UMTravels

Took off around no one to run errands (Post Office to drop off taxes and other things and Safeway for food) and on my return found CaddyDaddy waiting for me. Usually he comes up mid-afternoon. Not this trip. Luckily he knows the combination to the side gate and the code for the key box with house key inside.

Lots of things on our agenda in addition to dinner:

• Book his trip with his mother to San Diego using my last $99 companion fare that can be used for First Class
• Find a rental car that doesn’t cost a fortune
• Print out all the booking confirmations
• Book what might or might not be my birthday trip – the reverse course of my May Princess Cruise coming up in six weeks
• Talk about his budget for my birthday trio ($1200)
• Talk about maybe the Trans-Canada ViaRail run instead of another cruise
• Or maybe cruise from Seattle to Vancouver before the one we booked… which we would have to do on a different ship since for some reason they wouldn’t let us book back-to-back trips on the Golden Princess. I suspect it’s because you clear US Customs in Vancouver.

Followed by more cleaning and organizing – mostly so I could unbury the spare bed in the office.

More lamb for tonight’s dinner – this time those little T-Bones. Salad for me, salad and saffron rice for CaddyDaddy since he’s on a diet management plan to keep his diabetes under control.

Stayed up way too late reading scholarship applications for my endowed scholarship at The Evergreen State College. Not sure why there were only 6 applicants this year, last year we had 24 (which was painful as it took hours of reading). Also not sure why next year’s scholarship amount is half what this year’s is. Will need to follow up on that.

If you want to read an article they did on me four years ago, here is the link: http://www.evergreen.edu/annualreport/2009/souder.htm

Too bad I couldn’t get CaddyDaddy interested in reading as well – last year we read them all on the deck of the military hotel in Waikiki…. Ah, sun, I remember that.

[208.8]

Another day in the shop, another batch of dust followed by sealing both sides of the champagne shelves, and making a trough to dip the uprights a drying rack to hold them. Will this lumber ever end!

I’m thinking (about Waikiki) that I can actually make due with just my roll-on computer case. The temperature in Bellingham is supposed to be nice, and we know Waikiki is. I’m thinking the computer, the accessories, toiletries and a couple of rolled up shirts. Just the flip flops and the shorts that I’ll be wearing. Oh, and a sun hat. Getting excited. It seems like months since I’ve been on an airplane.

CaddyDaddy showed up around 3 to return my carpet cleaner and wireless router, and stay for a lovely pork chop dinner. He actually has tomorrow off from work so the guest bedroom is full tonight.

To bed way too late.

[221.3]

After work I transferred last week’s Tax Day Run into bottles:

I have to say that my new cellphone’s camera is far superior to my old phone which is vacationing with Thomas in Europe at the moment.

CaddyDaddy was already home by the time I was off work – dragging his computer along that got some horrendous virus that caused it to only boot in safe mode. Five hours later we had cracked the code to get it to restore. Then it was time to put all the software back on. Luckily for me it was just Office and Publisher.

Another late night and it’s going to be an early morning with needing to be at UW by 8am to look at some surplus Ford Focuses. Or would that be Focii.

[207.2]

Today is the day for CaddyDaddy’s Celebration. Time to meet the family that has heard so much about me, but never met. 11-4 was the time, I made it until a little after 3 when it started to wind down. It was good to swap stories with the poker buddies, most of who showed up. Curt and I might have even made peace after two years of not talking. It might be time to rejoin the poker game. It was also good to see CD’s old housemate Neil – a little dishwater blonde cutie.

It was still hard.

After the celebration I needed to be away from people (who I knew) for a bit. First stop was a Safeway to hit the discount racks (steaks, Britta filters, pork chops, dented tomatoes, sausage) and then next door to the Goodwill where I stumbled across a little bit of airline memorabilia for SuperModel:

A stainless steel coffee pot with NWA (Northwest Airlines) etched on the side. SCORE!

Tonight staying at Ross’. Dinner was the two steaks that I brought, and he added asparagus to the mix. Too bad we drank the bottle of wine I’d planned to go with dinner at the Celebration.

