figure out some clips to keep it secure in the wind
figure out an easier system to drain it
Guess it isn’t that close — VERY usable as it it, just adding more options (like lights and music?).
Yet another odd work project today — one that won’t be finished until the weekend.
Dinner tonight is steaks on the grill with DancingBear (which also means Manhattans and Old Fashions) with a little salad and asparagus with holandaise.
OK — before I get to the title of this post, just the daily update.
Out of the condo at 11:30, through the border with a 1.14 liter of Alberta Springs Rye for $19 CAN and home (with a stop at Safeway at Smokey Point) by 3:30 in time to check mail and take a nap.
OK — onto dinner….
Seared Ahi Tuna over a bed of wilted spinach and a split of 2004 Bonny Doon Le Cigar Volante. The numbers:
Tuna: 50% seafood mark down at Safeway, end price $2.50 for half a pound (a good size tuna steak)
Spinach: Buy 5 bags or more (mix and match), $1 a bag, I used half a bag for one person
Wine: $6 a split on sale from last fall.
Total meal cost in round numbers? $9.00 including wine — but the wine was $6, so twice the food bill.
Best damn $9 dinner I’ve had in a long time. And healthy.
Tomorrow I work on the new (larger) hot tub cover. It’s so nice to have the back deck all organized (and clean). Hopefully SOB will be out of the front yard Sunday/Monday when the purchasers come back from their cruise.
That was my day — didn’t even leave the condo. Had them bring me a new coffee machine to replace the dead one. Had BamBam bring up more dishwasher detergent from the desk when he arrive. Tom showed up and immediately took a shower since he’d been running.
Pork roast over potatoes and onion, salad, wine, bread. YUM.
Today’s link it to a pitch that BabBam is making for a $2500 grant. Check it out, vote for him:
Why 6:30am — Why am I awake at 6:30am. To many of you — what’s new about that. Me? You must be kidding. By my normal wakey wakey time I’d gotten the work that needed done today done, and showered, and thinking of breakfast.
It’s a crisp morning here in Seattle, a layer of frost on the deck (that looks so clean and organized after yesterday’s work party).
As noon rolls around it’s time to head north to Vancouver for a couple of days of cooking for friends. Tonight is Hummingbird and Helene, tomorrow is BamBam, Tom and later Hummingbird after his church meeting.
I must make an impression on people. There I am at duty-free and I recognize the sales person, and she remembers me as well, she asked whether I was the guy who last time through was headed up to Whistler for the Olympics… good memory! We chatted for a bit — apparently her sons surprised her with hockey tickets. No small thing for hockey crazed Canadians.
No troubles at the border other than pulling out my driver’s license rather than my Nexus card. Meant I spent 30 seconds at the border rather than 15 seconds. Next stop after the border was a new one for me… looking for the IGA on Broadway hoping it has parking so I don’t have to haul two days worth of groceries the several blocks from the IGA downtown to the condo…. yes, it has parking, and something equally important, a BC Liquor Store right next door saving another stop.
Got checked in a little before 4 and people started showing up a little before 6. No rest for the wicked.
Dinner = roasted chicken, steamed veggies, bread, salad, wine, good conversation. Turns out Helene and Hummingbird live within blocks of each other.
The morning was spent on a website re-do that was basically shot down as:
derivative
not classy enough
Well — true, but it’s better than what they have, and they seem not to be able to pull the trigger and pay a pro. And I fully acknowledge that I’m not a pro — I can, however, do a quick/dirty/functional site.
But enough about work, let’s talk about pleasure. Here is the soaking tub with the surround in place:
And with the stairs I built out of leftover bamboo plywood from the kitchen:
I still need to do some more detail work on the steps, but they do a great job of hiding all the plumbing, and you can use the heater air loop as a handrail. And I need a new full-size cover.
Dinner tonight was cleaning out the fridge — steak and asparagus, no salad. Guess I’ll have to double up on the salad tomorrow night in Vancouver.
