It Seems So Wrong

I have caught someone's cold. It's almost July for crying out loud, and it just seems wrong! People aren't supposed to get sick in the middle of summer. I used to always thump myself on the chest and proudly say, "I never get sick. People can sneeze right in my face and I never catch it." Well, strike that. Apparently, that is just another thing that is changing as I age.

It's been a little strange having Sarah here this week. Even though she is away as much as she possibly can be (like any other teenager would) she still throws a certain amount of chaos into my little world of predictability. Last week she stayed overnight at her friend Megan's house twice, and that translated into being gone pretty much the whole day before and the whole day after. I'd like to think she's getting used to seeing her old man with a strange woman because she seems to be warming up to Suzie a little. I'm sure it's still weird to her and probably always will be.

I ended up working some overtime this week. We have been hit with a lot of jobs from Boeing as of late, and I'm the first one impacted because I'm the receiving guy. One day when the truck from our main Boeing raw materials supplier showed up we got 17 orders worth of material. Later that same day a semi from Yellow Trucking stopped in with 10 more orders from the same company. I don't mind telling you--27 orders worth of material in one day is far and away the record since I've worked there. Add to that the usual things I get from UPS and other outfits and it's no wonder I needed to put some overtime to get caught up.

Our weather has finally turned to summer, and I have been riding the Harley to work more often. I think I rode it three days last week. Maybe four--I'm not sure. Friday was the day Suzie and I were looking for so we could lie in the sun and reflect on our work week and drink beer. It may have been the first time she was greeted at the door by a naked man (not counting when the Witnesses go door knocking) but she never did answer me. I also played naked chef, whipping us up some breaded, pan-fried Tilapia. She's not much of a seafood person, but she liked it. Hmm... Maybe it was just the presentation?

Yesterday we went hiking. I don't know if I have ever been hiking for the sake of hiking. In other words, I have hiked trails a little bit, but only because we were already out there camping when we did it. I have never driven to a hiking trail to go hiking. What made it weird was that Sarah went too! That's just not something I would picture her doing voluntarily, but she accepted. She then asked if her friend Megan could go too, which of course I was all for. Her mom called right before we left yesterday morning and she was practically floored that Sarah was going to go hiking with us. (Sarah is not much of an energy person.) Suz has been hiking a lot over the years, but not anything in the last few years. Basically, we were all newbies. Because of that we chose an easy hike just outside of Enumclaw called Greenwater lakes. The four of us had a great time. I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't get one single mosquito bite. One thing I did totally wrong was not eating a good breakfast first. I had my coffee and two pieces of toast, and that is just not enough. Add to that the fact that I'm getting a cold and I'm totally out of shape and it was a recipe for feeling lightheaded and seeing spots on occasion. It was a hot day yesterday too, and that didn't help much. All in all, a very good day though.

I think I'm going to go down to a nearby business and apply for a job in the next couple of days. I was planning it for tomorrow after work, but I need to evaluate my cold and whether or not I can "sell myself" properly. I like to look and feel upbeat when I apply for a job because it shows. The place is called NW Territorial Mint. It would be cool to get this job because it is so close by, and given the gas scenario these days, riding a bicycle to work would be too cool. As I have mentioned before, I have been getting increasingly disgruntled with my current employer. Not the job, but the employer. Things are just going too wrong around there and I need to get out.

Looks like another hot summer day today!

The Truck Lives!

I don't know what clicked really, but when I came home from work yesterday I felt like working on my truck. Maybe it's because Sarah was off at a friend's house and wouldn't be home until later... Maybe it was because Suzie wasn't coming over after work... Maybe a combination of both. Add to that the glimmer of hope that I detected the other day when I found out that its battery had 4 cells that were way low (below the tops of the plates) on water and had been on the charger since I discovered it.

Whatever the reason, I started plugging away at it.

I played with wiring, I played with the battery--I even added my old Harley battery (it was fully charged) to it. Nada. The most I could get was a spark and little bit of a click when I jumped the starter trigger terminals together. I even took the starter back out and tried it. When I did that it worked like gangbusters. Then I thought about maybe it was binding up and refusing to turn when I bolted it in and investigated that. Nope. After some more troubleshooting, this time focused on a suspect area and I finally got it. For some reason there was only a teeny little ground to the starter--Basically none to speak of. I added a hefty cable to the chassis of the starter and viola! A little fussing around here and there to tidy up all the crap that I had unhooked and I was ready to try it. I couldn't believe how easily it started! It was like it kept waiting and saying, "Come on man... Give me another chance..."

