R.I.P. Southpark Bridge

This is the bridge that will be shutting down tonight at 7pm. It is in horrible shape and on a scale of 1 to 100 for bridge safety, with 100 being the best, it rates a 5. So what happened? Well, the $50 million slated got rerouted over to Vulcanville, also known as South Lake Union by the power arm turning of one Paul Allen. He is trying to get the long detested "Mercer Mess" cleaned up and a lot of money is being poured into that area with the likes of the Gates Foundation and Amazon deciding to drop anchor. So while the rich get richer, a bridge that carried 20,000 cars a day is being shut down for at least 3 years and many think a whole lot longer.So last Sunday before enjoying breakfast with Mick, I did a drive by and saw the signage going up to alert the public. This is the most obvious...and these are for our those who speak Spanish and Vietnamese, I think. Those are two large populations in the neighborhood. It really is sad to see what this will do to the area. Businesses will be shuttered most certainly. Oh yes, locals will cry "Never!" and yet in due course it will happen. Shopping patterns will change as people drive in and out of the area differently. It will be interesting.

But tonight Markie will be hosting a Wake at his home in Southpark (below) and there is at least one other that was mentioned on the news this morning. I will be attending as I know that bridge all too well and will actually miss it in some bizarre way. And so farewell kind bridge. R.I.P.

A Day of Three Tomorrow

So why am I looking at tomorrow and not today? Well, this day was a lot of phone calls and planning for the coming days ahead and well, tomorrow's post is pretty much set due to history being made so I am taking today to pause and share how three is playing such a big roll in tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will be getting three packages:

1. Mattress pad that was lost for a few days due to a natural disaster.
2. Bed is arriving only 11 days after being ordered. See why I love Overstock.com?
3. Three videos will be arriving from Amazon.com (see 3 again!).

Tomorrow will also be the first day of three this week where I am cooking for someone else. OK, so not that hard of cooking, but still! I don't get to cook all the time and it is fun to do it for people I love and care about. Taking my cucumber/tomato/mozzarella salad to take to Markie's for the Wake for the Southpark Bridge tomorrow night. Then Thursday I am cooking dinner for my good friend Jeff and then Sunday I am making a potato salad to take to Rob & Jodie's to celebrate the 4th of July and we will watch fireworks from their deck and also watch the fireworks on TV from NYC, the Macy's display that is shot over the Hudson River. It will be a great way to celebrate and then get Monday to recover, gotta love that.

Oh and I almost forgot that tomorrow will be my 33rd posting of the month. It is just kind of weird how 3 is popping up all over the place tomorrow.

Heck, tomorrow is the 30th of June and there is another 3 to add to the pile. And so goes another night here in Seattle and by the way tomorrow is not only a day of the number 3 but also marks the end of the first half of the year...only 177 more shopping days until Christmas!

The Natural Disaster is Over!

OK, so you might have read my posting about my package and how it got lost in some natural disaster last week. Well, all is good in the world. It was rerouted and delivered this day. Just in time as the bed arrives Wednesday. Find out a two hour window when it would happen. Here is hoping for early.

Apartment is actually looking really good and I think I actually have reached a moment where everything is where it should be and nothing is packed somewhere that I might find it in the future by chance. Amazing how a little knick-knack can get packed here or there. Did have one disaster though...a snow globe died! I got it a couple of years ago from two dear friends and it has gone to globe heaven. What a mess to clean up, but thankful for no stain on the carpet.

Monday was pretty darn awesome overall...and so 1 down and 4 to go before a three day holiday weekend that I plan to use to relax and enjoy some books and good times with friends. Yes, a short post this night, but it is news time and Antiques Roadshow is later and that is always a treat to be sure.

What a Great Weekend!

Picked up these lovely deep burgundy Oriental Lillies at QFC and the buds were all just ready to pop on Friday and they did not disappoint! I am getting hooked on the whole fresh flower thing each weekend. You might notice the print on the left, it was from the very first Subway campaign in the United States to promote safe sex. I was sitting on the train one night looking at it when I lived in the Big Apple and said, "that is history in the making." And yes, I took it. Oh the mayor at the time was Ed Koch.
Kicked off the weekend being quite social with Markie as I mentioned yesterday. At dinner at dinner last night with Rob & Jodie I happened to mention the wine we had enjoyed and they had tasted the Zinfandel from the same winery and were quite aware how good it was. Yesterday brought several great phone chats and heck even today I have had several calls from friends saying "Happy Pride" and such.