As promised, here is the YouTube video of my hotel room (yes, I liked it that much):
Brunch this morning is with Julian, Jameson’s not so little brother, at Mother’s Bistro and Bar(thanks Swanda for getting us a table). Talk about crowded! Wow. Now I remember why I don’t go out to brunch on a weekend morning. But the food was worth it. It was good to catch up with Julian and hear the story of his return from India just after the underwear bomber struck…
88 hours to get home
Unexpected overnight in New Delhi (fog)
Unexpected overnight in Paris (missed connection - duh)
Unexpected overnight in Atlanta (hours at immigration)
So the hours at immigration: recent national security incident, 20-something guy who has just spent a month in India pretty much off the grid, when he got to immigration in Atlanta they put big red marks on his form, pulled out a big envelope, put the form and his passport in it an said — “Go to that office over there.” Lots of questions, why India, what do you do for a living, what was the China trip about (passport stamp), etc… lots of second-third world stamps in his passport. Needless to say he missed his already tight connection. I’ve recommended the “Global Entry” trusted traveller program to him.
After brunch it was off to Powells for a look-see. Didn’t end up buying anything, neither did Julian.
Next stop — the train station a couple of hours early for my train, but the sleeping class passengers have access to the Metropolitan Room, basically a lounge with free wireless, coffee, pop, juice, newspapers, bathrooms, and comfortable chairs. Nice touch Amtrak. Probably only practical since all the long distance trains arrive and leave within about a four hour window at the station.
Got some work done there, and continued working for a bit on the train, drinking my complimentary champagne with orange juice. Had dinner in the Parlour Car — chipotle buffalo meatloaf. Not the best, but since it was the Parlour Car I didn’t have to share a table as I would have in the regular Dining Car. Had part of a nice bottle of Greg Norman Petite Syrah. I’ll finished the bottle with tomorrow’s dinner.
A couple of semi-drunk B-reel actors having dinner as well. Cute ,well, the younger one who apparently had a bit part in Sex Pot, and the older (mid-30’s) has been in a couple of CSI: NY episodes. The younger one seemed a little shocked when I said “You two make a cute couple.”
Arrived early — swung through the apartment to pick up travel papers for Panama and headed home for a night cap and an early bed.
So, I thought my Saturday morning was going to be some quiet time on the train to Portland, reading, working on a web-site redo, having lunch…
Until Tom Hennessey came up to me in the train station in Seattle and said hello. I’ve known Tom since my (and his) late teens in the Midwest. I hadn’t seen him in at least half a dozen years — he and his wife (and two kids, all travelling together) live in Anchorage and they caught the red-eye last night to catch the train today — also in a sleeper!
Needless to say, while the wife and kids napped from the long night, Tom and I hung out in my roomette catching up on the last few years. Too weird.
Got into Portland a little early, and was checked into the Modera by 2pm for a nap, followed by some work (to make up for what I was planning on doing on the train). The Modera is a boutique hotel right across the street from where Jamshed’s 70th Birthday Party is taking place.
Hard to tell that this used to be a Day’s Inn other than the size of the rooms. Really nice rooms, good amenities, Jill would love it for it’s mid-century feel. The only odd thing is that even though there is free wireless throughout the hotel, a local phone call (or even an 800#) costs you a buck. Odd. Maybe if I get ambitious I’ll post a video of the room tomorrow.
No post would be complete without a picture of our birthday boy:
The party ran from 6-10pm in the party room of a condo tower with heavy appetizers that took care of dinner before moving up to the condo of our hosts for another two hours with several more people dropping in.
As I stuggle with billable hours — and there is a request for more (which I fulfilled today, but more tomorrow and Sunday), it’s another couple of coats on the hot tub sides, unexpected calls from everyone and their mother:
Wonderful needing to borrow Speedos for an 8mm film project
Jeff (my ex) and Jimmy coming by to chat after a Zippy Burger in West Seattle and taking the Lotus Elise out for a little sunshine
Mick, in need of an Old Fashion that doesn’t cost him an arm and a leg and a roommate (actually, he would benefit from less roommates)
This while I’m trying to work on an animated GIF for a website redesign. Got most of the groundwork done, hopefully on the train tomorrow I can work on the body.