Well, it runs like crap. It's some sort of tuning issues from what I can see, but at least it started. It still seems to have that same problem it has had for a couple years, which is sometimes it starts and sometimes it has nothing. I would think that there really must be something wrong with it's little onboard computer. After all, that controls the spark and timing and all sorts of stuff. At least I have a chance of actually driving it or at least moving it around a bit now. Before it was just another derelict hulk of a truck that you used to find in someone's front yard up on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation. I'm still not ready to call the insurance company up and have them put it back on yet.

Sarah went off with one of her friends at about noon yesterday, but she texted me just like I told her to when she left. When I got home from work I found the TV on and clothes scattered here and there in the living room. All typical teenager stuff. I was going to rag on her about leaving a mess, but I later realized that she did clean up one potential mess. When Teresa delivered her to me the other day, she also brought all the fixin's for Sarah to make a cheesecake for her friend. Basically a home-assembled kit. Well, apparently yesterday she made it and they took it with them. There was hardly any sign that she had actually made it in the kitchen so she cleaned all that up nicely. It's a start. She got home about 10 minutes before my bedtime last night. I texted her a reminder at 9 to get home because I didn't want to have to get out of bed to let her in, and she replied that she knew and was leaving soon anyway. Although yesterday she didn't, today she has a key. Now all she has to do is remember to take it.

Small news bits:
I ordered car tabs online the other day for both the Neon and the Harley. I've still got another couple months for the truck, and hopefully I'll be able to drive it by then, because it will need an emissions test I'm sure.

G.W. finally came through and sent me my token check to help me to do my part to stimulate the economy.

I helped my mom drag their old waterbed mattress out of the house on Friday. They've had a waterbed since the early 80's. Sunday night was the first time since then that they have slept on a "real" mattress. She called last night to thank me for helping her and to tell me that they slept well. Apparently dad is now classified as a frail whiner so he couldn't sleep on the waterbed any more. It hurt his back or something.

Getting Used to a Roommate

It appears I have Sarah living with me for a week and a half.

Although there has been some talk about the potential of it happening from time to time I never read much into it. The way Teresa is, she is always "crying wolf" and I guess I just figured that Sarah would go with her when she went to eastern Washington to visit her friend like she always used to. Not this time. I have Sarah here until about the 4th of July.

It's very weird for me. It's odd enough that I have a "roommate" so to speak, but Sarah and I have a strange sort of relationship. We get along fine, but we're not close like we should be. If we were she would have stayed here whenever she could way before now. This is probably only the third time in two years that she has stayed overnight. Not very good for a father/daughter relationship is it? Obviously, it's something in my parenting skills (or lack thereof) that created what we have. I guess I should count my lucky stars that we have a relationship, as many split parents and their kids don't even have that much.

She has her car currently removed from her. For once her mom actually "stuck to her guns" and did something she was threatening to do. She told Sarah if she didn't have a job lined up by the end of the school year she would have to park her car.

So anyway, now I have to learn to close doors, be respectful of noise, wear clothes, and keep food on hand that I might not normally buy. Now she has to get used to jiggling my toilet when it doesn't shut off, and picking up her messes. Now I have to provide transportation on occasion and keep tabs on her whereabouts. Now she has to keep me informed of her whereabouts. Now she has to get used to seeing Suzie around all the time. Now Suzie and I have to get used to seeing Sarah around all the time.

Sure, her mom deserves a vacation and it's probably good for me and Sarah--It's just so weird!


P.S. The pictures from the Fremont Fair are up, check em out!

The Annual Seattle Fremont Solstice Parade

It's hard to put into words what you experience when you attend the Fremont Solstice Fair and Parade in Seattle. The Fremont district is quirky in itself, but every year the best of the weird show up to turn their ideas into substance and their bodies into human art.

This was the first year I managed to make it to the event. Imagine that--Living here all my life and never attending such an event before, but yet knowing full well how zany and cool it is. For whatever reason I just never made it. Maybe there was something else going on that same day, maybe it was not great weather, maybe I just forgot about it until it was too late. Add to that the full knowledge of the madness of traffic to and from the area, and I probably chose not to go several times just for that reason alone.

Yesterday I finally made it.

