. but i love traditional block and tackle!), mini danforth anchor, chain, sextant, and a beautiful handheld compass - an antique i think. all sold off tailgates of about 50 cars and trucks. oh! and i started up a conversation with Heather Bansmer and Shawn Breeding, authors of Sea of Cortez - A Cruiser's Guidebook. they were selling this great book out of their truck. nan and the twins already have the book. we talked about san carlos and Shawn said he'd love to include Nan's Nobio Basecamp once she gets it built down there. Nobio Basecamp is going to be her and Brian's home, first and foremost, but also a place for their friends and fellow travelers/sailors to maybe have a hot meal, trade skills or goods, and even spend the night. It might also serve as a place to retrieve mail or have supplies shipped to for other DIY cortez cruisers. i'd like to figure out a way to get Nobio Basecamp, Jack Tar and Old Tacoma Marine more closely networked on the web....
the kayak twins are getting their WFR this weekend, which sounds like a lot of fun. nothin' says FUN like a backcountry injection!
even more fun than all that, and requiring no money at all, was the SUN, and the sailing with friends for hours on saturday. i look like a lobster and it was worth it!
rants and raves
rants:
to the very naturally beautiful and classy looking women living near 12th and Pike (probably in the fancy new condos), who are extremely uptight, even robotic acting - your children are waaaay to reserved and docile than what seems natural. it's creepy!
to the militant bicyclist who spit on my delivery van - i'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that i actually didn't give you enough room, even though i'm pretty sure i did because i'm totally cool with riders like you who are following the law. i'm not friendly feeling towards riders who think they are above traffic laws downtown, and think they should be allowed to get away with a hell of a lot more than cars/trucks. the crazy thing about you was how suicidal you acted - twice going around to the left side in order veer in FRONT OF ME to "cut off" my huge van with your tender human body. FYI bicyclists: guys like this make drivers extremely unwilling to go the extra mile to accommodate you. i tried to talk to the guy but he was so busy trying to spit on my van that he couldn't even look at me. call me a fucking bitch or whatever - don't try to race me then throw yourself in front of my van! what an idiot. is it worth your life to "teach me a lesson"? normally i give bikers a wide berth i'm not sure anything would have been wide enough for you.
and shit... i don't even own a car.
to the lady who slammed on her brakes with 5 cars behind her on a dark highway-thanks for almost killing all of us to save a possum that none of us could see. i swerved to miss you and then saw the animal too late (i hit it)- but i kept my course because IT'S SAFER THAT WAY.
raves:
to the people of conway washington, for having the quirkiest photo ops i've seen lately - the dirtiest, hairiest hermit farmer standing like a statue in his field, the 3 longhorn cattle posing next to the road, and the hedge in the shape of a giant cupcake.
to the nice folks at volunteer park cafe who sometimes give me free cherry-chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.
to my roommates, who upon finding out that i was moving, gave me a $150 gift certificate to iboats.com for being "the most easy-going and tolerant roommate ever." how sweet!
(i'm considering buying the "spot" gps emergency locator)
secret rave to all the guys at my work. i get to work with 10 cute, smart and funny guys every day. they are awesome. i will miss them when i quit this summer.
to the very naturally beautiful and classy looking women living near 12th and Pike (probably in the fancy new condos), who are extremely uptight, even robotic acting - your children are waaaay to reserved and docile than what seems natural. it's creepy!
to the militant bicyclist who spit on my delivery van - i'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that i actually didn't give you enough room, even though i'm pretty sure i did because i'm totally cool with riders like you who are following the law. i'm not friendly feeling towards riders who think they are above traffic laws downtown, and think they should be allowed to get away with a hell of a lot more than cars/trucks. the crazy thing about you was how suicidal you acted - twice going around to the left side in order veer in FRONT OF ME to "cut off" my huge van with your tender human body. FYI bicyclists: guys like this make drivers extremely unwilling to go the extra mile to accommodate you. i tried to talk to the guy but he was so busy trying to spit on my van that he couldn't even look at me. call me a fucking bitch or whatever - don't try to race me then throw yourself in front of my van! what an idiot. is it worth your life to "teach me a lesson"? normally i give bikers a wide berth i'm not sure anything would have been wide enough for you.
and shit... i don't even own a car.
to the lady who slammed on her brakes with 5 cars behind her on a dark highway-thanks for almost killing all of us to save a possum that none of us could see. i swerved to miss you and then saw the animal too late (i hit it)- but i kept my course because IT'S SAFER THAT WAY.
raves:
to the people of conway washington, for having the quirkiest photo ops i've seen lately - the dirtiest, hairiest hermit farmer standing like a statue in his field, the 3 longhorn cattle posing next to the road, and the hedge in the shape of a giant cupcake.
to the nice folks at volunteer park cafe who sometimes give me free cherry-chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.
to my roommates, who upon finding out that i was moving, gave me a $150 gift certificate to iboats.com for being "the most easy-going and tolerant roommate ever." how sweet!
(i'm considering buying the "spot" gps emergency locator)
secret rave to all the guys at my work. i get to work with 10 cute, smart and funny guys every day. they are awesome. i will miss them when i quit this summer.
bookmark this
damn, blogger has a tiny icon on it's new blogpost page where if you accidentally hit it, it converts all your text to hindi. took me a while to figure out what i'd done. for a minute there i succumbed (succame?) to the fear that the terrorists had infiltrated blogger!!! oh no! (for all i know it could have been arabic).
anyway, bookmark this page if you want to see again. easy url to remember, but FYI i'm making it un-google-able. i'm still getting a ton of hits from kids in various countries seeking out goldslick. and every now and then somebody stalks a friend of mine. lame!
more pics will be up on flickr sometime this week. (bowling, sailing, etc.)
anyway, bookmark this page if you want to see again. easy url to remember, but FYI i'm making it un-google-able. i'm still getting a ton of hits from kids in various countries seeking out goldslick. and every now and then somebody stalks a friend of mine. lame!
more pics will be up on flickr sometime this week. (bowling, sailing, etc.)
my peeps are the coolest!
i hang out with the coolest people in the world - boat people! friday night our new little cruising club met up and talked boats, saturday fish and i had a GREAT SAIL in puget sound, then watched dvds in the vberth before sleeping. sunday we worked on the boat, i hung out with nan a bit, then i met fish, the kayak twins, new friends danielle and her roommate hilary (tall ship sailor) at sunset bowl, where adrian and lia had been bowling and drinking for 17 hours straight. right now they are in their 24th hour of bowling - celebrating the last days of Sunset Bowl, a ballard institution and the last bowling alley in the immediate seattle area. maybe all of seattle proper. In a week it gets demolished. Probably for more fucking yuppie condos... who knows.
Here's pics and vids from my weekend. They are a bit long, but i'm actually IN THEM. the first has a lot of references to personal jokes. the 2nd is one of the last games of bowling being played, with adrian and lia taking a time out for burgers and white russians.
