UMTravels

The first day back from vacation wasn’t what I was expecting… which was working on the garage and around the house and yard.

Instead — it was Vanessa (VavaPussy) on the phone wondering if I could run her up to Snohomish to look at a car if she took the bus from Portland to Seattle. Oh, and could she borrow $500 for a week.

Ran as many of my errands as I could (Home Depot, UVA, Car Wash, Bank) before swapping the Bimmer for the Van (don’t show up to a used car lot in a shiny Bimmer and expect to talk them down on price). Met Vanessa at the bus station and off we go north to see this Toyota van. I understand her love of these vans, I used to have one before Surfer Bryan burnt it to a crisp. Good gas mileage, room for a 4×8 sheet of plywood in the back, great turning radius.

Well — the van turned out to be a dog. Motor was good but there was some serious exhaust noise which we found out at end when we decided to pass on the van was the result of a missing catalytic converter (stolen) that they had welded a muffler in it’s place (illegal to sell, and sure as hell wouldn’t pass DEQ) — and they hadn’t even bothered to find the right size pipe, so my guess is that you’d get dangerous fumes in the drivers compartment. Bad, Bad, Bad Used Car Dealer — Simple Affordable Auto Sales. The more I think about it — the more I’m tempted to file a complaint with with Craigslist and the Better Business Bureau.

Back in the city in the midst of rush hour traffic and off to Safeway for dinner supplies. Trying to convince Vanessa to spend the night even though she’d have to find a baby sitter for the dogs. Had a quick stop at EB Games to see if they had another controller for the Wii — yes, but not with the WiiPlay combo which is the better deal — and I’m loath to go to Burien where they do have them.

Got back to the house to check on train and bus schedules. Last train gone, last bus at 7:40 — back downtown in rush — Vanessa got the LAST ticket. Bye Bye Vava.

Dinner tonight in honor of Jameson is vegetarian (with the exception of the chicken stock in the rice. Grilled Walla Walla Sweet Onion bulbs, eggplant, squash and zucchini. Add a salad and wine and you have a grand meal with left overs for Jameson’s lunch on the trail. He spent yesterday (10 hour workday) pulling blackberry and other invasive weeds on the Mountains to Sound Trail — his summer internship.

Enough for now.