The End of NaBloPoMo!

Ok, I didn't post every single day but I did have a post for every day. I will blame a laptop that was in the shop for over a week, forcing me to learn how to post from my phone, and also holiday travel which, while it doesn't make posting impossible, does make it more difficult. Just sayin'.

This was a fun experiment and I still don't know how often I will post going forward. Maybe I'll try every other day for now. I've definitely found more enjoyment in blogging again. For a while I was down to one post a month - hardly worth the effort.

One thing I'm sure of, I was almost ready to shelve this thing but I'm glad my fellow blogger encouraged me to at least attempt this project. Thanks SAJL! Blog on!

Ode to Rudy

Named for a character played by Gene Wilder in a movie call The World's Greatest Lover. I know this has nothing to do with travel or anything else but he left us long before this blog existed so I wanted to share a little bit of his sweetness.   

This is what we referred to as "getting the fang".

This is his "Do you mind?? I'm busy here!!" look.

And resume snorgelling...

He's been gone more than four years now, he was the best cat ever and lived up to his name for 20 years. My sweet boy.

Saturday...

Saturday I met up with these ladies and we had a fabulous time! We met at the hotel I used to work back in high school and simply being in that building brought back so many memories of so many good friends, some still around and some long gone.

It made me very glad to be in the company of some very dear friends who I have not spent enough time with over the last couple decades. We spent a good four and a half hours yakking it up, eating and drinking. When we finally left it felt like the years between meetings fell away and I knew we would be doing it again soon. Love you guys. :)

Friday...

Been on the road for a few days. Drove to Okanogan on Friday to see family and friends for the weekend. Friday night I met up with some friends from high school for a small get together. It was nice to be able to just sit around and visit. They are a group of really great people. I was bummed because I forgot my camera, I could have used my phone to get a picture but I am always so disappointed in the quality of pictures from the iPhone. I'm hoping the 81-er meet up becomes a semi-regular event. As many times as I have been back over the years, I almost never run into old friends. It's been nearly impossible to stay in touch but he use of "social networking" sites have really made it easier. To Lynn, Bill, Teri and Rick thanks for the fun evening - can't wait for the next time!

Giving Thanks

Awake at 5 this morning... popped Mr. Turkey in the oven and took a hike, grateful that Mother Nature saw fit to bless me with the perfect weather to try out my new Mizunos. And by perfect I mean a muddy mess!

I haven't been on the trail since my fall and it was great to get out there again. I thought I would be very tentative but with the new tread I felt very secure in the muck. Apparently I'm not the only person who's right at home in the slop.

After that I went home and proceeded to cook for 10 and enjoy the company of family and friends. All in all, a day worth giving thanks for.

Freud Part 2

In the second dream I was at work and went to Edmonds for something having to do with picking up or delivering trash. When I was there I decided to randomly do some landscape maintenance on what looked like a very dried out Pampas Grass at a business park. A man and his two sons pulled up and asked directions to a restaurant they didn't know the name of, they only knew the street it was on. He said they were there for a Cricket tournament his son was playing in. Suddenly there was only one son and he was resting his hand on my butt (not grabbing just resting there and that was fine with me). I thought I knew the restaurant they were talking about but when I got there the server said no, the name of the restaurant was Half Sandwich. I tried to find the man and his son again on my way back to work but found myself at a hotel instead - this is a the same hotel where I find myself in MANY dreams, most of which include elevators, flying, and large bodies of water. I was walking through the corridor, riding in the elevator and outside near the main entrance not really accomplishing anything or having a purpose other than being there.

Any explanations or wild guesses are welcome.

What Would Freud Think

I have crazy dreams which I try and generally fail to attach to some thread of reality. In the first one from last night I was with four people who were all familiar to me although I couldn't name them now. We were working for Volkswagen and we had to drive out to where one of their ads was filmed and watch the completed commercial. We were parked in a turn-out of a twisty-turny mountain road. After watching the ad we were turning back onto the highway and I noticed the road turned from asphalt to some sort of pinkish stone as we pulled back onto the highway. We were immediately in a cave and as we exited a bat flew out behind us and was blinded by our headlights (I think). It fell to the ground and I picked it up when I noticed it's wings were made of thick, heavy, gray stone. The main part of the bat dropped away from the wings, (it looked like a new born kangaroo) and ran away. The wings wriggled out of my hands and buried themselves in the ground.

I weep for my sanity.

What's for Dinner?

How many times have you either asked, or been asked that question? If all else fails...

Flow Chart

Peeve

I get a lot of e-mail. Between my work account, personal account, small business account, and commercial (read shopping) account I get a LOT of e-mail. That is not my peeve. In today's world you can't really get away from it. What peeves me receiving e-mails that have clearly been forwarded repeatedly without anyone bothering to verify what they are passing on as fact. 

