UMTravels

That’s sort of how today feels… made brunch for MaryBeth and the kids: Pull-apart rosemary challah rolls Pork sausage rounds Maple smoked bacon Roasted potatoes and onions Eggs which when I put them into the convection oven poofed up like a soufflé (and then fell as it cooled – wonder how to keep it up?) […]

Woke up late in Olympia… the usual state after a dinner at Curt’s place – home by noon so laze around the day until heading to Wonderful’s place to catch a ride to the opera. Easier to park one car on Queen Anne than three if we all drove separately. Dinner at Tom Tuk Thai, […]

Work in the morning while baking a loaf of caraway dark rye to go with dinner. Left the house at noon for a relaxing drive south – relaxing at that time of day, wait an hour and it starts to get messy. A couple of stops in Olympia before Curts: Safeway – found a ton […]

Well, it is definitely winter…. rain, rain, rain. The perfect day to do four loads of laundry, run to the bank and deposit checks that came in while I was gone, sew a table cloth, refill the meat locker, abandon dinner plans with Swanda (now on Sunday), and generally chill out and catch up. Among […]

With the bus taking an hour plus from condo to airport… the alarm was set for 6am, and I was out of the condo with the key dropped off at 7:15…. And through security and in the Delta Crown Room by 8:30 – go “Gold Lane” for MVP Golds and First Class passengers, it made […]

I thought about getting a hold of the folks that I know in Honolulu… and decided against it. As Swanda might say, I need a little quality ME time. Yummy bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, then take the New Yorker down to the pool… Hang out for an hour, head back to the room […]

I know you all have heard the rant… early flights, so I won’t repeat it other than to say 6am puddle jumper to Portland – slept all the way. Small layover time so it was the long walk from commuter right onto the plane bound for Honolulu that was already mostly boarded. And back to […]

An early morning – that means an alarm clock. 9:45am train to Portland for a couple of hours of shopping at Powells and hanging with Joe’s friends, one of which I know. Nothing like travelling in a sleeper car – with the attendant bringing us split after split of champagne. And the famous Portland Chinatown […]

For some reason Joe was up at 4:30…. For me, it was more like 9:30. He got in some billable hours, I didn’t. A late breakfast (or more like a brunch) of steak and eggs, some of the leftover potatoes, and some toast as we contemplate the day ahead, a six hour aviation geek fest […]

Sort of a fun work day today – working on logo concepts for a client – nice and creative. I’d share the results, but unfortunately it’s privilidged information. Rest of the day was spent cleaning up the house for company – my buddy Joe is coming in from Tucson to do the Boeing plant floor […]

Not sure what happened to the day… Filled the tub, cooked dinner for Swanda and I, went shopping for hose parts and red felt for Curt’s table, and blew an hour and a half tracking down Air Force One at Boeing Field. Here it is on the tarmac: Here is the plane that hauls the […]

So – it is the political season, and I, for one, who mailed his ballot yesterday and done with it… which it was like, cast your ballot, and never get another add again. Unfortunately, not. But I did find this on FaceBook today from my friend Jicama: Giving the government back to the Republicans is […]

Work in the morning for two clients, 7Rad and Bluetoad Design, followed by ripping all the elastic out of the “table condom” and hacking about 10″ of fabric off the circle… and re-sewing the elastic back in. End result: Now THAT is how it is supposed to look – makes me want to make one […]

It’s nice to be working on a project that has some billable hours. I find myself making notes even when I’m not officially on the clock – must remember to charge for those. It also looks like Dan will get some billable time out of this as well – as my technical advisor, though it’s […]

Wow, that burrito really didn’t agree with me last night… tossed and turned. Or maybe it was all the airline food before the burrito that did it. Couldn’t have been the countless scotches that accompanied them. I woke up thinking about the remaining 3,764 miles that I need to make Alaska MVP Gold status, and […]

Today’s agenda: collect 3400 frequent flier elite qualification miles. St. Louis here I come – 11:10am flight to St. Louis, an hour on the ground, and back into the same first class seat… with several of the same people occupying the others. It seems that there were at least four people doing the same “turn” […]

Ah, the joys of sleeping pills. A solid eight hours of zonked out sleep leaving one dreamless but recharged. Spent the morning working on notes for a noon meeting with an old client and a new project. Looks like there will be a bunch of billable hours needing to be fulfilled before the end of […]

Didn’t get the best night of sleep last night… a multitude of reasons. The view from the condo is of Lewis and Clarke… it’s the end of the trail out here in Seaside. The 3-bedroom Penthouse condo (yes, a bit much for two people) is on the ground floor right across from the boys (Lewis […]

Got out of the house at 11:30 after Jimmy and Suze picked up the chop saw for art projects (Suze, not Jimmy). Destination: Seaside for date number two. It was a lovely drive down – top down part of the way until it got a little too cold, but no rain. This shot was outside […]

Shock of all shocks – I went to the DVM (Department of Motor Vehicles – actually the Licensing Bureau) this morning at 11:30, renewed my tabs, ordered a new custom license plate and was out the door ten minutes later. No line. I couldn’t believe it. Parked at the apartment and walked to 5 blocks […]