UMTravels

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 restaurant… Hung Far Low – though I tend to remember the sign hanging mid-block, not on the corner.

Much fun, delayed trains, complaint letter coming (no wi-fi in either direction, bad parlour car service both ways, etc)… and now I’m exhausted.

And fat.

[231.3]

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 tour of the Future of Flight Museum and a factory floor tour of the Boeing facility in Everett seeing the 747, 767, 777 and 787 assembly lines.

So off to Everett we go… and traffic is a slog.

Meet and greet the other geeks – and they truly put us to shame in the question and answer period after the “history of Boeing from 1970 on” lecture by Boeing Historian. Yikes.

From there it was wander around a bit, then into the theatre for the canned general tour film before boarding a bus for the VIP Factory Tour. The regular tour takes you up on a catwalk over the 777, 787 lines, but our was winding our way through the plant, and at one point we are up almost inside two halves of a 777. Interesting fact: You could put Disneyland inside the massive hanger and still have a couple of acres left over.

After the walking tour it was a drive down the flight line of planes waiting for delivery – and a lot of them were 787’s and the 747-8 which await certification. Mid-first quarter 2011 to have those things start rolling out to the airlines.

Back at the Future of Flight it was time for beer and pizza – I’m not a beer fan, but what the hell, there wasn’t any wine.

Joe got this great shot of me at the controls of a 727 formerly owned by the Canucks hockey team:

Luckily the engines and most of the plane were missing so I wasn’t going anywhere.

All and all, not a bad way to spent $20…. Since the museum entrance and regular tour was $15.50, they gave us three different 787 lapel pins, safety glasses, pizza and beer.

Then home to pack for Portland and Hawaii.

[229.5]

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 tour with Mick and I tomorrow.

Here is an interesting Alaska fact – if you are an eleite traveller on Alaska, and you get a ticket for someone else using your miles, your elite status, in my case, gold, prints out on their ticket AND they come find in in coach to offer you a free drink. It also means you get to use the speed lanes at Sea-Tac (the short security line for gold, first-class, etc.)

Got back from the airport from picking up Joe and fired up the grill – no monster steaks, some roasted potatoes, a southwest slaw, some fresh cardamon rye bread, and a little wine.

And a picture from after dinner and making shortbread cookies.

[230.4]

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 presidential limousine:

And here it is taking off:

I wish I’d thrown in my video camera, rather than having to rely on my phone. If you want to see more, like the motorcade, here is the picture bar:

[229.5]

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 like giving a wrecked car back to a drunk driver who wrecked it in the first place……… before we could even get it fixed.

How true.

Today was filled which housecleaning (thanks, MoonSong), deforestation – mowed down the front “jungle”, and a lovely veal scaloppini for dinner. I actually managed to make a little gravy out of the drippings, a milestone for me.

With company coming this weekend, it’s time to get the guest bedroom (a.k.a. office) cleaned up and ready for a guest…. And maybe some more work on the dining lift. It’s going to be a full weekend between Boeing and “the surprise”… still looking for a WorldMark night on Saturday at Birch Bay (not likely) or a Sunday night at the Camlin (again, not likely).

And what the hell – after chatting for a long time (for me) with my ex-financial planner (she left the firm), suddenly I’m chatting with my mortgage broker to reduce my 6.5% to 4.1% — I’d like to see that fly as a self-employed person… but if she can make it happen, it would be a nice reduction in my mortgage payment.

And booked two nights in Santa Fe before I go out to see the parents… turns out I have old friends from my high school church youth group days living in Santa Fe (after a year just north of here in Vancouver!) so now the Christmas trip looks like:

• Two puddle jumpers on United (using the bulk of my remaining miles) to Albuquerque
• Night at the Hawthorn Suites near the airport
• NMRailRunner train to Santa Fe mid-day the next day
• Two nights at the WorldMark Santa Fe
• Four nights at the parents
• One night on the Southwest Chief (that’s a train, and in a sleeper)
• One night on the Coast Starlight (again, a train, a sleeper).

Out on the 20^th, back on the 28^th. Sounds relaxing – maybe I should do three nights in Santa Fe right off the plaza.

An early night to bed – gotta plan dinner with Swanda for tomorrow.

[229.7]

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 for Curt’s table even though he has a green permanently mounted one… it could be a different color – and it would be removable for cleaning!

While I was in the neighborhood (again), dropped the car off to get it washed, then went to the apartment after grabbing lunch, then to the train station to pick up some tickets, and ran into Anne (I used to work with her at Science Companion) and her friend heading to lunch. They had time so I showed them the courtyard and the apartment – making Anne’s friend really jealous since they work across the street – though their office is moving to South Lake Union next spring.