While I am, as said in the prior post, a bit jaded on all the parades and such, make no mistake. I will fight tooth and nail for anyone who wants to go out and share in the good times. Been there and done that. Yes, I do not go, but I so remember going to my first Pride parade, all scared to think I was going to be the only one there and poof, I come to realize I am not alone and that many others just like me have taken that step to come out from the dark corner and live life full and free as we should. Don't go stepping on toes to much and yes make people a tad uncomfortable now and then, but hey, that is called growth and acceptance and it can be a good thing in the end. I look forward to the day when it does not have to be said or defended, it just will be part of everyday life and at least for me, that has happened already.

And so while it is the last big Pride weekend I am also taking the time to really get the apartment summerized a bit. Summer is also all about the cruise ships being in port. They leave Thursday through Monday from here in Seattle to Alaska. Three a day. Here is a picture I took this morning on the way to the Rusty Pelican to have breakfast with Mick.You have to look close but in the upper right corner is the NCL Pearl and then off center left at the top are the other two cruise ships in port and I am guessing Holland America is one and Princess is another. Ah those lazy, hazy days of summer - no, sorry, I have Air Conditioning thank you very much! Cheers...until next time Happy Pride!

Space Needle Pride

What a FABULOUS way to usher in Seattle LGBT Pride than to raise the rainbow flag above the city's icon, the Space Needle? Needless to say while I am pretty jaded about the whole Pride thing it is pretty cool. Mind you I have done Pride weekends from Portland to Dallas, New York to San Francisco, the town is all a-buzz about this thing happening and so quickly.

So how did it come to be? Louise Chernin, Executive Director of the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) explained. The plan was hatched at a Pride tourism luncheon last week sponsored by GSBA, the largest LGBT Chamber in the United States. GSBA has just launched an LGBT Tourism portal on their website: Travel Gay Seattle, Where Out is In, for LGBT Tourists to Get Here, Stay Here and Play Here. The goal is to increase tourism revenue in our region. Among the luncheon guests was the president of the Space Needle who decided in short order to show the LGBT community how valued we are in this city.Seattle Gay News has posted an interview with Space Needle president and CEO, Ron Sevart.

"It's a big deal for some of our team members," Sevart said. "Such a big deal that when we told some of them, it was very emotional."

"We're as diverse inside the Space Needle as what is outside the Space Needle," he added. "The Pride event takes place on the Seattle Center campus,"

Sevart said. "I think that being able to look up at the Space Needle and see that flag up there - I think it's going to be a very proud moment for a lot of people."

Today, the best known icon of Seattle, makes a significant statement for LGBT equality by raising the Rainbow Flag on top of Seattle's Space Needle. Seattle is home of the third largest LGBT population in the country and the raising of the flag is a recognition of the integral role the LGBT community has in Seattle being a world class city. Looking up and seeing a rainbow flag on top of the Space Needle sends a warm and welcoming message to all LGBT tourists visiting this weekend to celebrate Pride and me too!

Thanks to the various news reports and blogs for the information and pictures!

Happy Birthday Curtis!

Today is Curtis' 46th birthday and damn he still looks wet behind the ears. I swear he does not age. I have known him for years through the faeries and pursued him (not sexually) for years to work as an event coordinator where I work, Events & Adventures. Well, the third time was the charm and in September, 2007 he joined us and has been amazing. From hosting numerous bon fires to taking groups to Machu Picchu plus China and of course the infamous Whistler Thanksgiving Getaways...he has always been one to lend an air of professionalism that is so welcomed. It is also damn fine to have a fellow faerie a stone throws distance away and while he has shared many a times how nice it is to work with me, he has no idea how many times I have said the same thing to him and anyone else who will listen. He is just one hell of a nice guy! Cheers to you Fluffernutter.

Rock & Roll Prisoner

The Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon 2010 is one of the most anticipated events being offered this summer that is open to all. It was full of enjoyment as there are bands in the streets of Seattle at each mileage post. The marathon and half marathon started at 8:45 and 7:45 this morning respectively with the two races having 27,000 registered.