Although I dearly wanted to take Suzie with me, she had obligations both yesterday and today and couldn't make it. It was truly a photographer's bonanza. Never have I been so inclined to spend all day at an event, just wandering and taking pictures. I guess the timing was right for it considering that I'm so into my photography hobby and the number of pictures I can take these days is practically unlimited. Well, although I could have stayed all day, that was not to be the case. Again I was struck with the same notion that I had during my vacation trip with Sarah last summer when I decided then that she was not anywhere near the adventurous type. Sarah is not a good partner for my kind of adventures. Although I love her dearly she is just not fun to travel with. You can just see it in her face all the time--The pained expression that, punctuated with an occasional burst of interest, reflects the fact that being there at that particular place and time is not convenient or fun. I'll be first to admit that attending some events can be tedious and you have to have a certain attitude to make it pleasurable. Sarah apparently hasn't got the right attitude for anything that takes her out of her comfort zone.

Anyway, back to the event.

Fortunately I know Seattle well, so given the traffic and such, we were able to approach the area from the best direction. The bad part was that because we were less than an hour from the start of the parade we had to park a good mile or so away. That's the trouble with parades and similar events--There are no parking lots like fairgrounds have. It's first come, first served--All residential and city street parallel parking. In the process of walking towards the area of the parade we saw quite a few interesting people. We probably saw a good half dozen naked bike riders go past us at various times, their bodies turned into a painted canvas. By the time we got to the beginning area of the parade where the floats and other interesting performers were staging, the nude bicyclists had just departed. Alas, we were still a half a block away from seeing that strange and colorful visual close enough for pictures. I don't know how many there were, but I'm sure there were a couple hundred easily. Some were painted head to toe, some just had designs and markings, and others were fully nude. Basically full nude to fully painted, and everything in between.

We continued walking and walking, trying to find a good spot to view the parade from. We still had a half hour or so before the parade actually started, and we used that entire time searching. It was at that time that Sarah first became annoyed. She was voicing her desire to get off the street. I think she was totally embarrassed to be walking on the street right in front of everyone, but that was really the only option. The sidewalks were totally jammed and nothing was moving. It's not like we were the only people walking on the street--That's pretty much how it had to be done if you wanted to move. At one point I detoured off the street and onto the sidewalk. That was a mistake. After a little of that I took us back to the street. The temperature yesterday was in the upper 70's, and when you add wall to wall bodies in a crowd scenario it felt like 95. Anyway, we finally found us a decent place and she lightened up a bit. There was actually a nice, wide concrete railing we could hoist our butts up onto and that helped us cool down a bit too. We had to be careful though--It was probably 30 feet down behind us.

Sarah shot about 200 pictures with her camera, and by the time we were finished I had taken 369 myself. The difference was that I was taking them all the time and she only took them from our parade viewing point. My favorite pictures are all the ones that I took before and after the parade. They truly captured some of the freedom of expression that the Fremont Solstice Fair is all about. Thousands and thousands of people, all out there to see or be seen. I only wish I could have stayed there longer. I missed you Suz!

That Travelin' Bone

I don't know what it is about me that does this, but it seems to happen from time to time. I get a taste of something and I let go of my grip on the handrail and jump in with both feet.

This time it seems to be that I have a bit of the Travelin' Bone.

Part of me keeps thinking back to our Harley adventure this last weekend. The smells of the forest, the bright greens of the new spring growth on everything, the boulders, the rivers--You name it. This time of the year is the prettiest time to travel in this state--Especially over mountains or around the mountain highways.

I mentioned this to Suz last weekend: Little by little people that inhabit the greater Seattle/Tacoma area have spread out. I've lived here all my life so I know: What once were rural lands are now connected routes leading from one area of urban sprawl to another. Little by little we have been "removed" from the wilderness that we took for granted growing up here in this beautiful state of Washington, but it's happened in slow motion and many of us haven't noticed. Add to that the effect that media has on us, and we spent all our free time either watching TV or attending "cultural events" or other "happenings" that are wall-to-wall people. Sure, they're both fun, but getting out there past civilization is what we need to keep doing to remind ourselves why we actually ended up living or staying here in Washington State.

Here's another thought: Gas prices have probably been a good thing for the wilderness. There are probably fewer and fewer folks willing to get into their gas-guzzling urban assualt vehicles to explore our beautiful mountain highways. From what I saw this last weekend, it still looks like it did in my memory: Clean and litter-free. I'd like it to stay that way.

You know what though? We still have the ultimate way to explore our state as long as we have motorcycles. The ability to follow a hawk with your eyes as it flies overhead, the ability to smell the pine needles as roll past--Those are great things to experience. Add to that the fact that motorcycles get good gas mileage. One thing they are not (nor will they ever be) are "comfort vehicles" so they require you to stop occasionally (unless you're a masochist), rub your ass, and take in your surroundings. That means you get off, take deep breaths, comment on how beautiful it is there, and reach for your camera.