Oh well.

[207.2]

Never again will I take that red-eye flight – it just ruins the next day.

I slept most of the way back from Bellingham. CaddyDaddy would have liked to, but alas, he had to wait until we were back in the city and I was on my way to the shop.

The first hour and a half was my duty time so Jim could attend a tasting. My original plan was to do the tasting as well once Jim made it to the shop. Instead it was back to bed. Like I said, a ruined day for getting anything (like mowing the lawn) done.

The late after found CaddyDaddy totaling up the bills from the trip so we could split them up:

Since I had my calendar with us on the trip, it made an easy way to keep track of who paid what. It didn’t include the two bottles (one vodka, one gin) that I bought at the Post Exchange located inside the hotel. The total? $1400 for two of us for four days, including airfare. $175 a day. A little spendy for the frugal me, it was all that eating out because of no kitchenette in the room.

CaddyDaddy and I split an almost 2 pound rib steak, a salad, and I even made bread for the first time in the months since the old bread maker died. Yes, the $5 bread machine from the thrift store works as promised – it even came with the manual.

After CaddyDaddy left, off to the store for me. For $23 I got 6 bags of groceries, most of the items were from the 50% off bins – my savings were 64% according to the receipt. Luckily it was all stuff that I needed.

[210.4]

In today’s photo tribute to CaddyDaddy, we (well, the Royal We) title this photo, fat men on holiday in Mexico (specifically a two bedroom Penthouse condo in Cabo San Lucas.

I think it was CaddyDaddy’s birthday trip 2011.

Work was a blur – hard to not think about the dearly departed. Once the orders were completed I started the process of cancelling CaddyDaddy’s Amtrak reservation (easy – issued refund) and Alaska flight (less easy – they had to split the reservation, and I need to have the Funeral Home and phone number to get the refund of $98, which I don’t have, nor does the family yet). I’m less worried about the September trip – I should be able to change the name on the other tickets and I have two possibilities.

When I tried to start the car… DEAD, DEAD, DEAD – good thing I put the charger in the car… and used every extension cord in the shop to get it plugged in. Time to get a new battery and put off the Smog Check until Friday or Saturday – need to check on times for both them and Ballard Licensing.

Hello Les Schwab Tire Center and a hundred bucks later I have a battery. Then off to Home Depot, but abandoned a purchase of 4×8 sheet of Pink Foam Insulation as a cover for the hot tub. I panicked and didn’t buy it – worried that it wouldn’t fit in the car diagonally since I hadn’t measured the Focus Wagon yet – and I didn’t have a bungee cord to strap down the lift gate. Tomorrow, maybe after Smog Check and Ballard Licensing.

Next up – O’Reilly’s Auto Parts for car fuses – the horn doesn’t work on the Focus, and it might be that the fuse is missing. Then Safeway for eggs (and other things) since there are two of us for breakfast in the mornings.

Pork loins, salad and bread for Long is tonight’s meal.

And here is the effect on guests:

Guest down, call 911!

[204.4]

Another lazy morning with CaddyDaddy doing all the morning kitchen work (as I usually do all the evening kitchen work).

We were out of the condo at eleven, and a little after noon we were through duty-free, and through the backup in the Nexus line at the border. Maybe 15 cars in front of us, but better than the 50 minute wait for regular folks crossing.

Next stop is the glass studio on Camano Island to pick up some of last Saturday’s glassware (hopefully pictures tomorrow). SurfBetty was finishing up a beer mug with no assistant, just him juggling two hot rods. Hung for a bit, talked about me coming up again (Monday, I think).

A short stop at this junk store on the highway yielded a couple of small things (which is good because CaddyDaddy already had the box of glassware on his lap).

Yes, another poo brown Western Electric Trimline phone. $2.00

Backup vacuum sealer. $6.00 Works!

Lunch at the Viking Diner, luckily we were early enough that the karaoke hadn’t started yet. I had the Rueben, CaddyDaddy has the French Dip – both quite good.