The other item on tap for today is entering Woodford Reserve’s Manhattan Recipe Contest. Here is what my entry is going to be:

Uncle Markie’s Old Fashioned Manhattan

3 oz. Woodford Reserve Bourbon

1 oz. Vya Sweet Vermouth

½ oz. Vya Dry Vermouth

2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6

2 dashes Fee Brother’s West Indian Orange Bitters

Add ingredients to a stainless steel shaker filled with ice. Shake, strain into stemmed martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Damn – that’s making me thirsty, guess I’d better turn on the icemaker. Speaking of the icemaker, order two replacement kits for the ice scoop – seems that they break about every year and a half… I got the machine in 2005 and this will be the fourth set about to go in. At $5 each (plus shipping of $2) it’s not too bad a maintenance part – cheaper than $189.00 for a new one! And hopefully they will be here by the weekend when Joe arrives.

A quite dinner at home of some beef, a baked potato, salad…and a long talk with my former broker… interesting when a broker resigns a firm because she has ethical problems with the business model. Anyone who needs a full-service broker, talk to me, I’d highly recommend her.

[230.1]

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 probably coming out of my budget (rather than in addition to it).

The non-billable hours were to craft a game table surface for Swanda. When I was at the Catan Club pretending to be the bar maid yesterday I noticed everything slipping about as they set up the board and all the nits and bits. The table is round, so it’s perfect for 4-6 people – it just needs a different surface, like felt.

So, after the game I headed to Pacific Fabric, Steel and Iron (I kid you not) to look for some green felt and a bunch of elastic so it could be a removable (and washable!) cover…. And what I found for $4.99 a yard was a rainbow selection of felt-like stuff, including a purple-periwinklish color. Perfect for Swanda.

The first attempt didn’t quite work out as planned:

Oops, it looks like a loose fitting condom. Back to the drawing board. If at first you don’t succeed, try it again, Sam.

After the disastrous felt fitting it was off to meet Jill at the Palace Ballroom for a Manhattan Experience sponsored by Esquire Magazine and Woodford Reserve Bourbon. Wow – nice spread, since the Palace Ballroom is part of Tom Douglas’ (Dahlia Lounge, Palace Kitchen, and several others) empire, I knew the food would be good. Everything had bourbon in it – the bacon biscuits, the mini-monte cristo sandwiches, even the milk shakes! Loved the bacon fennel fritters and the lamb dish (though that was a little messy for a cocktail party). Each guest got tickets for three manhattans of your choosing – since Jill has a 9:30am class, I got her last coupon. Thanks Jill!

There was a silent auction to benefit the Culinary Institute of America, a Manhattan making contest with 4 or 5 local bartenders, including from Barrio – the restaurant that Swanda panned as way too noisy – I’m surprised he didn’t rake it over the coals on Yelp, TripAdvisor and his blog. But I digress… here are a couple of crappy shots from the evening:

At the end of the evening they had some really nice take-aways…. Recipe books printed on coaster stock, and big, pretty posters – I grabbed a couple of sets.

Got home around 9pm to work on getting my buddy Joe up here for a long weekend that includes the plant floor tour or Boeing’s 747, 767, 777 line and a catwalk tour of the new 787 line. Here is the program:

1:30pm – Arrival and check-in, network.
2:00pm – Presentation by Boeing Historian, Michael Lombardi.
3:00pm – Pick up special gift and shop at The Boeing Store and Future of Flight Store.
3:30pm – Boeing Theater, movie then take a motor coach past the flight line at Paine Field to the Boeing Everett factory; VIP walking tour of the 747, 767, 777 assembly lines. View 787 Dreamliner from the tour balcony.
Please note: no cameras or electronic devices of any kind allowed in the Boeing factory. However Boeing will be taking photos of our group during the tour. All participants will have access to the photos afterwards.

5:30pm – Return to Future of Flight for gallery tour and demonstration by Laser Motive.
6:00pm – Light dinner, beverages and prizes.

Not bad for a $20 ticket (Geekfest) And I have a little surprise for Joe on Sunday… but just in case he might read the blog… won’t post until Sunday. Needless to say I spent two-thirds of the money he paid me for the direct ticket on Alaska. Oh well. Guess that means it paid for my condo in Hawaii rather than the airfare.

[230.8]

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 what to do with the two first-class upgrade coupons that they didn’t collect yesterday. They expire at the end of the year, and that would really be a waste to not use them. Hell, I’d use them on a flight to Oakland if it came down to it.