Yep, got that Travelin' Bone. Let's hit the road!

Just a Blurb

I don't have much to report or yak about today, but thought I'd throw a little bit out there.

For those of you that use Firefox as your web browser, there is a new version out. It's a major upgrade, you might not notice a lot of difference, but there is a lot going on behind the scenes. HERE is a list of features they've put into it. If you don't use it, you should. It's so much better to use than IE that it's ridiculous. Just using Firefox instead of IE can eliminate most chances you would have with malware and creepy crawlies jumping into your computer. If you want it, there's a link to it right here on this page over on the right side. Look... Yeah, over there below the menu. See it?

Suzie and I have been uploading a lot of pictures lately, not the least of which are pictures from our ride last weekend. She took some awesome ones from the back of the bike while we were moving with her smaller camera. She also chronicled Sean's accident Saturday pretty well too, even getting shots of him being loaded into the meat wagon. I'm sure he loves those as a reminder... ha ha.

Okay, I guess I'll go get ready for work now.

The Toppenish Run

Boy, where do you start when you're trying to blog such a great weekend?

I think it's fair to say I was probably more nervous that Suzie was about it--After all, this was her first "biker" event/weekend, and it could make or break how she feels about ever doing it again, right? Here we were both sacrificing a vacation day by taking Friday off, and that's not to be taken lightly beings that we don't get anywhere near the amount of time off that the Boeing people get. I mention that because we were the only "non-Boeing" people in our group. For them taking a day off is nothing.

It was cloudy and cool when we left, but all signals pointed to it getting better as we went. I was starting to have my doubts about the group early on. A few of us met at Steve's house in Puyallup, then rode up to a place out past the Roy "Y" on highway 7 to meet the rest of them. The people we met were sitting in there having drinks, so then the people in our group went in and had drinks. When we finally go going, we ended up stopping for drinks again in Morton. A few miles later we stopped again, this time in Packwood, and this time for lunch (and drinks of course). I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get over the pass...

Well, we did get over the pass, and it was a beautiful ride all the way. We chose to go over White Pass on the way down, and that was good because I really didn't remember the last time I had been across White Pass. It wasn't without mishap, however. One of the guys in our group (I can't remember his name) had a problem crop up. Right as we crested the pass his bike started spewing oil out the breather. Fortunately we were in the very back, but even we ended up with a light dusting of oil on the front of our Harley. Everyone in our group seemed to have trouble stopping when that happened. They stopped too frantically or too quickly or whatever. At any rate, some of them were lucky to get stopped without crashing into each other like idiots. Maybe it was their drinks? After "oil slinger" (as Suzie and I refer to him) got going again, it happened a little ways up the road again, only this time the stops were even more haphazard--This time making us even have to do some power braking. I'd say Suz is lucky I have some riding under my belt because it was like a comedy of errors every time the group pulled over like that.

We finally got to our motel in Toppenish at about 6pm. The ride was pleasant other than what I've noted already. The weather got warmer as we went, and it was about 80 or so in Toppenish when we got there. There were bikers everywhere in town. The event was only about 8 blocks or so from the motel, so it was very easy to find. All of us in our group were staying at the same motel except for two couples that brought their tent/gear with them. They were staying on the grounds of the bike event. What did I think about Toppenish? You can have it. After hitting two stores to buy some beer and having no luck, I finally asked someone why. It turns out that where we were standing was the edge of the Yakima Indian Reservation and there was no beer unless you went farther up the street. Weird. The town has "The City of Murals" as it's slogan. Apparently a town that has absolutely nothing going for it needed something to be proud of, so they have a lot of buildings downtown with full wall murals painted on them. We were going to get a bunch of pictures of them the following day, but due to unforeseen events, that never happened.

I guess a few of the guys got together and decided that we were going to ride out to a place near the Columbia River where there was a replica of Stonehenge. We all met outside the motel at about 11am, all , all amped up for a nice ride in beautiful sunny weather--Most of us in t-shirts. As usual we were in the rear, but this time Suzie had her little Canon pocket camera in hand. As we were headed up a long hill, a passing lane opened up and an opportunity presented itself. Suz and I sped up and slowly passed each of the riders, taking pictures of each of them as we did so. When we finally got to the front, we slowed back up and took pictures of each of them again as they slowly passed us. I haven't seen the pictures yet, but everyone was totally excited about the possibility of great riding shots of them. Action shots of people actually on their bikes are the hardest ones to get! You know what the only downfall was? Nobody got shots of us.