That's a lot of people participating in today’s event. They start at Foster Golf Links and end at Qwest Field. So why am I a prisoner? Well, the race has a course that pretty much surrounds where I live. I have been watching all the people coming off the I-90 HOV lanes that are closed for the race. Also, all the friends and family of the runners that are at the starting line down in Tukwila rush to get up in this area and parked and over to the finish line. Thus, if you look out my window, you would think there is a ball game happening or something. It really is a cluster fu#k out there today. I opt to stay in after experiencing it last year. Went out to breakfast with Mick and what would be a normal 20 minute drive back to the apartment ended up being 3 hours long! Yes, it is seared in my mind.

And you know, that is OK, we just moved our breakfast meeting to tomorrow morning. I am puttering at the apartment and then this afternoon have dinner with Jodie & Rob. Grilling steaks = YUM!

So last night I also got to have a most enjoyable meal as Markie came over all hush hush and told me he had comfort food for dinner. Well, it was quite lovely as we enjoyed a simple dinner of homemade chicken soup with what was suppose to be homemade noodles that ended up more like spatzle, even the stock was from scratch and it was topped off with a bit of sour cream. I was able to contribute a bottle of Rancho Zabaco Sauvignon Blanc that I had just picked up on sale at QFC. I got it for 11.89 and in looking at their website, it goes for $18 a bottle. They are known for their Zinfandel wines and it is a winery that has few offerings, but if the bottle last night is any indication, they do what they do VERY well. I do think I will have to get a couple more bottles to have on hand for summer guests.

While here, Markie also put washers on the doors of the TV/computer cabinet so the knobs do not wiggle anymore - YES! Plus he was most helpful in "decrapifying" my computer. Seriously there is a website that you can use to get rid of all that junk that you did not know was on your computer. And yes, after shutting the computer down and then bringing it back up it does work better. Still some work to be done, but oh it is nice to have it run a tad faster. Guess I will hold off replacing it for a few more months. And so goes another Saturday at Uwajimaya Village Apartments.

Package 1ZA148E80395989498

So I order a bed and mattress pad from Overstock.com and they have been quite good in delivery. Last week I got notice that the mattress pad had shipped Monday. I get a call on Friday that the bed will be delivered on Wednesday, the 30th. No problem. Well, I begin to wonder where is that mattress pad?

Well, I woke up about an hour ago and can't sleep and decided to go check on UPS website and checked status. Gotta love sites like this that inform me Your package has experienced an exception.

I look further down to see:

SEATTLE, WA US 06/24/2010 9:53AM
DISRUPTION IN AIR OR GROUND SYSTEM OCCURRED

SEATTLE, WA US 06/24/2010 9:53AM
DISRUPTION IN AIR OR GROUND SYSTEM OCCURRED

SEATTLE, WA US 06/24/2010 9:53AM
NATURAL DISASTER

What disaster did I miss on Thursday? That the sun actually came out that day and melted the truck? Oh my goodness! So I shall now find out tomorrow what this natural disaster is and when a replacement might be sent. The funny thing is that I have not heard word boo from UPS or Overstock yet and to think, it was a "disaster" and yet no comment since. Strange!

A Moment of Luxury

On PBS Create they run a show by the same name as this posting. It is funny but when I first watched the program it caught me off guard how people would say reading a book or having a cup of tea leisurely in the afternoon is a moment of luxury.

Well, I now look for the little things that make a moment of luxury for me. It might be fresh flowers for the table on the weekend or a nap on a Sunday afternoon. Who would have thought that a simple task every three weeks would prove to be a moment of luxury but I have come to realize that getting my hair cut by Ronnel every third Wednesday at 9am is a real moment of luxury for me. He has been cutting my hair now for over two years and I finally asked him where he got his name and it is an old southern name that his mom really liked.

The joy of this day is that I am not in the up and get to the office grind and I can have the extra cup of coffee or relax a few minutes and look at the sunrise. Heck, I even have time to log-in and post a comment to my blog.

So when you thing there is no moments of luxury in your life, pause and look around. For some it might be flying a plane that you always wanted to or for another it is watching a gaggle of geese grow. For my Mom I think it is being able to enjoy her favorite shows in the evening uninterrupted. Yes, it is the times we get to pause and smell the roses that makes life so much sweeter.