Two more coats of varnish on the hot-tub sides, which are now insulated panels held in with screws — the whole thing will be insulated, but pop a part for moving. Means one-two people can easily move the tub. But in the process, the Jag is in the alley, I’ve got the table saw pulled out, I’m making panels of glued pine and insulation, really, I should take a picture.
Hell, if I die and decide not to box and burn, it would make a nice coffin.
Mick stayed for dinner for me (additional snack for him) and a couple of Old Fashions, and more importantly, the test of whether the tub can take two people (270# and 220#, basically 500#) — I am here to report success, though I do need a pickup to bring the last panel of 4×8x2″ foam for the cover — I got the two sheets of 2×8x1.5″ panels and the 2×2 in the jag today (along with a couple of bags of charcoal, lighter fluid, liquid nails)… and the same cute seriously homo “in training” check out clerk was there at Home Depot — didnt’ see the skinny hippy boy check-out clerk, but I did look. Damn. I’m going to Home Depot for sex?
Too many run-on sentences. I have to be up early in the morning to catch a train to Portland for Jamshed’s 70th B-Day party.
Well. not quite, but I did jump into the tub after running money to the bank (Mommy Van sale), getting groceries, and restocking the liquor cabinet (with cash from the sale).
Now all it needs is:
Complete the surround (buy planks, seal, screw with standoffs)
Swing 180 degrees
Reseal two connections
Move back towards the fence.
Make full cover
Sew cover cover from left-over pieces of rip-stop from old tub.
Down side is that I will have to drain it to move it — think I’ll get all the pieces assembled and ready to screw together and THEN drain and move the tub about the same time the water needs changing.
As for dinner, I picked up some large prawns at 50% off at Safeway — seafood, 50% off, freeze or cook that day. Internet search turned up this recipe to go with the green beans that needed using:
You like the duct-tape and pink rigid foam temporary tub cover? Now all I need to do is enclose it after swinging it 180 degrees so the pipes are back by the fence. Tomorrow, once it’s warm, I’ll have a shot of me in the tub.
Evening = sell another vehicle. That’s right. I’ve gone from three vehicles to one in under a week, and gotten close to NADA/Blue Book value for them. The things you do in a down economy.
Things left to sell:
Dead chipper with good 8hp motor
Phone booth with 1940’s phone
Two pop machines
4×8 utility trailer
Pickup truck lift gate
And a ton of other stuff in the garage!
Dinner was VERY delayed with the sales process running til 8pm while I’m drinking bloody marys… amazing how the tomato juice replaces food — until 10pm when I fried up some fish and had a salad.
Whirlwind day — and just booking the train to Portland this weekend for a friends 70th b-day party. I have a room on the way down, a room at the Moderna which is right next to the party place, and a room back on Sunday.
And to round out this post — a picture that turned up on FaceBook that I label as “Was I Ever That Young”…
OK — that sounds kinda bad. How about this. Plumbing, and then Swanda.
Update on the hot tub project:
OK — it doesn’t look like much, but I actually managed to get the drain/air system put together (and not leaking with one trip to home depot.
Well, two trips, but that was once I’d figured out how to do the tub jets since AguaQuip didn’t have any generic “eyeball” jets. My solution? I needed something with a fairly wide flange and backside nut so I could get it tight enough to the tub so it wouldn’t leak. Kitchen Hose Guides… once the Plumbers Goo is dry I’ll attach the Garbage Disposal hose adapter to the brass 3/4″FIP to Garden Hose Male Adapter and we’ll have water flow.
Another thing I realized working on this project — that I could initially fill the tub from the hot water heater drain…. preheated water — should knock a day off the warm up time for the tub, and the water heater is less than 20′ from the tub. Yahoo.
It will still take me a couple of more days on the project as I’m checking everything as I put it together for leaks etc. just in case this idea doesn’t fly… I’d had to have buy the insulation and boards to wrap the base in… and not have it work.