About a half hour further up the road after cresting Satus Pass, guess what happened? Yes, "oil slinger" strikes again. This time we were a little farther back than most folks, but it didn't unfold quite like the previous events. The guys were a little closer together this time, and when they pulled off the road they did it too quickly. They did avoid crashing into each other, but Sean and his wife Tracy took a spill when the front wheel slid out on the shoulder gravel while they were in the midst of panic stopping. Fortunately they were almost stopped when it happened. Sean sustained 3 broken ribs, and Tracy ended up with bad scrapes on her entire left side. She was not dressed for bike riding--She was dressed for summer. Needless to say, we ended up with paramedics, State Patrol, and Sean and Tracy got a ride to the hospital in Goldendale. Although that was a severe damper on our day (not to mention theirs), things came out all right. Sean and Tracy got a ride back to Toppenish by a family friend of one of our group that lived near Toppenish that drove out and picked them both up.

We did end up eventually seeing the replica of Stonehenge. We all took a bunch of pictures of that and had a good time in the sun. At that point, the rest of the riders took off on their own, and that was just as well with us. We both saw what traveling in a group had gotten us--A series of near-misses. Although sometimes a group is good, sometimes it's not. We really enjoyed our solo trip back at a leisurely pace, and was able to make a couple more picture stops on the way.

We did manage to make it to the actual biker event on Saturday night. It was fun! We sat and partied with a few of our group at their campsite a couple times, and wandered around taking pictures and stuff. Funny--We even ran into a prior La Croix Industries employee over there while we were sitting in the beer garden. After a couple hours of listening to the band, watching burnout tire smoke wafting over the crowd, and generally just taking it all in, we went back to the motel and hit the hot tub. It was a very interesting day to say the least.

We left at about 10am for our trip back, bidding goodbye to the remaining members of our group that were still milling about. Apparently Sean had gotten hold of a friend that was coming over with a pickup and trailer to get his damaged Gold Wing that was still at a home nearby where his accident occurred. We rode leisurely toward home, looking for a good breakfast spot, finally stopping at a place in Naches. Sitting there waiting for their food to show up was Mark and Joyce, one of our group. We left there after they did and immensely enjoyed our ride over Chinook Pass, stopping a couple times near and at the summit for pictures. We stopped at the Naches Tavern in Greenwater for a beer, and right after we sat down in the sun of their outdoor seating area, here came Mark and Joyce again! Funny how we think alike eh?

We made it back in plenty of time for Suzie to get to the graduation ceremony of her youngest son, Keith. It took place at Auburn High School, so it was just a walk through the park from my house. Her daughter Rachyl dropped by and accompanied her. Sarah came over right after they left, and the two of us walked over to visit with my folks on their porch. It was a nice day for it.

All in all, a very good weekend. We rode about 500 miles, had excellent weather, and the bike ran flawlessly. Although Suzie had the misfortune of witnessing an accident, she also experienced the good parts of motorcycling. She had a great time and I'm so glad. We both agreed that a new seat for her was in order though. Stay tuned for pictures on our pictures site--There are many coming up!

Happy Friday the 13th

It looks to be a pretty good day at this point. It started off well mainly because I didn't have to wake with my alarm clock this morning. I have the day off, Suzie has the day off, and we're about to embark on a weekender on the Harley. Maybe I should go buy a few lotto tickets to test the superstition!

Taking a trip on a motorcycle is not easy from a luggage standpoint. With a car trip you have almost unlimited space, and with air travel you're allowed an awful lot of space as well. With a motorcycle you're not so well off. Even when traveling alone on a motorcycle it's tough to cram all your stuff on board. Add a passenger and you add twice as much need for space. I spent a while out in the garage last night trying to figure things out and had a little success, but won't really know until Suzie gets here and we start cramming. When you break it down into categories you see where the problems can arise. Tools & supplies for the Harley, footwear, clothing, toiletries, laptop computer (hey, it's the 21st century!) and cameras--Those are the main things. The saddlebags that stay on the Harley don't hold as much as you'd think they would. I added a tool bag onto the back to put stuff in, and that will also help support the bottom of the luggage bag we'll be strapping on and help hold it up off the license plate and tail light. What I should have done (and meant to ages ago) was build a small, detachable rack to go on the back. I'll still keep that on the "to do" list. I also gave it an oil change and washed it. I didn't wash it to make it look nice, but to "de-bug" the windshield from our last outing.