I looked at flying to Tucson to visit my buddy Joe and pick up a 200-CD Sony disc player he isn’t using (and that matches mine)… but while I could get upgradable seats, it wasn’t enough miles and it was a little over $350 R/T, which is a lot of money for not enough miles.

The question: where would $350 take me that was enough miles to make gold (40,000 flight miles for calendar year 2010)?

The answer: Hawaii.

$359.01 for a round-trip via Portland (5,558 miles). Why Portland – no upgrades available on the Seattle flights. While I had Alaska open in one window, WorldMark was open in the other… where in Hawaii had Exotic Bonus Time rooms available on the same days and the same islands that cheap flights could be had. Turns out that an exchange property I haven’t stay in – right in Waikiki on the city bus line from the airport – was available for the two nights I needed. The condo section for rent on the web doesn’t get terribly high marks… it will be interesting to see what the Vacation Interval units look like.

Invited nephew Julian, no go. Invited Jill, no go. Not a problem to go alone. It wouldn’t be the first time.

An afternoon of errands and serving drinks at the Catan Card Room before starting on a couple of loaves of garlic/onion bread to go with the lasagna Dancing Bear is bringing for dinner. I’d go to his house – but my allergies and his dogs don’t mix. It was a wonderfully sunny top-down day for running errands.

Back to work tomorrow, well, a few hours at least. Got to bill some hours to make up for what I spent today (which is almost exactly what I billed last Friday!).

Or as Swanda said in his blog…. “When does he have time to work?” Read the whole post here.

And a final thanks to DB for the lasagna… and for inviting Gnarlene to help polish it off.

[230.4]

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” or “mileage run” that I was… even some of the same flight attendants. That was their work day, spent with many of the same people. Odd group we are. Reminds me of the mileage run years ago to Walla Walla where 8 of the 24 people on the commuter plane returned on that same plane, 2 of them went to hang out in the Board Room before doing it a second time and picking me up for the final flight of the day. I went wine tasting all day, that was when you could bring liquids on – I had a couple of magnums in my backpack and a double magnum in a box in my arms.

So, the title of this post refers to the movie Up In The Air with George Clooney.

I don’t think the movie description on IMDB does it justice: With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.

It is really more of a tale of mileage, points, and elite status obsession. Personally I like the other plot summaries elsewhere on the site better:

Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams. Written by Anonymous

Ryan Bingham’s job is to fire people from theirs. The anguish, hostility, and despair of his “clients” has left him falsely compassionate, living out of a suitcase, and loving every second of it. When his boss hires arrogant young Natalie, she develops a method of video conferencing that will allow termination without ever leaving the office – essentially threatening the existence Ryan so cherishes. Determined to show the naive girl the error of her logic, Ryan takes her on one of his cross country firing expeditions, but as she starts to realize the disheartening realities of her profession, he begins to see the downfalls to his way of life. Written by The Massie Twins

Ryan Bingham works for Omaha based Career Transition Counseling whose contracts are in corporate downsizing. In other words, they fire people. Ryan is flying around the US over 320 days of the year, which he feels is the best part of his job. He does whatever he can to rack up frequent flyer miles, the goal not to use them but just to accumulate them to a specific number he has in his mind. A secondary job he has is to give motivational speeches on relieving one’s life of excess physical and emotional baggage. He truly does believe what he espouses as he lives out of his carry-on suitcase (his apartment in Omaha is really in name only), he is not close to his siblings (although he does do a favor for his sister while on his travels), nor does he have or want a significant person in his life. Ryan’s life may change when the company hires Natalie Keener, a young overachieving woman who recommends that the company change the nature of the work by conducting the “firings” via remote computer access. Ryan believes that Natalie does not fully understand the nature of the business, and as such, their boss, Craig Gregory, suggests that she accompany Ryan on a business trip. Ryan is also trying to protect his way of life, which now includes meeting up with a woman named Alex Goran whenever their flight schedules mesh. Like Ryan, Alex, who he met in an airport hotel bar, is constantly traveling for work, and is as equally turned on the by the concepts of “elite status” or “preferred member” as Ryan is. Written by Huggo

There were moments when I was watching the movie (with Jill, another mileage guru) when it first came out that we just looked at each other and cringed. It was a little too close to our life.

So… that’s how I spent my day… as a mileage whore. I was so tired when I got home, I didn’t even have the energy to pour myself a drink. I ate my taco truck takeout burrito (which was really tasty, but didn’t agree with me), turned on the TV, and went to bed.