My plan for a quiet dinner at home was replaced with an invitation from Jimmy and Suze for bar-b-qued snapper. Much easier than cooking. Didn’t stay long as the drive always takes a bit out of me.

[? ? ?]

A lazy morning around the house, well, not really. While CaddyDaddy made breakfast, I worked on:

• Making the Madrona Wine Merchants flyer for Children’s Trust two-up on 8 ½ x 11
• Printing out 80+ copies
• Making the review forms for the scholarship reading
• Printing out the review, tally, and financial needs form

We got out of the house about 11:15 or so, with a swing by the shop to drop off the flyers, then back on the freeway headed north, with only a stop in Mt. Vernon to do some thrift shopping. Picked up a bread machine to replace my dead one ($5), and six more wine glasses for the shop (.25 to .49 each).

And then we are back on the road again with Rich for his birthday. Last year it was Whistler and Cabo San Lucas, this year we are at the military hotel for three nights right on the beach in Waikiki.

I will say that the Bellingham airport is a zoo if you aren’t an MVP flyer. Three check-in agents for two flights – a big bird (737-800) to Honolulu and a small bird (turbo-prop commuter) to Seattle, all leaving within 10 minutes of each other.

Luckily we were both MVP and First Class, so instead of the snaking line, it’s like two people in front of us (neither who should have been in that line). Oh well.

Uneventful flight up front. I (and I’m assuming a lot of other people) drank then first out of Scotch, then Bourbon, then Cognac. Luckily CaddyDaddy was drinking Rum and Diet Coke.

Bags were going around before we could even get to baggage claim – then off to the shuttle, last on, first off, got to love that.

Upgraded to a Garden View room:

Before long we were off to dinner. Fourth meal of the day if you count that quick sandwich at the Bellingham Airport. I went for the steak salad, and CaddyDaddy had a salad and pork loin. Don’t we look happy?

Back to the room for a little junk television and off to bed.

[210.2]

Out of the condo around noon so we could stand in various lines for an hour and a half to get all our various immigration and customs stuff done, and our travel documents.

So, where are we going?

Two nights at sea from Vancouver to San Francisco – this will be CaddyDaddy’s first cruise – though a year and a half ago he booked one for May 2013 that was really cheap for an inside single cabin – I think there will be a dozen people I know on that cruise – three nights, $48. Had to have been a computer glitch.

We have a mini-suite for the trip , not their biggest, which would be the suite, which is twice as wide as our cabin:

Two flat screen TV, deck with reclining chairs, pretty nice.

3:30 and we set sail during the life vest drill – doesn’t CaddyDaddy look good in orange?

7pm finds us a dinner in the Bordeaux Room on Level 5:

No shows for us tonight, just back to the cabin to hang out and drink whiskey.

[? ? ?]

Maybe an hour of sleep – sitting up – on the couch – and apparently I missed four flash bang lobbed into the business across the way from my house.

Here is a little snippet about the incident on one of the local news sites:

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/man-hogtied-held-gunpoint-during-south-seattle-rob/nXjdt/

I’ll check back in a day or so to see if they have any updates to the story.

DancingBear showed up on time at 5:15am – I had to exit my house through the garage and walk down the alley to meet him. They had blocked off the streets in front of my house. Great way to start a trip.

Since I was checking a bag we were both in the MVP Gold line which meant we could get DB on the earlier flight with us, rather than the 9:05 or his original flight was the 11:05 which would be cutting it close for him to make the 3:30pm sailing.

Both of us got through the Pre line (shoes on, laptops left in) – though DB got his “wine” confiscated. He couldn’t find it earlier to give to me and thought he’d forgotten it at home. No – it was in his briefcase. Oops. Good think I brought an extra. I’d planning on having Jill bring that one on.

In LA we met the Princess folks for our$24 transfer to the pier – which turned out to be a good deal since we were early and they took us to the Sheraton for coffee and pastries (we went downstairs for a real breakfast at 15% off) and more importantly they checked us in and would have out keys ready when we hit the dock – no lines. YES! And since CaddyDaddy isn’t going to use his transfer (hard to do when you are dead) we got the Princess folks to take DancingBear in his place. RIP CaddyDaddy – at least someone got some use out your prepaid transfer.