All things considered, I thought that this cartoon was appropriate:


I had a little thing happen to me on the way to work yesterday morning that I found a little odd. I had this desire for a Breakfast Jack from Jack in the Box, so I cruised by there and was pleasantly surprised to find only one car in the drive-up line. I placed my order, and drove forward after hearing the, "Thank you, $1.08 at the window." When he handed me the bag and I paid him with a dollar and a dime, he asked, "Do you want the pennies?"

Say what?

Although at the time I answered no (they just end up on the floor somewhere anyway), the more I thought about it on the way to work, the more it disturbed me. Have we gotten to the point that we so thrive on convenience that accepting our deserved change is something we may not even want to deal with? Imagine it from the restaurant's perspective--That could translate into millions of dollars of free revenue! If all the employees at all the restaurants all over the world asked every customer that and even 1 out of 5 declined their change, that's still huge. The funny thing is, when I got to work and opened the bag, I had my Breakfast Jack in there, but in addition found a sandwich called an Extreme Sausage. I tried it, but didn't really care for it, but at the same time couldn't help but think, so much for their profit from my 2 cents.

This morning I looked out my little window in the entry that points toward the street and saw a shopping cart sitting out there at the edge of the road in front of my car. I chuckled to myself. The Fred Meyer store that's just across the street has signs posted all over warning shoppers that the carts have devices on them that will render the wheels unable to turn if they leave the perimeter of their property. Come on... It doesn't take a genius to see that there is no device anywhere on those carts. They're the same old crappy wheels they've always had. Apparently, they're playing the odds like Jack in the Box by putting signs up:

If it works on even 1 out of 5...

The Highlight of Your Day

This cartoon yesterday kinda hit home. I don't know how many times I've felt this way, but there have been many I'm sure (click it to see it full size):

Fortunately my girlfriend works where I work so I have a little more incentive to proceed past my coffee cup these days.

It's Eating Me...

Sometimes I don't see myself blogging any more. I've done it before. I know I won't do what I did last time and ever delete my blog (I still can't believe I did that), but I can seriously see times when I won't write anything in it for a while. It's weird though--I start feeling guilty about it.

The way my mind works is the whole problem. Did you ever see someone in a movie or in a TV show that starts to talk, and little by little their words get closer together and they start talking faster and faster and their voice gets higher and higher and pretty soonthey'retalkinglikethisandpracticallyscreamingpanicstricken? That's kind of how it works. I think about things, and my mind gets too analytical and critical and one thing leads to another and pretty soon I'm feeling overwhelmed or frazzled or something. Most of the time I can stop it, but sometimes it drags me down into a funk. It's like my mind punishes me because it thinks I'm doing everything all wrong.

My blogging has reached the point it has been at times before--The point where it becomes tedious. I think what it is, is the fact that more often than not it's just a boring diary. My favorite blogging is during times when I become introspective (like this post) or times when I do a poem or other times when something almost literary springs forth from my keyboard. Will I stop it? No. I will always feel the need to jot something exciting or dreary down in words. I think I just need to be more inspired or something. Basically, I'm saying if you don't see anything written here for a few days every now and then, it's one of those times.

Back to my wandering mind--My feelings of frustration and the like. I started thinking about it, and everything in my life seems to be going very well--The best it's been in a long time as a matter of fact. I'm totally in love and feeling great about that, but there's something there in my mind--Creating thoughts of uneasiness and eating at me.

I think I've figured out what it is this time: LaCroix Industries.

I like my "job" as much as I've always liked it, but suddenly (maybe not suddenly, but I just realized it) I don't like my employer any more. There are too many things going wrong there, and too many people playing the "blame game" on each other. I used to think it was just a sort of tension that suddenly existed between the owners and us (me and Suzie) since they found out that we were seeing each other, but it's much more than that. There are times when I wouldn't feel at all surprised if someone went postal there out of frustration and our little company ended up on the news. The owners want the company to grow and adamantly state that it will do so, but yet are doing nothing at all to help it grow except accepting more work that we can't handle. We've exceeded our capacity, we employ too many idiots, and we're using pencils and scratch paper in a computerized world.

I also get so mad at how Suz is being treated in the office. She has worked there like 11 years or so, and has gotten 3 raises during that whole time. I got 3 raises my first year. She does a huge amount of work that encompasses many areas of expertise and what does she get for it? Nothing. The workload of late has put office staffers on overtime just to try to keep up, and what happens? Accusations, finger-pointing, blame--Nothing good is happening in there. I'm getting fed up at watching it unfold before me.

