My problem. Getting every duck in the road for leaving tomorrow:

• Mick for transportation
• Gnalene for being ready

Sometimes I think travelling solo might be better.

In the mean time… it’s surf and turf on the grill tonight. Skewers of marinated shrimp to go with the steaks off the grill, mini-loaves of bread, salad, wine. Damn, life is hard.

Wish there were a photo for tonight — maybe me falling off the deck. That would be great… break your leg right before a week long trip.

Oops, tripped on the deck.

[224.8]

Time to start on bread for dinner — when my phone starts chirping with an appointment in fifteen minutes… ah, my appointment with my tax account. Shit. 15 minutes from South Park to Bellevue. Not going to happen.

Ring, Ring. Linda — I’ll put it in the mail. Sorry. Take a coffee break and relax between clients. Can’t apologize enough. No, nothing out of the ordinary this year, no houses bought/sold. Email me with questions, on the road starting Sunday.

Not my finest moment, forgetting an important appointment. But the bread came out great.

Graf showed up around 4:30 to hang out before a dinner of shrimp and pork tenderloin, with spinach wilted with seasoned bacon — talk about a kosher dinner!

Oh look — my headphones — better pack those, and maybe sunglasses would help too.

Getting closer.

[226.4]

Dinner tonight at Shanghai Garden on 6th with cocktails before. The food is good, too good. We (Swanda) always orders way to much of this good food, and then I eat too much of this good food and come home and lay down feeling like a beached whale (and probably looking like one as well).

Not the best pictures, but the advantage of going with Swanda is that because he makes and impression on them (size and tipping), service is great, moves to the front of the line if their is a wait for tables, or maybe it’s because he orders a ton of food. Tonight we had two new dishes — moo shu shrimp (normally it’s the moo shu pork we go for) which they come and fold at the table, and some eggplant dish that was OK, but I’m not a big eggplant kinda guy. Add salt/pepper squid, some noodle dish (hand cut green barley noodles), a beef dish and you have me waddling home knowing I’m going to have to sleep mostly propped up to keep the pressure off my stomach. If there ever was a time for bulimia…

Maybe I’ll pick up some nice bug in Mexico to take care of the problem.

[223.8]

Now I just need to concentrate on not bitching about it, just getting it done by the end of the week so I can escape and just do the cleanup and tweaks next week while working on my tan.

And while we are speaking of tans — Cabo San Lucas next week, Panama in early April, and getting closer to booking my birthday cruise for the fall — as in, I now have a plane reservation. I was on-line looking at prices to San Diego for a possible business/pleasure trip (though it’s been a month and haven’t heard back about business) and decided to check out prices to Miami in September. Last time I looked it was $400+, but that was 8 months out when there are never deals — wasn’t expecting one now either, but found a $267.40 round-trip direct Seattle-Miami a couple of days before and a returning a couple of days after my cruise dates. Maybe this time I’ll get to explore Miami a bit.

For those who didn’t get my email — it’s the Norwegian Epic sailing from Miami on September 25th. At the moment the ship is 88 days from launching, so hopefully with a couple of month under their belt the bugs will be worked out (the the bed bugs not arrived yet). What make this interesting (to me) is they are offering Studios for single travellers (with it’s own bar with key card access). Here is a shot of the studio — amazing how photography can make 100 sq.ft. seem large:

My friend Barb at Pegasus Travel in lovely Lexington, Kentucky has a couple of studios and other size rooms on hold until May 28th. They are (with taxes):

• Studio are 881.60 with taxes (two held, I’m taking one of them)
• Inside J at  751.60ea  based on 2 to a room
• Balcony BF-  1041.60ea double occ
• Deluxe Balcony   D3- 1231.50- double occ

Dinner was some filet mignon and a salad — where have I heard that before:

[224.4]

Between the hours today, and picking up two paychecks, I’m feeling a little flush (that and selling two vehicles!) Maybe it’s time to cancel that million dollar umbrella rider on my insurance policies as well — ever scheckel helps.

All packed for Cabo on Sunday, finalized a ride to the airport with DancingBear (steaks for rides, I like that) since he’s an early riser.

Not much time for anything else today except for doing a beef and asparagus stir fry (forgot to put in any of the canned Chinese vegetables — oh well) with a little wine, and an early bed-time.

[224.1]

So, that damn tub project. Today found me sewing on the back porch it was that nice out. I wanted to use the serger, but after half an hour of trying to retread it I just pulled out the beast (my mother’s college graduation sewing machine present):

Basically I took the old cover, and reworked it into the new cover. That would be an octagon into a rectangle. Seems to have worked:

Complete with tie-downs, though I have to drain and move the tub to screw in the rest of the latches. Speaking of moving the tub — when I drain it before leaving for Cabo next week, when I return (actually from Panama, different trip) I think I’ll make it “float” more in the deck — better view of the planes landing on Sea-Tac runway one (and two).

Dinner tonight was a quiet night at home — a pan-fried steak, wilted spinach, salad, split of wine.

Life is hard.

[225.2 -- might be time for lipo-suction]

They were due in around seven so I left the keys in an envelope on the counter in the RV and headed off to dinner with Jim and Suze.

But before I talk about the fabulous dinner, I have to tout Suze’s new book:

Portrait Painting Atelier: Old Master Techniques and Contemporary Applications

Click on the book and it will take you right to Amazon where every purchase not only puts money in Suzanne’s pocket, but mine! List price is $35.00, but Amazon has is for $23.10 (34% off), saving you $11.90.

As for dinner, pounded veal wrapped in prosciutto in a Madeira glaze reduction of shataki mushrooms, some pencil thin asparagus, salad, and a rosette chive challah with smoked sea salt crust. What a fine meal. As the last bottle of wine for the night was corked, it saved us from getting sloppy.

And yes, the RV was gone when I got home and I confirmed that it’s new owner picked it up.

[223.9]

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 to finish the work on it that isn’this house, and the guy he is going to have do it doesn’t have shop space. Maybe I’ll try and make a joint deal for the phone booth and the trailer. He already has a pop machine so guess that’s out, though I’m guessing those will sell quickly on Craigslist.

Now what about that fat lady singing?

Tonight’s opera was Falstaff –Verdi, light comedy, odd staging that included everyone getting down to their skivvies in the final act. Sorry, no pictures.

Dinner before the show with Helene and Wonderful — thai food — lot’s of it. Can’t beleive we ate the whole thing. Two large appetizers and three mains!

Nightcap after the show at home, watched a bit of Saturday Night Live and hit the hay.

Tomorrow we start saving daylight.

[219.7]

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 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.

[224.1]

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.

[? ? ?]