Dinner tonight with Swanda at his place. I brought the pork loin, bread and wine, he supplied the asparagus, salad, whiskey and my paycheck.
The final day of the Olympics with the spectacularly crappy NBC coverage — at least they are playing the final Gold/Silver hockey game in real time. And what a game it was, though I was also reading the New Yorker at the same time.
Wonderful came by to borrow the van (while I still have it) to pick up a couch and passed along the lovely website consisting entirely of 5 second movies. Here is one of them:
Here is the URL for the main site: http://5secondfilms.com/ Who thought you could say so much in 5 seconds.
That was my mid-day. Evening was cooking up a surf and turf (filet mignon and shrimp scampi) for Gnarlene and I. Add some salad, fresh bread, wine, and a meal you have.
7:30 in the morning on of the Colonels called — if SOB didn’t sell immediately, he’d be interested in it. Yikes. That would be a wild ride — Seattle to Kentucky in the late winter, hell, it is still snowing in Kentucky.
I had a 10am appointment set up with a couple from Woodinville — luckily they didn’t show for another twenty minutes. Must have been the champagne last night. They were the ones wanting an early appointment as they were leaving tomorrow on a 14-day Princess cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii and back. We did a little test drive around the neighborhood — I should say I drove they sat. They have owned other RVs and were looking for something with a higher ground clearance — their plan it to take it to Alaska. I’m hoping on the ferry rather than driving the AlCan Highway. And I thought Kentucky was a long run.
I unloaded dishes while they chatted outside in private — luckily it was the sunny part of the day.
Decision. Sold. I even threw in the macerator/pump and hose. I’ll have to remember show him where that plugs in. Check in hand I signed over the title. I’ll keep the RV here until they are back from the cruise (and the check clears). We could have found a branch of their bank, but this seemed easier for all of us. That and I have both sets of keys so it isn’t going anywhere!
First stop after the left? The bank. Let’s get that check moving.
Next stop? the Habitat for Humanity store to get the seriously modern bathtub I saw yesterday in my errands running around with the 15% off coupon. Tub? Why? Easier conversion to a hot-tub than the pool liner.
Might not even have to insulate this one since the walls are an inch thick — and it will be MUCH easier to make a square cover than the oddly shaped pond liner.
Third stop (after I unloaded the tub). Pick up a floor safe from Greg’s basement. Not that I really need one, but free is free and I can go back to storing my most important papers in something fireproof. Those old love letters from high school are important.
Dinner tonight is with DancingBear. Steaks on the grill, roasted red potatoes, fresh baked baguettes, spicy slaw — with his signature Old Fashions before and after the wine with dinner.
And he has a water feature he needs to install in his back yard — so there is a use for the pool liner.
I6 guess I should have posted the listing to the Faerie and Facebook Lists first, as one of my friends suddenly expressed interest in buying SOB to take to Burning Man in Nevada. Yikes, almost a dozen requests for more information and appointments to view. And one inquiry on the Mommy Van.
Spend the day fielding email, answering questions, neglecting work, and getting ready for dinner with SpaceOtter, who was interested in SOB (Son of Bob).
When it was time for dinner, SO (SpaceOtter) showed up with his friend so they could both take a look at it — friend is also part of his Burning Man Possé. Sorta hard to show an RV in the dark, but gave it a shot, and let him FOSO (Friend of SpaceOtter) drive it to the airport so he could catch light rail back to the hill for his next appointment.
We talked over dinner of baked rock fish, slaw, high-heat roasted brussel sprouts and champagne. No descision until 8am tomorrow because it would be a foursome going in on this.
Well, it’s not quite spring, but with all the sun breaks the last couple of days, it’s time to start getting rid of the stuff that I don’t use on a regular basis. And lets start with the really LARGE items.
So that was the big push today, designing fliers for both, getting pictures and an oil change for the mommy van, working a little, and starting and adding to a growing “to-do” list since I have time on my hands.