I had the eggs benedict for breakfast – on top of the two English muffins with cream cheese I had in the Board Room. Maybe I should call this post “Carb Day”.

Got on board, got settled, got ice order, fixed myself a drink, did the emergency procedure briefing and then headed to the back of the boat for a little sailaway view:

That would be DancingBear in the background.

Dinner at 7:30 in the nice dining room with DB and Jill – we passed on joining the other dozen of folks at the massive table. I don’t really like meals with over six people, just too crazy. Just not relaxing.

Tonight’s wine:

Not a bad bottle of wine.

At 9 was the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) meet and greet was at the Wheel House lounge, deck 7 aft. Probably the most folks I seen at one of these, like twenty. Of course when the group you are travelling with has a dozen or so, doesn’t make it that difficult to reach those numbers.

Stayed up way too late, which meant ordering more carbs from room service. Bad Uncle Markie, Bad.

Will do better tomorrow.

[205.5 – and we’ll see what 3 days of cruising does to that number]

Well, I needed something with a W for Wednesday, since Tuesday was Tanks.

The big goal today is to tour the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island, which is located on Pearl Harbor. Click on this for a 10% off coupon.

Here are a couple of pictures to give you the feel of the place.

CaddyDaddy and I in front of their photo kiock – post direct to email, Twitter, FaceBook. Cool concept, and you know it collects email addresses (though you can opt out of special offers).

Really good displays. But my favorite was the restoration hanger:

And one that they just got in – a DC-3! Just like the one I took in the Northwest Territoriesa couple of years ago.

They were power washing it when we were there. Here is the same airplane in 1993 at the Honolulu airport:

Made in 1942 for the US Air Force, it has more than 55,000 hours on its airframe. Click on this for a link to its entire history.

But enough about airplanes.

Got back to the hotel around 5, just in time for cocktail hour. We got off the city bus and saw this Whale of a tourist trolley:

I want one!

Before long we were off to dinner (fish, crab cakes, claw for me, ribs for CaddyDaddy) with a little Malbec:

By the time the evening was over, all the scholarship applications were read and graded by both of us. Final answer, two ties for first place and two ties for fifth place.

[? ? ?]

It must be travel planning week for me. This is what happens every year when there are no good airplane deals during the summer – I start booking up Fall like a madman.

Just booked early September at my timeshare in Cabo San Lucas. That would be Cabo Villa Resorts:

Those are shots off their website. Here is one of the room interior from last year’s trip:

Booking this just makes me miss CaddyDaddy more – he was with me last September at this place:

This year it will be DancingBear and BreticusMaximus checking in on Saturday, we me arriving Monday (staying through Friday). Last year CaddyDaddy got the very comfortable fold out bed, this year it will be me.

Another day, another trip planned.

[206.4]

Before I start on about our butt-early departure from Seattle and a little miscommunication on my part between Swanda and I, I found this great picture from the cruise that didn’t make it into any of the cruise posts, foolish me:

This is a shot with our complimentary send-off champagne – I’m assuming this is only for the people in suites, or at least balcony units. Alvin (as in the Chipmunks), our steward, happily brings us a second round after the lifeboat drill.

But back to today…

Up at 5, ready to go at 5:45, panic at 5:50 when I call Swanda and he says “where are you” and I go, “where are you” – apparently he thought the ride to the airport was from his place, I from my place. Luckily he is a maniac on the road so we are at the airport at 6:15 for our 7:40 flight, which barely leaves time for a quick “eye-opener” and a couple of English muffins (yes, carbs) at the Board Room before emplaning to our exit row just across the aisle from each other seats. Coach is full, full, full, except for the middle seats in both exit rows, and CaddyDaddy and I are in the row that reclines.

Back to sleep for both of us after the first beverage course – since I’m MVP Gold, the first mini of liquor is on the house (or shall I say, plane). The Jack Daniels remained unopened and was zipped inside my headphone case for another day.