Postscript

So yesterday I did a nice little plug for Markie achieving another one of his bucket list items. One thing he happened to include in his bevy of photos of which I snagged several for the blog is a picture of a Canadian North Airlines plane with a "Snowbear" on the tail. Of course I had to share. By the way folks I am most open to comments about misspellings and such, it comes from doing a blog. Markie can tell you all too well. When I first pointed out the mistakes, I failed to take in that spell check is not perfect. So I now opt to just point out the error without comment and he is able to correct on his next entry. I welcome the same and I sure appreciate when a misspelling is caught! Thank You.
Also of note this day is my sister Janet being acknowledged for her 10 years of service at OES, a private school in Portland, Oregon where she has been an amazing asset for a decade. They used to give you an umbrella for such a period of time. Well, she was pleasantly surprised this day to get a wonderful Pendleton Blanket instead. Bravo!

And finally, a big Thank You goes out to Markie for a great dinner this evening. While we did not make it to 13 Coins last night, dinner on his back deck was just amazing and quite tasty. Mick even joined us. I do believe it is time to ponder the option of bedtime. It has been quite the day and 4:30am is just around the corner. Good night!

So Here I Wait...

for knowledge that my friend Markie is actually on a plane home. He left Friday on a mission. He found somewhere that there was still a DC-3 plane still in service, and well, now knows there are like a half dozen, but that is another story. He is a plane buff much like I am a fireworks whore! Well, he was on a mission. So he flew up to Edmonton via Horizon Air and then rented a car at an obscene rate. Drove up to Hay River in the fricking Northwest Territories.

From there he boards the plane and flies to Yellowknife. To save some $'s he decided to just "sleep" in the car at Hay River until the flight. Well, it appears to be a bit chilly up north, EH? And well, he woke up about on the hour and turned on the car heater to warm up. But hey, he did not oversleep and miss his flight!

Here is an interior shot of the plane and please note the cargo option in the rear, and no I am not talking about the women on the plane, seriously it is like half people and half cargo.

Yes, old propeller style engines and clouds parted to allow for a stunning view of the land below. You know I am happy he keeps ticking things off on his bucket list. I am finally getting around to redoing mine as I have gotten to do so much already in my life. The good times keep on coming.

And come on, is he happy or what in this picture! He got to sit up in the cockpit with the pilot and that included a cocktail plus he got a T-shirt and pin to keep. OK, so he did not get the pilot, but well, that is a whole different story!

So he got back to Edmonton and I was to pick him up at 6:45pm this evening. We were going to have dinner at 13 Coins this evening. Alas, not to be. He originally got to the airport WAY early like at 12:30pm for a 6pm flight = mountain time. Well, at 4:55pm, MY TIME, he tells me delay. And the messages keep coming. At last text he was boarding, but website says like 8:30pm. This is all due to lightening and storms in the area and the airport was actually closed for a bit. Oh the joys of adventure.

I am quite pleased that my group in Italy has been silent to me for a few days...that means good things are happening. Today was Venice. They get back Friday and that means next weekend will be deep sleep and no listening for the phone to ring!

Sunday Supper

Sitting here and relaxing I think back to all those wonderful Sunday Suppers that Mom put together for us. But it was not just the suppers it was all the meals that she took time to prepare. When I think of Mom I think of gas-house eggs (called many things but you take a piece of bread and cut out a circle and fry an egg in the center) and BBQ Round Steak that never saw a grill. Stuffed Cabbage and Tamale Pie (a true Betty Crocker creation from the 50's but oh so good). Funny how I think about these on this day which is Father's Day but it was more because I got to fix some scrambled eggs and bacon for myself this morning and enjoyed coffee while getting some paperwork done. It's raining outside and I am just off Skype (an online phone system which is free) with my old French teacher from high school. Dang she looks good.

It is a day for just down shifting and relaxing a bit. I will share I had a bit of a scare this morning in that Markie is up in Canada and Moonsong who cleans was not due to be here until tomorrow as he is camping this weekend when all of a sudden I hear a key at the door. Who would be trying to get in? I quickly grabbed my frying pan and yelled "who's there?" as the door began to open. It was Moonsong. They had not gone camping due to the weather and well, he was here to clean. I was not in any position to just clear the dining table of all the paperwork and I had the called scheduled with Bea and he was quite kind and agreed to hold to tomorrow's planned cleaning. A good thing too, he was able to see where a bird had left a "gift" of sorts on my big window and so he is going to bring something to use on it when he does return.