[230.2]

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 the year. A couple of more clients like this and I’d be feeling much for comfortable.

And it being the 15th — actually sent out a couple of invoices today.

Dinner with Jim and Suze… chilled shrimp appetizer, lamb lollipops and seared ahi tuna as a main, salad, rye bread and potatoes filled out the plates.

Off to St. Louis on a mileage run in the morning.

[230.5]

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 and Clarke) so there are people just outside the window – no lounging around “al fresco” without the curtains pulled.

Out of the condo at noon, and into a sales pitch – the things I do for a $75 American Express Gift Card that only gets spent in the state liquor store. Hopefully after November 2^nd, it won’t have to be a STATE liquor store.

Unlike yesterday, with the sun out and 60 degree temperature, now it’s much more like winter in the Northwest… grey, drizzle, cool. It didn’t make for a very fun drive home – and the need for a 20 minute power nap in Chehalis didn’t keep me from getting stuck in Olympia/Tacoma/Seattle rush hour traffic. Might have missed some of that had I not stopped for a great grilled (outside) burger in Swenson, and taken that nap. Oh well.

Home at 6 in time for the tail end of the two hour news hours. Exhaustion, food, TV followed by an early sleep.

[? ? ?]

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 Longview, Washington on US30 on the Oregon side of the Columbia River.

This shot was actually from last night coming home from dinner with Swanda and Fluffernutter – again, another cell phone self-portrait. No too bad considering the various lighting situations.

Got into the condo at 3:30 – half an hour early, which is something that this resort isn’t well known for. They even offer people $15 in restaurant coupons to get people to check out before 10am.

In between a movie (Hot Tub Time Machine) and romantic activities, managed to get dinner on the table at 8pm – veal chops on grill, baked potatoes, cole slaw and a nice bottle of rose.

Needless to say, it was a late night.

[228.6]

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 (newspaper in hand to read while I waited). Shocking.

The new “paper” plate:

And since that makes the front plate invalid, I decided to pull a plate from my collection to use on the front:

Yes, Autoridad Del Canal – the Panama Canal Authority. I think it looks real slick.

Dinner tonight at Swanda’s – combining a package run with making dinner and watching the news. Of course that turned into dinner for three when Fluffernutter called my cell from a couple of blocks away – a roast chicken on a bed of purple potatoes and onions (and the remains on the stove for soap tomorrow). A fine evening.

Then home to pack for tomorrow adventure in dateland.

[228.7]

That is one nice rack of ribs that went on at 4pm and came off at 7pm, and a loaf of dark rye bread from a new recipe. Good fun for the three of us at the table and two of us in the hot tub. And many trips up on the lift.

Must be cranky – but after ribs, that’s not possible.

[230.7]

A run to Home Depot for safety hardware to install on the deck:

To the store for lunch supplies – time to try out the Swanda birthday present:

I think it’s designed for standard buns and wieners – will need to experiment more. The low fat chicken sausages (4 grams of fat as opposed to 14 grams in a regular dog) was tasty, think I’ll need to split both the dog and bun in half to make it work… tomorrow.

And dinner with Mick – a pork loin roast, high heat roasted potatoes, bread, salad, wine, and two first class tickets to Vegas in early December for Javier’s B-Day party. Not bad — $400 each, which is less than double the coach price.

Texting and sexting with the boy before bedtime.

[231.0]

I thought about going to the funeral, but I dislike them, and the person who was hosting annoys me.

Wow – is that a Bulwer-Lytton award winning first sentence of a novel? He was famous for “It was a dark and stormy night”….paragraph that goes on and on and on.

“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”

 —Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford
(1830)

Should you be interested in the 2010 winner, who oddly enough is from Seattle, here it is:

“For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity’s affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss—a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity’s mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world’s thirstiest gerbil.”

Molly Ringle, Seattle, WA

So, I woke up hung over from poker with a wallet fuller than when I arrived, and decided… he’s dead, I loved him, he was a mentor, I made a point to see him regularly while he was alive, and who needs a morose drunk at a wake. It also saved me half a tank of gas and the prospect of crashing on my nephew’s couch since all the beds were filled, and I wasn’t expecting an invitation to his.

But back to poker for a minute… I was texting (and occasionally sexting) with my “friend” on the coast who I’m seeing as it now turns out next Wednesday night (started chatting mid-August, hooked up before my birthday, where it goes from here…)… and sent him this great photo of the poker boys shot on my cell phone…

His response was – “Wow, they are all hot, how many have you slept with?” At least I know now that he really does like guys older than him. It really is a great photo. I booked Seaside for December poker just in case the “friend” turns into something more..

Came home mid-day in the rain, yes, it’s fall. It would be nice to have a couple of dry days to give the lawn a final trim before “winter” which looks a lot like fall.

Spent the rest of the day trying to reconfigure the netbook for the Thailand trip in November, paying bills, mailing articles, eating pork chops and salad for dinner, and sleazing in front of the TV watch network crime dramas…. So much for my big Saturday night!

Damn that’s a nice photo.

[? ? ?]

Wow, my first “in-print” travel review – OK, it’s a long quote in an article on the WorldMark Victoria.

My portion is the red box on the right hand side which reads…

Year-Round Appeal

Of the 49 WorldMark resorts that owner Mark Souder has visited so far, he says WorldMark Victoria remains his favorite — winter, summer, spring or fall. “I love the Victoria resort in winter — I’ve been going there for the last several years during January when it is on inventory special. And special it is — the two-bedroom penthouse units are the tops as they come with their own private hot tub and barbecue, with stunning views of the Victoria Harbour no matter what floor you are on. The sounds of the seaplanes landing, the Coho and Victoria Clipper horns, the water taxi ballet — I never get tired of it.” With its mild year-round climate, great hiking and cycling, theatrical and music venues, golf, spectacular gardens and attractions for every age, Victoria has all the ingredients for a great vacation in any season. But winter brings an added bonus — it’s less crowded. “You’ve got the place to yourself. In summer, it’s elbow-to-elbow,” says WorldMark Victoria Resort Manager David Martin. Another plus is that some attractions lower their prices during low season.

That’s always a nice was to start the day… finding yourself quoted in a magazine that you are reading with your eggs and toast. If you want to read the whole article, you can find it here: https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/destinations/pdfs/DESToct2010.pdf

Headed to Olympia mid-day for the monthly poker game – which I missed last month because I was somewhere else. Oh—that’s right, it was at Lake Cushman a weekend early, when I was in the Bay Area visiting Mark and Onyx.

Dinner before the game was a peppered beef loin, asparagus, salad, and because it’s Curt’s house, lots of wine (like that’s different than my house!).

Did so so in the game. Converted change into folding money – now there is room in the container for the rest of the change sitting around the house.

And a moment of silence for my dear friend Jamshed, who passed to the other side at 3am this morning.

[228.7 really need to drop those cruise pounds]

With the sun out for yet another day, it means this is a good time to go to Home Depot to get wood to get the railing for the deck stairs done.

Guess it’s now time to get the benches built and the safety chains installed. Hopefully before Greg and Blair come to dinner on Monday night.

Speaking of dinner, just a steak and asparagus for me tonight.

[228.2]

Well, it wasn’t the Wednesday I wanted. The Wednesday I wanted was to be headed to Seaside for some quality time in the sack — which apparently will have to wait until the 14th. Not to be. Instead, I’m a Safeway buying dinner supplies for dinner with Swanda.

After gassing up, I stumbled across this totally restored Checker Station Wagon.

I used to have two of the sedan versions. Make me want one of their eight-door model.

No, I don’t need another project. I still have to finish the railings on the vertical deck.

Lambchops, salad, bread (from the new machine), asparagus, wine – that was dinner.

[? ? ?]

Up early to the flight – 5am is early no matter what time zone.

Seat 4B (last row of First) on the way home, with breakfast and a few drinks…. But no ride home from the airport – Wonderful’s helper Possum couldn’t work today, and Wonderful was stuck at home waiting for a shipment of bottles (like a couple of pallets worth).

Afternoon spent with a couple of loads of laundry, baking a loaf of bread (in the middle of which my bread machine gave up the ghost), a run to the post office, to the dry cleaner to take shirts in, shopping for oranges, then off to Dancing Bear’s place (a.k.a. the Crackerbox Palace in Facebook) for old fashions and a pork chop dinner.

Thanks DB for the loan of your bread machine to replace my dead one – guess this means I need to make bread for you more often than I already do.

Had to leave early… the doggie dander was getting to me, by the time I got home I had to pop two antihistamines to keep from clawing my eyes out.

And the evening brought a couple of pieces of bad news…

• A dear friend in Portland is basically in hospice mode after they found stage four lymphoma
• My date for tomorrow night in Seaside can’t make it (or it sounds like on Friday morning either) – of course, that pales in comparison to the bad news above.

At least I’m sleeping in my own bed tonight.

[? ? ?]