Hour and a half in LA – enough time to snag a cocktail and a couple of newspapers for the next leg, and three bottles from duty-free. The limit going into Mexico is two bottles per person so it was two bottles of whiskey and one of vodka (for bloody marys in the morning – a tradition with CaddyDaddy and I travel together). Rum, Mexican Brandy and some tequilas are cheap in Mexico, bourbon isn’t.

Check-in feels more like a time-share presentation than I’d like, and apparently as an owner (THANKS COLONELS!) I’ve been spared worse, and the free margarita is welcome.

The main plan now is to get settled in, find ice. Machines on 5 and 3 – one labeled professionally, out of service, the one on three not labeled, but out of service – but on the other side of the elevator (next to the door to the desalinization plant (or maybe it’s the generator for when the power goes out) is the underground entrance to the place – with a huge commercial size ice machine under lock and key – opened by someone the guard called over. Whew! Of course, there is no ice bucket in our room, but the blender body makes a fine temporary ice bucket – to supplement the two trays we just filled in the freezer.

After a cocktail in the room, it’s off to explore thinks like the convenience store – very convenient, not much of a store, and then to scout for a place to have dinner that we can put on the room card… the answer is the rooftop restaurant in the complex which is a branch of the Baja Brewing Company, one of their three restaurants, the original being in San Jose del Cabo which is a long walking distance from the WorldMark Cabo San Lucas where we usually stay . They also have one in the Marina as well which looks a little swankier, but doesn’t have nearly the view this one does.

Rich had the Fish and Chips which was good, I had the Basil-Bleu burger (yes, more carbs) which was also good, but a little large. Music started at 8 with typical live cover band doing 60-70-80’s hits. Downside was that the service was stretched thin even through the bar was less than half full – maybe I just haven’t calmed down (I mean, gotten my Mexican legs) yet.

As for the description of our room and the resort (what I haven’t already covered) I’ll spare you until tomorrow when I’m more logical, more rested, and generally more in the Mexico mode.

[? ? ?] Maybe I’ll sweat it all off.

So, from yesterday’s post, the announced good, bad, ugly of the resort at Cabo Villas.

Pluses:

• Only swimmable beach on the coast
• Walkable to downtown (expect to be sweaty)
• Multiple restaurants on site if you don’t want to cook
• Three different pools and one hot-tub
• The nicest, most comfortable sleeper couch I (or CaddyDaddy) have ever seen
• GREAT water pressure in the shower (not so much in the toilet, but who cares)
• King size bed in the bedroom with enough pillows to kill a small child
• Upscale room (at least ours)

Minuses:

• Not enough kitchen equipment to easily cook
• No spices, starter coffee, filters, sugar, etc.
• Minimal convenience store on property
• Long walk to grocery store (take $6 cab back)
• Gauntlet of “time-share” avoidance checking in
• If you’ve got bad knees, this place is all stairs to get to the elevators
• Serious problems with the ice machines (I now go to the garage where the industrial one is kept under lock and key)
• No end tables (inside or out) to put drinks on while hanging out

But I’ll let you make the choice, here are some pictures…

From the patio door down the entry hallway – the bedroom is past the chairs, not sure why you’d want a bar opening into your bedroom. The minimal kitchen is on the island.

Here is the view from the resort, some from our balcony, some from the rooftop restaurant…

CaddyDaddy and I walked down the hill, around the Luxury Mall and parking garage, and into town to find the grocery store for essentials. 800 pesos plus a $6 US car ride back, we has breakfast fixings and some pupu platter stuff, though I must say, the “market” was lame compared to the Mega Mart up the road from the WorldMark Coral Baja.

Tomorrow, the report from the “owner’s update”that is only yielding $40 US in restaurant credits – but at least I get to know how this timeshare works. Again, a GREAT THANKS to the Colonels for this timeshare.

[? ? ?] I can only imagine, luckily I’m walking and sweating.

You have to get up pretty early if you want a good deal from UW (University of Washington) Surplus… 6AM so CaddyDaddy and I could be there for the opening bell at 8AM in the parking lot of Husky Stadium.

The deal? $2800 for a 2000 Ford Focus Wagon with 57,000 miles on it (and some algae). That is about half of Bluebook retail.

I’ll get it titled and licensed next month (like, next week) but took it through a car wash to get the first layer of algae off it, then to Les Schwab to get the tire air pressure right – and what I should have done was put it on a charger since I waited over an hour to get AAA to give me a jump.

In honor of the Colonels, I put this plate on as a temporary:

That would be a US Air Force plate from Italy – Air Force Italy (AFI). I thought about my Panama Canal Zone plate, but it had 2007 on it.

Another beautiful day in the city:

After a little steak and salad for dinner, it was off to the garage where the Focus is on the charger to remove the factory head unit in anticipation of a Pioneer unit with USB/Aux/Bluetooth that is on Amazon for under $150.

As usual you can click on the picture and get to the Amazon site should you want to upgrade your 2-DIN head unit.

The other chore was to remove the next layer of algae. It seems to be holding a charge, but I’ll leave it on the charger tonight to play it safe.

So far the only thing I see that doesn’t work is the horn and the remote entry – which I’m guessing is just the batteries in the remote itself.

[206.6]

Slept in until 11 and by noon I was lined up for lunch in the dining room. Gumbo and a chicken Caesar for lunch.

Back at the cabin, took this shot of the RIP CaddyDaddy poster I posted on his stateroom door:

Even took him to the LGBT cocktail hour which about 40 people showed up at, including one of the gay staff who said he was trying to get us  moved for tomorrow’s meet and greet up to the Skywalker lounge since our numbers are so large.

And Jill and I took him to dinner as well:

 

Movie under the stars anyone?

 

 

It was a little too cold out there for me to stay for the movie, even with blankets.

Another late night – but at least I didn’t order late night room service!

[? ? ?]

Work was fine until CaddyDaddy’s sister Pat rang my phone. He is dead. I’m guessing another heart attack – I was too rattled to ask details.

In his honor – a picture of us from his 2012 birthday trip to Hawaii where we stayed in the military hotel on Waikiki:

It’s hard not to get misty eyed looking at this photo of us.

We were due to leave on Tuesday for LA, pick up a Princess Cruise to Vancouver and train home. Need to cancel his. FUCK. He was 15 days from getting his first Social Security retirement check which was going to give him the freedom to travel more. He had plans to take his Mom to San Diego, First Class on Alaska, in August – used my last Companion Fare Certificate that would work for First – and I was happy to give it to them. And then there is my Birthday Ramble that he was booked on: Seattle to Vancouver on one Princess Cruise, a night in Vancouver in a two-bedroom condo at The Canadian, then the next day off to LA on another Princess Cruise which we would have transferred to the Coast Starlight for the ride home in a Family Room (the wide one with windows on both sides of the train.) FUCK.

RIP dude.

The rest of the day was a bit of a daze. After work it was Ballard Licensing to either:

1. Transfer the title on the Focus and order license plates, or
2. Get a trip permit if it needs to be smog checked.

Unfortunately “B” and $30 later, it’s a trip permit for a car that the battery isn’t holding a charge. Guessing need new battery, will charge tonight and drive to work tomorrow – with the battery charger handy (and park near the front door).

Company for dinner tonight – Swanda (who leaves tomorrow to visit his mom for her 90^th) and Long, a Vietnamese CouchSurfer currently going to school in Cincinnati but going home for the summer. He’s here for a handful of days. Oddly enough it’s nice to entertain tonight, though with Swanda’s bad work day, it took some convincing. It was good for both of us.

Did steaks on the grill much to the delight of Long. Guessing most of that has to do with having no cooking skills and being a broke student.

It was a good end to a bad day.

[204.8]

The shop wasn’t bad as in unpleasant, just bad in a sales sort of way. Four sales all day – luckily at least some of them were big buck bottles, like a lovely $48 (+tax) Chateau Nuif de Pape.