Other news, actually from yesterday, was that I planted a couple of rose bushes (one to balance out the rose bush on the left hand side of the house) and finally got around to repositioning the HDTV antenna in the attic (up four feet, forward three feet) so I could get Channels 9 — Public Television here in the Puget Sound. When they moved their antenna further up their tower after turning off the analog signal, I lost their digitial signal that was fine before.
Dinner tonight is a pork tenderloin — I guess I’d better start inviting some folks over to dinner. It’s the fourth night in a row of dining by myself.
Yes, I had lunch with Brad Tilden, and a room full of other Alaska Airlines MVP Gold members — maybe a hundred to hundred and fifity people, at least twenty were Alaska Air personnel. Presentations — and then most of the time was a question and answer session. Some of the answers:
Coming by early summer is a tie-up with Kenmore Air that serves the San Juans and Canada for earning and redeeming miles
Coming soon a tie-up with Icelandic Air for earning and redeeming miles
By spring the $99 Companion Certificate for Business Card holders will be electronic
In Newark, there is now a shuttle past security to get between terminals to use the Continental President’s Club
Possible second Board Room at Sea-Tac in the North Satellite — would be upstairs like the British Airlines lounge the South Satellite. In VERY early phases to see if it makes sense
Los Angeles terminal location change to same terminal with partners now early 2011, along with new Board Room
Wi-Fi in entire fleet by end of year, in the -800’s by late spring (announced publicly). $4.95 and up for flights, and no freebie for Gold members
Paperless check-in with your cell phone (announced publicly)
And the lunch was pretty good as well. Nice salad, salmon in a berre blanc over pilaf, scoop of ice cream over berry cobbler. Too bad there wasn’t any wine.
And yes, I brought up the prayer card, unfortunately to my seat mate who was an enthusiast Salvation Army solider who loves then. I stress I’d like to see them more ecumenical rather than just Psalms.
So a little work in the morning, the lunch, a nap (not used to large mid-day meals), a little more work and a steak for dinner.
Iceland here I come — I’ve been looking at going back but it irked me to fly that far and get no miles (unless I wanted them on Lufthansa, which doesn’t do me a lot of good).
Now anyone can have an outdoor kitchen — though not as nice as mine, but much cheaper. Check out this two burner propane stove/oven combo for camping that I saw today at Costco. Not back for $149. Two burners and an oven!
Nicer in some ways than the one I have in SOB (Son of Bob), which is going on the market very soon. That’s it… sell SOB, get a tent and this.
Item number two:
The Evil Google has posted high resolution images of the airplane graveyard outside Tucson (which I visited a couple years ago and did the “boneyard tour”. Unfortunately Google’s embed feature doesn’t work so hot with WordPress, so here is the link:
As for the day, work in the morning while Stuart took apart the mommy van’s door and fixed the window ($30 — much cheaper than a shop), looked into a trim piece that fell off from the front window ($130 from Mazda — guess I’m hitting the junk yards), ran values on the mommy van and the RV for possible sale (when you use them as little as I do — why insure them), Costco to renew membership and pickup a few things and a dinner of sauteed chicken and vegetables over rice.
Must have been the hot tub yesterday. No desire to get out of bed on the last morning of our Olympic vacation. But I must — we need to check out at noon, which is what we did after our usual morning breakfast.
The plan today was to go and spend an hour on the tube course, which sounded better last night than this morning, but everyone else was going, so what the hell, take one for the team… all for naught. The equipment was down.
Here is the link – think magic carpet dragging you and your tube up the hill so you can slide down.
As we wondered back through the village to pick up the van in the parking garage, we came across the photo opp that Ross couldn’t resist… posing with one of the flame running and the torch:
Look at that smile.
No line at the border for Nexus (OK, a couple of cars) after duty free, regular line had about a 10 minute wait which is good since Rich went back with Ross.
Got home a little after six. Turned on the TV to watch the same stuff that I’d already seen up north, made dinner, blogged, and tried to unwind.
I’m exhausted. I really glad that I cancelled the San Diego and Victoria trips for the first week of March. Exhaustion and the need to watch my shekels,
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