So I have had a darn nice weekend and yes next week will be challenging to say the least, but I think I can get through. Have slowly been getting some much delayed projects out of the way and that is a good thing. No longer do I have a Top 10, but rather the delayed half dozen or so. In true form I have gone step by step through the apt. and each and every cabinet to see what is going to be on it's way out the door.

Next weekend I think I will get a few more delayed projects done and done as I will be held captive in my apt. on Saturday with the Rock-n-Roll Marathon as it shuts down streets all around my building. That is one thing about the summer that is no fun and it is all the various street closures for runs, walks, bike rides and festivals. Oh my and next Sunday is Pride and that will be a hole nother ball of wax to deal with and that also means that Seafair is not far behind. It is a month-long festival that involves all the neighborhoods of the city in celebrating all that we have capping off with the Blue Angels flying overhead for like 4 or 5 days plus the Hydroplane races.

Well I know there are no pictures in this posting, but seriously, did I really need any after the graphic I posted to honor the dad day!?

To All the Dads...

What is it About Fresh Flowers?

Last week I totally scored and got these lovely Gladiolus flowers at QFC for $10, I kid you not. Beautiful in the light purple and perfect way to begin the welcome of summer. I have fond memories of Dad bringing Mom bouquets of Gladioli. This week is their anniversary and while Dad may have been gone nearly 11 years, the memories are still strong.

Now these lovely Peonies are this weeks flower du our! The color is so intense. Not the usual white or pink, I opted for a more robust color. What has been just amazing is that they were all tight balls this morning and it has been magical to watch them pop today. I want them to last at least through tomorrow when Helene visits. I am excited that she is going to stop by for a meal and visit on her way back from San Francisco on her way to Vancouver, BC her new home. I sure miss her. Much like I miss my frequent visits with my sister from the days in Portland, but we still do chat all the time on the phone and she does love posting her comments on the blog which I enjoy. Speaking of which feel free to post a comment and let me know what you think of what I am posting here.

Oh Yeah! The New Bed is on the Way!

About a week ago I began the process of getting a new bed. Yes, I am a big boy and I do punish the beds I sleep in. Over the years I have tried different kinds and the memory foam, while lovely, was oh too hot for me. I tend to sleep hot most nights and so had to let it go. Several dear friends said to consider the Sleep Number bed and while I considered it I did let it go. Finally, I was shopping around and getting lost in whether I was in a country or factory or deciding why buy for less and all the other marketing ploys when I went to my old stand-by of Overstock.com and poof, there it was: Serta Bristol Way Pillowtop Queen-size Mattress Set, a thing of beauty.

It shall be delivered in 1-6 weeks and what is really wonderful is that they bring it in and set it up and take away the old mattress and box spring. YES! Also purchased a new mattress pad and likely new pillows will be secured soon. Sheets are new as a lovely birthday gift from Curtis and are lavender. Yes, I have back-up sets and well, I might even consider a new comforter as well, we shall see. The bed frame stays as it is Cherry wood and a lovely gift from Helene! In fact she gave me the mattress and box spring and it has been used with great happiness for the past 6 years but it was time for a replacement and so there you go.

It looks like my short list of things for the apartment is now complete:

Mattress and Box Spring
Water Purifier for the sink
Digital
Camera
Vacuum

Guess it is now time to consider that new car. Right now my short list includes:

• Chrysler 300 (while roomy, it feels so much like a pimp mobile)
• Kia Soul (amazing room)
• Hyundai Sonata (yes, it actually fits me!)

So the day has gotten off to a nice start in that I had breakfast with Mick (a bowl of Grits with bacon and cheese blended in and scrambled eggs on top = Yummers!) and then it was off to Trader Joe's where I got some great items to take me into next week plus a lovely bouquet of Peonies. How I love fresh flowers. Back home got dishes washed and took out garbage and recycling and then bought the new bed. I do think it is just about time to take a nap. What will be next?

