UMTravels

I love entering those contests where you have to write a little hundred word essay on why you need something. I did that a year ago with Bulleit Bourbon and ended up winning a nice backpack which I gave to Julian since the pockets were in an odd configuration for my laptop — but it […]

You would not believe how fast planes were booking when Alaska Airlines announced this morning that they were flying non-stop to both Honolulu and Kauai….. at one point the website crashed (Alaska Airlines site) and when it popped back up there was a red banner — having trouble booking award tickets to Hawaii. They announced […]

Well — off to Home Depot for a sledge hammer to get those supports out. Damn. No wonder they don’t want to come out — the 2x12s go through the deck and are attached to the framing. That might be why the house floor creaks and the deck doesn’t. You could park a car on this […]

Left the gathering around noon, after sleeping in to almost 11am. Guess I needed the rest. Dropped boxes and a fax machine off at Wonderfuls and saw his new blue bedroom. His new place is coming along. Afternoon was spent draining the hot tub with a new pump that arrived over the weekend, and starting […]

Out of the house at 10am to make the 11am ferry. Didn’t need to hurry, there was plenty of room. The lawnmower is strapped to the top so I’ll get in the center of the ferry for a quick exit. The rest of the car is packed with large artwork and empty wine shippers. The […]

Spent parts of today grabbing images off the Library of Congress site for use on Shirts of Bamboo T-shirts. Lots of cool WPA posters, some of them rather offensive by today’s standards — references to “Japs” and all that. Also tons of relocation photographs which are cool from a historical perspective, but useless for t-shirts. […]

Just another lazy day on the island. Visits to Ron at Paper, Scissors on the Rock, the grocery store for those last minute items, and gin and tonics in the afternoon even though it’s overcast. Tonight’s dinner with Curt and Brandon is steaks on the grill. Curt brought up the grill I gave him years […]

Running late out of the house, yet again, headed to the island for the Memorial Day weekend with Councilman Curt and the Boy Brandon. They might be on the 8:40pm ferry which last time I checked is running about 45 minutes late. I’m on the 12:35pm with plenty of time to spare. Nice visit with Ron […]

OK — Chris isn’t on the warpath, it’s just that I was over there for cocktails and to pick up a knife set and a few things… and the comment, “What, no blog today?”. So, in honor of Chris, here it is: Walls are up in the garage, and the 110 wiring is done and […]

Rainy all day yesterday — except for the moments that I was actually able to get up on the ladder and check out the leaking gutters on the east side of the house. The cedar gutters (yes, cedar) after 65 years have rotted out in spots — sending rain down the side of the house […]

The best laid plans… and nothing. Didn’t get squat done on the house yesterday. Dinner with Jimmy, Suzanne, and Helene was great — got Suzanne to cook the Copper River Salmon, Helene brought wine from our trip, Jimmy brought salad — and I had a marinated salad as well — damn fine meal. I did […]

Overcast and sprinkling — good thing yesterday was yard work day. Today is clean the garage day since I have a nice scab on my right arm from a falling drain pipe with a ragged edge nailing me and my glass of whiskey from yesterday giving Curt the tour. It really is time to clean […]

Seems that I’m always out of bed before 8am in the house — unless I purposely try to sleep in. At the church, in the woods, the norm was closer to 9 or sometimes 10am. Curt (formerly knows as Councilman Curt) comes up from Olympia around two this afternoon with Brandon in tow — though […]

Today’s big project (albeit unplanned) was getting the rain barrels put in. It started with moving the lawn because people were coming for dinner. By mid-day, the fence that had been annoying me on one side was down giving me access to the front driveway area from the back yard, the yard was moved, two […]

Been busy all day — up at 8am for those who care. Lots of little stuff done like stuff needing to go into the mail to get it off the desk. Took Jonathan to the airport for his afternoon flight to a wedding. He’s back Monday midnight. Went to the bank on the east side, […]

So — flying yesterday I had this nagging feeling… what’s not right? Oh, that’s right, all the flights were on time. Amazing how rare that is these days — and I’m the one that tries to get at least an hour and a half BETWEEN flights just for the delays. Up early and out of […]

Well, typical for a St. Pete business trip. Breakfast at the Chatterbox before heading to the warehouse to let the staff in at 9:30. Got to get the rental car back to Budge before noon with a stop for gas first. Hopefully they won’t call me on the minor boo boo I left on their […]

Checking out before noon. Headed back to St. Pete for a tour of the new warehouse, then off to a demonstration of a direct to shirt ink jet printer that Dan is thinking about leasing. Sounds like cool technology, but the “white ink” option is looking like technology that isn’t quite there yet. Here’s the link to this beast of a printer: http://www.ddmcompany.com/fjextend.htm After […]

What more can I say. Rental Cars and Power Poles Shaped Like Mickey Mouse. First stop Budget to pick up a burgundy HHR, then to Cissin Cuzzins for lunch, then Costco where I picked up this cool FM transmitter/inverter/USB charger/12-volt outlet combo to replace several things I have in the van, though I think this […]

So… 4am in Olympia is damned early. This things I go to actually work (and make a 7:25am flight to DC) Had to stop at the rest stop for 20 minutes of “sleep deprived stop” time. Now the car is in the lot at the airport. $10 a day more, but better than slamming into a […]