The last one I received was from a friend who I'm sure forwarded it believing in good faith that it was fact based but it did NOT sound like a real story to me. It was about a dog named Brutus who won the Medal of Honor by saving his trainer and killing several insurgents during the Iraq war. The problem is that, as of this writing, there have only been four Medal of Honor recipients for the current Iraq war and none were canines. The forwarded e-mail included a picture of what they said was a Boxer/Mastiff mix that weighed in at over 200lbs. After checking Snopes it turns out that the actual trainer of the dog pictured has come forward with the real story. The dog, whose actual name is Spike,  is a Belgium Malinois and he's a retired k-9 from Scottsdale tipping the scales at less than 100lbs. Apparently nothing in this heroic dog's life of service was glorious enough to warrant being forwarded via mass e-mails.  

I can't count how many e-mails I've received like this one. I don't always research them, some times I just delete them. Every once in a while you might find a thread of truth but why does it have to be buried in fiction. Are we so overstimulated that we need everything to be bigger, badder, and more dramatic than it really is in order for it to have an impact? 

Since it is the time of year that we give thanks for all our blessings I am going to try being more grateful for the everyday things - the kinds of things all of our lives are filled with. Today I am grateful for a former police dog from Arizona named Spike and every anonymous, unglamorous task he ever performed. Thanks for everything Spike, you may not be a Congressional Medal of Honor winner but you're a hero none the less. 

Hey, how did my peeve turn into a moment of gratitude? 

Please Don't Tell My Cat

Every time I spend time at my friend Terrie's place I end up wanting to take one of her dogs home with me. For some reason neither her nor her husband ever seem agreeable to the idea however I think I have Bandit won over. Look how sad she is living there. I think it's due to the fact that she doesn't have nearly enough toys. Please disregard the basketful behind her. They've already been chewed.

And this one is chock full of CRAZY. Oh yeah, I know Sadie looks sweet in this picture and she is perfectly angelic when she is sleeping but she has approximately 2 speeds; full speed ahead and all stop.

Oh what am I saying, she is completely irresistible. Yes, she's an ankle biter but look how cute she is!

Missing Parts

Turns out, investing in Apple Care for my new laptop a couple year ago was a good idea. I have had a new CD drive, new battery, and now two new fans replaced at no charge. And while I am getting by with an older MacBook on loan from Jim, it doesn't have all of my pictures loaded on it. The problem is I thought this was going to be a quick run to The Apple Store but they have had it since Monday and it's now looking like it will be well into next week before I get it back. I would have planned better and downloaded my pics - and no, I don't want to hear that I should have backed up all of my files before I took it in, I'm already sweating that one. More importantly, even though it's just a collection of tubes and wires (sorry had a Thomas Dolby moment there) but I miss having it. Come on Apple Guy! Call and tell me it's ready already!    

100 Posts: A Review

Slow down you move too fast

It has taken me since March 2008 to reach my first milestone yesterday. No one has ever accused me of being in a hurry to get stuff done. I believe the correct word to describe me would be procrastinator. I don't think it's because I'm lazy exactly, more that I work better under pressure. Maybe it's just easier to make decisions if you don't have time to debate every possible option. The best answer is usually the obvious one, right?

Shangri-La, Singapore

That brings me back to the whole reason I started this blog and that was the trip to Singapore. I suppose most people would plan a trip like that months in advance but that wouldn't have worked for me. That would have given me time to FREAK OUT and find a way to not go. As it was from the time I made the decision to buy the ticket it was too late to back out. Jim was leaving to start work there and I had too much to do while he was gone to start making a list of all the ways I could die. What I did do that made it possible to fly that far, especially by myself, was to accept the worst case scenario. I choose to be ok with all the things that could happen on vacation; smoke in the cabin, loss of air pressure, hijacking, crying babies (ok, just kidding about that one) lost luggage, crazy cab drivers, severe weather... see what I mean about were my brain goes given the chance, I should count myself lucky I can even leave the house. If I could face all of those possibilities and still get on the plane I would be ok. And I was.

Taxi! Can you take us to Boat Quay?

Ok, maybe I was a little nervous at Seatac but it wasn't even close to what it usually is,  somehow I didn't have the debilitating fear that air travel usually causes. By the time I reached Narita I was so tired I couldn't have been worried if I tried. All I could do was keep moving and hope I could stay awake long enough to board the plane for Singapore.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah - procrastinating and working under pressure. I've been doing this NaBloPoMo thing this month and I am finding it much easier to sit down and write with the little added pressure of the promise of posting every day. The question is how do I motivate myself to do this after November is over and the holidays come into full bloom with all of their time-sucking activities. We'll see if posting everyday for a month has a lasting effect. Time will tell, and for a procrastinator that is always the case.

Airports & Angels

I went to the airport today to pick up a couple lovely ladies that had just flown in from France. I parked in the garage and went in to wait near baggage claim so I could try to wrangle a couple of the bags for them (did I mention one of the ladies is 18 months old?). While I was waiting I noticed there are several planes and/or replicas hanging above the carousels. One of the was a Curtis with an OX-5 engine. This will probably only mean something to a very few people, none of which read this blog. 

Both of Jim's parents along with his sister Jane were/are members of the OX-5 aviation club. It's a group that consists of pilots and others who have either flown or flown in planes with OX-5 engines, which are equally nostalgic and notorious for being unreliable. Jim's dad Elmer was once asked how many times he'd had an OX-5 engine quit on him. Elmer paused and gave it some thought like he was counting in his head. Then he said "You mean in one day, right?".

Too Few Brain Cells

I knew this would happen, between throwing together a trifle and a crockpot of Scalloped Potatoes for a potluck, a trip to Seatac and trying to make it to yoga/zumba I completely forgot to post yesterday! That always happens this time of the year and it gets worse the busier I get. I'm so used to my super-duper light schedule that I forget how to be productive.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Uncertain Technology

Today I am attempting to post from my phone. I have a feeling the text will be easier to do than the pictures. The Blogger App wants access to my Picasa account and I think I have one but it's been ages since I used it.





Ok, I was wrong. Looks like posting pictures directly from my phone is pretty basic. The Picasa function must be for pictures already downloaded to my laptop. Ugh, so much to learn.

I call this photo "Basking in the Glow of Monday Night Football".





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPhone to the Rescue

The MacBook is going in for a visit to the mothership. The fan is running really loudly and I'm not sure how long they will need it. I know there is a way to post remotely via text or e-mail right? If I'm going to keep up with the NaBloPoMo promise I should probably research exactly how... ah yes, should have known, there's an App for that. Crisis averted!

An Apology

I was talking to my friend Jane as we drove to the gym this morning about how one factor can change the outcome of any given scenario. We've been friends for 35 years and have been through some of the best and worst times of our lives together. I told her that I had been thinking about her brother who drowned in front of us when we were still in grade school. Jane had decided to stay on one side of the reclamation pond where we were swimming while the rest of us swam across; me, another friend and her older sister (side note: the sister had lost a leg in a motorcycle accident when she was 13 and at the time of the drowning she was 16), and Jane's seventeen year old brother Buddy. We were almost to the other side when the young man stopped swimming. He yelled for help a couple times, that he couldn't make it any further. Then he sank to the bottom maybe 15 feet down. I remember the friend who was with me trying to push him up and forward toward the shore. The older sister was trying to grab the boy's hands and pull him in but he was too heavy. Jane was too far away to help, I don't think she even knew exactly what was going on, just that it  was something bad because we were all yelling. I still think about it - what could I have done differently? The answer is nothing. There was no reason for this strong, healthy young man to stop swimming, no reason. Two twelve year old girls and a 16 year old girl with one leg swam across with no trouble but we couldn't save him. If we'd had any lifesaving knowledge... water rescue, CPR, anything... the outcome would have been different, I'm sure of it. Since then I've had water safety training, CPR/first aid responder training and also become a certified scuba diver so the skills it would have taken to save him seem obvious now. Anybody should have known those easy steps, but we didn't. How do you say you're sorry for something that you had no control over but something that, under different circumstances could have had a very different outcome? I'm sorry I didn't save your brother. I'm so sorry.

That'll Be Enough of That

If memory servers we had snow as late as April this Spring. I realize this isn't exactly snow but it's close enough. Too close in fact. Please refer back to the title of this post. Thank you very much. Carry on.

Different Kind of Hike

I watched an Extreme Engineering episode tonight about building the cable car that goes from City Gate on Lantau to the Tian Tan Buddha. This is the same place we stayed last year. We never did take the cable car to the top so it was an eye-opener to see the scale of what they built. Pilgrims walk the entire way to the top but tourists like us usually take the cable car at a rate of 3000+ an hour.  After watching the program I really wish we had done one or the other. Take a lesson - don't pass up an opportunity that may never come again.

Now for Zumba Shoes

Since I also used my old trail-running shoes as my Zumba shoes, I had to find something else to wear to the gym so I can retire the worn out Nikes. Let me say right here that I love Zappos. Not only do they have a great selection but also great service. I ordered these Sunday and they showed up on my doorstep Tuesday, even without expedited shipping. The shoes themselves are not only cute but comfy and specifically designed for dancing. Is there anything better than new shoes? I mean besides world peace and Indian food.