Silence is Golden

OK, so gold was trading over $1,200.00 per ounce this day - a record - I can only honor that wise saying and be silent and know that I shall be checking in this weekend and giving you an amazing top 10 and a lot more...for now, Cheers!

The Best of Intentions...

was to hop on here and type away about a festive topic and entertain one and all. Guess what? I realize I am in brain meltdown mode and so going to go ahead and just let this one go for the night and catch up with you tomorrow (unless dinner with my ex-dentist goes too late) or Friday. Cheers!

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda!

Woulda - been nice to win at Settlers of Catan, but you know you just have to let others win from time to time. And so won Moonsong on Sunday. Quite fun really. I learned of the game last fall and have been enjoying playing the game every few weeks. As noted on Wikipedia, the Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) under the name Die Siedler von Catan.

Settlers was one of the first German-style board games to achieve popularity outside Europe, and has been called the killer app of the genre. Over 15 million games in the Catan series have been sold, and the game has been translated into thirty languages from the original German. The game has rapidly become popular in part because its mechanics are relatively simple, while its dynamics are quite complex. The game is well suited for family play, since no one gets eliminated, and players who are behind can strive towards goals that are within their reach. The standard game has many expansions.

Coulda - gotten online last night to do a blog posting and yet I did not as I made several phone calls and just relaxed after a pretty nice day to kick off the week. Mark, the owner, was in the office and we hired a new Controller and soon it will be a whole new feeling. Things are changing and we had a chance to have lunch together. Mind you, in the 12+ years I have worked for him I have gone out to lunch with him only a handful of times. We got to have lunch at a place called The Pumphouse. He was sure we had been before, after walking in I was sure I had not! Granted I did enjoy a nice shrimp Caesar salad, but between the enhancement of the hired help and the plethora of sports dominated TV's all around, I was glad lunch ran just under 30 minutes. My Gay card is intact!

Shoulda - brought home the paperwork on the group in Italy as they left yesterday and sure enough had a bit of a challenge with them with the first phone call coming in at 11:10pm and then it was getting all the details handled as their arrival into Rome was on a different airline and they were going to miss the 1st scheduled tour bus to take them to see highlights of Rome including The Colosseum. After finally getting logged into work to save driving over at that hour to the office I got the number to call. Sure enough the office in Rome was closed for our inbound operator. So I called the emergency number to reach someone 24 hours a day per their lingo. It had been forwarded to the office and no option to leave a message. Just said to call back after 9am.

Well that was just a tad unhelpful as the flight landed at 9:20am originally and now was going to be just past noon. The initial reply once we connected with the inbound operator was, "It's not our fault. It will cost you $150 Euro's minimum." By the end of the day, there was no charge. Oh the power of dealing with a wholesaler and a long established outbound operator here in the states. If it has not been for the phone issue we would likely have had to pay. I so owe Babs multiple cocktails at this point! So now I have had some food and going to watch the President speak from the White House and then likely calling it an early evening. Need some good sleep. Cheers!

A Bit of Sunday Humor

My brother sent this picture to all of us the other day and well, it is Sunday and it is to be a day of rest and so I am going to do that for a while before some friends stop by for a game of Catan.

Enjoyed breakfast with Amy and Damian, 2nd cousins of mine. We went to Hudson's and it was a nice and relaxing time. Hope you are able to enjoy this day as much as I am. Catch you later. Cheers!

Let's Talk Taxi's!

So now with cruise season in full swing we are in Taxi hell! Yup, it is crazy around this city. There are 3 cruise ships in port 5 days a week from Thursday through Monday. It is amazing to see them drive. They race to see how many fares they can get and boy do you have to be defensive at times. I got a taste of it this morning as I headed up to have breakfast with Mick up at Patty's Eggnest and went by the dock at Interbay where two cruise ships dock. The third one ties up down on the waterfront, usually it is NCL. It is amazing how Seattle has become a major player in the whole Alaska cruise scene. Last year there were over 800 sailings. Now that is a lot of people going up to Alaska. Talking to my friend who is in the travel industry, Alaska appears to have peaked as a destination. They used to run the cruises out of Vancouver, BC. Then they used Victoria, BC more and more. Seattle finally got into the fray. We have been playing host for a decade or so. