UMTravels

In theory, the website re-design is done. Whether the owner “pulls the switch” is up in the air. I’ve done my part. Rename one page on the server “index.htm” and the site will switch to the new one. Silence since 10am. Not my problem at the moment.
My problem. Getting every duck in the road for [...]

Round one of all the pages of the website are done and uploaded — by around 2pm this afternoon. 32 pages, with a query in as to whether I should do another ten or so “travel” pages. No comments back yet which is either good or bad, probably neither, just that he is busy.
Time to [...]

Another intense day of work… which is good since I need to get it done before I leave for Cabo San Lucas with Gnarlene on Sunday. Getting closer — hopefully will be able to upload the site tomorrow mid-day assuming my back and fingers don’t give out.
Dinner tonight at Shanghai Garden on 6th with cocktails before. [...]

Nothing like deciding you want to chance the footer information half way through creating new pages for a website re-do… and unlike in MS-Word where you would change it once, each page if a unique collection of tables within tables within tables, not unlike a Chinese Birdhouse.
Now I just need to concentrate on not bitching [...]

Hit the ground running with the website redesign — my back and neck or sore from intense keyboard work, but it’s a bunch of billable hours, which I need. Seems the redesign is being pushed through like a health bill on Capital Hill — get out of the way it’s coming through with or without [...]

I don’t know what was in the air this morning, but I whipped through a website redesign and was golden enough for the client to ask for implementation numbers so he could budget. From derivative to collaborative in the space of a week. But that quote is for tomorrow — the billing period is over [...]

The folks who bought my RV are due back today… which means SOB (Son of Bob) will be leaving the front yard. With the back yard vacant of the Mommy Van (1998 Mazda MPV) it’s starting to look really lonely around here. Imagine what it will look like once the chipper, lift gate and trailer [...]

Got the hot tub cover foil taped today, and started the process of figuring out the snaps to hold the cover down. That might happen tomorrow.
Got a call from FlufferNutter about the phone booth… seems he is interested, we just have to come to an agreement on price and timing… as he needs a place [...]

Closer and closer the tub comes to being done….

All that’s left:

foil seal the four sides
add a spongy strip insulation for a better seal
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 [...]

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 [...]

Sleep, Eat, Work, Eat, Hang Out, Cook, Entertain, Drink, Sleep, Repeat.
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 [...]

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 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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Thank god the sun is shining — having sold the Mommy Van I now need to haul planks of lumber in the Jag. And that’s only possible with the top down.
The load today? Three 2×6′ panels of patched together pine — it should look nice with a little varnish.
By the end of the day I [...]

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 [...]

Talk about a full day. No nap time for me!
Morning = bi-weekly marketing meeting.
Afternoon = more hot-tub plumbing:

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 [...]

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 [...]