Got ahold of DancingBear to see if he’d be home so I could drop off some re-bottled Bourbon for our upcoming cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver, BC. Below are the bottles for CaddyDaddy and I:

The nice thing about running things north is that I usually get dinner out of it… and this time was no exception.

Tonight’s fare was a mixed grill of rib-eye, sausages, and chicken patties – with some green beans for me and some rice for the carb boys.

Home early, but with a commitment from BreticusMaximis to buy my old (well, not THAT old) Kindle Fire HD. With the new Windows tablet I bought, I just put the Kindle Reader software on it. We will see how this works when I take the cruise on the 7^th, which I actually get free internet time!

Maybe I should think about packing. Nah, its two weeks from now.

[208.6]

10 to 6, half an hour for lunch that I usually eat on my “10-minute” breaks. A quarter of the orders today so it was a mellow day – no mistakes which is good.

Big news I got in the afternoon – SeasideBoy is getting married, in August, to the guy he moved in with 4.5 weeks ago (plus one overnight in Seaside and 6 months of on-line correspondence).

I had the sense that is was getting serious, though not THAT serious. I’m not surprised even after 2.5 years of us seeing each other monthly or so – the new guy has 150+ pounds on me (and SB likes them hefty) and is apparently a total “gamer” as in video games as is SB, as is new guy’s brother. They’ve been going out to movies, dinner, lots of trips to the casino, all things I’m way too cheap to pick up the tab for. I offered to print the wedding invitations, he offered to invite me. That would be weird, especially if I took CaddyDaddy as my date.

Home before 7, dinner before 9, ordered a few more things for the new tablet PC:

• 64gig SD card to double the system memory
• HDMI to VGA cable to add additional monitor
• 25 foot HDMI cable for travelling

The cables were cheap, the memory card $39 which isn’t bad considering how expensive large SD cards used to be. If all these things work as planned, I’ll retire the living room server and cut down the serious noise pollution and energy waste.

Half day tomorrow at the print shop.

[204.4]

Big day in the wine world. As its Washington Wine Month, two of our distributors are showcasing their French Wines (well, a few Spanish and New World Wines thrown in).

Two hours of tasting (and nibbles) at the Corinthian Yacht Club (two floors, probably a couple of hundred bottles open) and then a half an hour drive to a warehouse for another couple of hours of tasting wines (small, probably a hundred bottles or so). I did try a local whiskey at the end – Tatoosh, not bad, but boutique bourbons and whiskeys run to the $35 a bottle range – a little rich for my blood.

After all the wine, whiskey, and food I had to go home and take a nap. Even with swirling, sipping, and spitting (unless it was over $50 wholesale, and there were a bunch of them) you still tend to get a bit of a buzz on, if only from a contact high.

As evening rolled around I checked to see if my miles had posted from both my Hong Kong trips. They did:

Now the decision is do I go for Gold for 2014 as I already have Silver. That would mean another 20,623 flight miles (two more trips to Hong Kong)by December 31^st (or is it end of January for United). If I want million-miler status it would mean another 83,303 miles or six and a half trips to Hong Kong. Apparently Hong Kong is my new measuring stick.

At the moment it’s all for naught as I start working a week from today (a week before I thought, but money is money). Got email today with email setup instructions (mac shop so it still isn’t quite working) and my work calendar which showed me working next week through June 19^th, with Friday the 29^th of March off (to work the shop while Jim has company in town) and the four days in May for the cruise to LA with CaddyDaddy, DancingBear, Swanda, Jill, Punch, Fluffernutter and his Mom – still need to flesh out the whole list. I wonder how many of the people I’ve forgotten.

It should be interesting.

Another quiet evening around the house, trying to get stuff off my place – like getting the latest round of proofs of to one of my clients. Here is the back of their card (but without the proper icons for each of the categories):

With the last round of comments they wanted a QR Code on the front and a Tag Code on the back – which layout wish I did but told them it looked like crap, and provided one with both tags on the back which works much betters.

Wow, a regular job, and clients coming back.

Let the good times roll.

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