I Like:

Studio D by Ryka

Don't Stop the Dancing

There was a piece of equipment that needed to be off-loaded today and Myesha and I said we would take care of it (do I even need to explain how ridiculous that would be?). I agreed to drive but only if she would direct me off the trailer using the technique here. She said she'd never seen the video so we had to decline. So unfortunate.  

Furlough Day

I was going to write about the subject above but I really don't want to get dooced. So instead I am going to post about my mother Pearl. Today is her 69th birthday. Here she is with her two grandchildren.

Here she is taking a ride in the Commander a couple years ago. Jim flew over and took us for a quick flight around the valley.

Here she is in 1953 when a barnstormer landed in a field near her parents farm in Pinewood, MN.

Happy Birthday Mom!

There is Absolutly No Point to this Post

Or this entire blog really. No matter.

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Addendum

I went to a running shop in Edmonds today and tried on both road and trail shoes. Decided to special order the pair of Mizuno's I posted about yesterday. The bad news - the orange ones are men's shoes, the good news - I ordered them anyway. The guy at the shop said the extra width will work well with my bunion. Good times.

Now I'm going to try to fix the formatting that I messed up yesterday posting that video.

Momma Needs a New Pair of Shoes

I can't believe it! It worked. I've contemplated embedding a youtube video before but have never have the wherewithal to dig around and find out how to do it... but low! And behold!

I am looking for a new pair of trail shoes. The ones I have are already falling apart and with my tumble on the trail the other day I am now blaming them instead of my inattention to where my feet were going. I think the ones above will be the ones if I can find them in orange. They call the color "ong popsicle" but when I read it on the website I read it as OMG Popsicle! Those are definitely the shoes for me. :)


Note: In the process of embedding that video I have torqued my formatting and now words don't automatically roll to the next line when I run out of room. Oh brudder.

Caution!

Babies just want to steal your heart. And they are very good at it. This is the granddaughter of my dear friend Shannon. Her name is Siri, which is very Norwegian. Aside from being able to complete a major mood swing in record time, she is also a champion spitter-upper and master sock taker-offer.  

Retracing Steps

This summer my friend Jane and I went to Kennewick for her sister's 50th birthday, I think I posted about it here. While we were in the Tri-Cities we took a quick trip to Finley where I lived for several years in grade school. This is the house we lived in, I hadn't been there more than 35 years. I can't even describe how odd it was, like an alternate universe almost. Everything was just the same only different. I have many memories of this place - some good, some not so good. I thought it would be therapeutic to see it again but what I found is that really no therapy was needed. There were no ghosts left, no skeletons in the closet. Just a little house with white shutters standing empty in the July sun. 

Autumn Haiku

Falling leaves cover

Slippery roots on the trail

why it is called "Fall"

Ouch.

Discipline

So, due to the urging of a fellow blogger, I am participating in NaBloPoMo. To even have a prayer of completing this challenge I will need some discipline, something of which I have very little. I thought if I had a theme it might make posting easier, but it would also limit my range of subjects, again something I don't do very well is stay on topic. :) So. I am going to random attack this thing and see if rummaging through what passes for my mind every day turns up anything interesting. This is now day two and so far nothing earth-shattering has surfaced, but I'll keep you posted. Ha! See what I did there. Maybe bad puns could be my theme for the month.

One thing I did decide today was that I wished  my iPhone had a better camera because the sunrise this morning was... wow. It would have been impressive if I'd had a few more megapixels. As it is, this is what I got from the on-ramp meter.

My Dirty Little Secret

I love Lady Gaga.

Maybe it's because every time I hear one of her songs it becomes an ear worm for at least 3 consecutive days, or maybe because her songs are a perfect addition to my trail running playlist (sorry 311, you now have competition, but don't worry - you are still my first love). Perhaps it's because it makes me want to get up and move... and I can always use that kind of motivation. Maybe it's because Amy Poehler sang part of Poker Face on Parks and Recreation and my utter fondness for her was somehow imparted to Lady Gaga.

My first exposure to her was on Go Fug Yourself, and if you follow that link you will see why I was completely unprepared to love her music. Her appearance makes her come off as kind of a loon. The lyrical content isn't anything new in the world of dance music but she is definitely something new as far as presentation. Does it come across as a bit crazy? Admittedly. Is it goofy? Sometimes. Is it interesting? Yes. And fun? Totally! Still, if you put that into some kind of mathematical formula it would not add up to something I would expect to heart in a big way, but there you have it. I do. :)