I want us both OUT.

The Saturday Morning Report

Hello readers (and I know you're out there). Suz had to go into work this morning for a few hours, so that blew our Saturday morning all to hell. It's not like we really do anything in particular, but we both really enjoy the feeling of waking up next to each other and snuggling for a while. Who wouldn't? Sitting in our robes and talking over our morning coffee, browsing over web stuff--Whatever. Oh well.

I have a big band-aid on the side of my face where a big bump used to be. That thing on the side of my face practically "spoke" to me every time I'd look into a mirror, it annoyed me so much. It would embarrass me and worry me at the same time. I was about to the point of going in to my regular doctor and not waiting for the appointment I have with the dermatologist next month. I figured that way if it was something that needed lab work or something else it could get taken care of sooner. Like I said, I was about to go to my regular doc, then Teresa started in on me and urged me a little. First it was a text message like, "Did you have that thing looked at yet? You need to do that right away." Then yesterday morning another one a little more insistent. "You go to the doctor and have that looked at NOW" or something similar blurted out from my phone screen, followed by "signed, your pain in the ass ex-wife." She's very much the worrier about stuff like that. After all, she lost her mother to cancer because she ignored signs. Well I did call and got in right after work at 3pm.

The doctor looked at it and said he was positive that it was nothing more than something called a hemangioma, and not cancer or anything to be worried about. Here's what I got off the web this morning:

"A Hemangioma is a mass caused by abnormal growth or formation of blood vessels. Capillary Hemangiomas are bundles of abnormal blood vessels that are close to the top layer of the skin. They may be red or purple in color."

He said, "Tell you what--Let me 'clear the deck' and get some of these other patients out and we can go ahead and cut that off for you. Just sit tight and wait for a little while." I was all for it, feeling good that it was nothing to be worried about. After I was there about an hour or so they finally got down to business. I got the local anesthetic and he and the nurse went to work. Apparently I was quite the bleeder. I guess that makes sense beings that he was trimming off blood vessels to begin with. It was kind of entertaining listening to it all. They had their hands full stopping the bleeding. I was on the table with my head turned to the side and under a paper thing, so there's not much I could do but listen and throw an occasional wisecrack in. When they finally got it under control he cauterized it with some kind of electronic thing and put a large band-aid over it. He was going to put a stitch in it, but didn't need to after all. I'll go back in a week from Monday so he can have another look at it, and by then the lab results will be back on it as well. I was just about to make my escape when the nurse says, "Oh, we almost forgot your tetanus shot." Damn. All things considered, I feel fine today. My face never did hurt one bit, and my arm is only barely sore from the shot. I still haven't peeked under the band-aid though... It's probably pretty ugly.

My mom called me Wednesday and said my dad was back in the hospital. Apparently he had some instances where he couldn't seem to catch his breath so they took him back in, only this time it was right here in Auburn. She said he was going to be in there for a few days while they tested him. I was just about to go visit him after work on Thursday when mom called and said he was back home. I didn't get any details (I'm bad about that) but I guess all is well. Maybe I'll drop by there today and see what's up.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and downloaded the full version of Tetris to my new phone so I could retire the old one. At a whole $5.99 I figured "what the hell" and did it. It came with a demo version of it, and it was little more than a exercise in frustration because you could only play it for like one minute before it would end. Anyway I was glad I did because it helped me pass the time at the doc's office. I guess I'll just use the old one as my kitchen timer now.

Wednesday Morning Confusion

This morning I woke up the second I went to bed. At least that's what it felt like. I also awoke in complete confusion, wondering why my radio suddenly started playing.

Maybe it was something I ate? No, more than likely it was how much I ate.

Suzie and I hit the Old Country Buffet last night. They have an "E-Club" that you can belong to, and they send you a "buy one-get one free" coupon on your birthday. They expire in a short time so we had to use it. I hadn't been to one of those places for years--Probably since before Sarah was born. We had a good time. I believe I ended up going back 3 more times for a new plate after the original one was finished. Although that sounds like a lot, they weren't heaping--They were just different arrays of stuff I wanted to try. Besides the occasional "too this" or "too that" (I'm pretty picky you know) it was all good pretty good.

Let's see what else is going on in my life lately. Hmm.

I've been getting up 15 minutes earlier than I used to lately. I found that I was running just "slightly" short on time every morning. Although most people wouldn't get up anywhere near the time I do if they didn't have to, it works for me. Maybe some day it won't work for me and I'll stop. Anyway, the extra 15 minutes seems to be working out well so far.

I'm kinda worried about a bump on the side of my face that recently sprang up. It's very weird. It's like my body decided almost instantly that there should be a bump there. It started off life feeling all the world like nothing more than an ingrown hair, but one day it got nicked while shaving and it bled and bled. It's about ¼" in diameter and reddish. It doesn't hurt, itch, or otherwise cause any discomfort other than the fact that it's right where I have to shave. Okay, and the fact that it shouldn't be there... Yes, I have an appointment with a dermie doc (I'm not stupid) but it won't be until next month that I can get in. I hate it when my body does something weird--Especially where everyone can see it. It's very embarrassing and it makes me nervous as to what it is.

A few days back I blogged about numbers. Wouldn't you know it that on the very day I mentioned the score I had going on my retired cell phone playing Tetris I lost it all. It's the stupidest thing too. If you accidentally select "new game" instead of "continue saved game" it resets it all to zero, and that's exactly what I did. I think my score was something like 1,790,000 or thereabouts. Oh well... Now I don't feel like playing it any more, which is just as well I guess.

I've been adding lots of pictures to my pictures site, but nothing has been new really. I'm still playing "catch-up" with albums of pictures I already had. I sure like the usability of that site! Along those same lines, I also did a little minor consolidation of my regular website. I basically combined a couple of separate web pages into the main photography page. There wasn't much info on them and there probably would never be, so I just added the info to the main page and deleted them both.

Work is still very busy and the place is still every bit as fragmented as it was. Their "growing pains" have still not been addressed yet, and likely won't be real soon. The "brothers La Croix" are very cautious when it comes to business decisions. The key here though is that they are actively involved in such a thing almost every day. There have been lots of long "planning" meetings during the day between them. Although my job is very busy, I can still keep up with it without overtime. Suzie isn't so lucky. She has been working extra hours every day for a few weeks now, and the end really isn't in sight that I can see.

We're both looking forward to our Harley adventure in just over a week from now and hoping for good weather. I'm predicting a good time--After all, we're leaving on Friday the 13th! It's just for a couple days, so it's no biggee, but still--It's an adventure and it should be fun. It will be Suzie's first "Harley event". Although she has been around a few gatherings of bikers and wannabe's, she still hasn't really been to an event yet. This one in Toppenish might be fun. If nothing else, she will be amazed at the Anecortes Oyster Run in September. That one is HUGE!

Costumed Dogs and Kamikaze Flies?

Suz said a lot of the office people were going into work very early on Friday and mentioned the possibility of us going to work on the Harley, which I thought would be cool of course. I got all set to go and had the bike warming up, but still no Suzie. After calling her to confirm I wasn't going to "just miss" her, I continued on to work. When I got home in the afternoon I called a person that had replied to an ad I had on Craigslist for my old car magazines. He and Suzie showed up at the same time. It was nice to get rid of them and of course also nice to get $50 for them. We decided to unwind from our work week by lying in the sun out back with a few beers.

It was then I noticed the Kamikaze fly.

I don't know if he was flying at supersonic speed and couldn't stop, or had bad vision and just thought he could make it, high on poop fumes or what, but he apparently tried to go through my screen at some time in the recent past. When we found him there with only his head stuck through the screen, there was no telling how long he had been there. Maybe he was just trying to show off for his friends.
"Hey guys, watch this!"
I had a lot of fun trying to capture him with my camera. Do you know how hard it is to take a picture that small?

Saturday morning Suzie and I picked Sarah up and went to Auburn's First Annual Petpalooza animal show. We were going for picture-taking, but it ended up being great fun. The weather was "iffy" but it only rained slightly--Not enough to cause problems. Although there were many types of animals there, it was mostly dogs. There were dogs of all shapes and sizes.

There were big dogs, teeny dogs, ugly dogs, spoiled dogs--You name it. There were tons of them wearing all sorts of odd costumes (I don't know what that says about their owners). There were a lot of dogs doing frisbee catching acrobatics too, and we spent quite a while trying to capture good shots of those. Some of those dogs were amazing! One of my favorite things (as well as Sarah's) were the outfits that were adopting Greyhounds out. They were former racing dogs, and I can honestly say I have never met a dog with a sweeter temperament. They were the most loving dogs I've ever seen. We all loved them!

Suzie and I both took tons of pictures while we were there, and we put many of them on our picture site. Click the link over on the right and check em out!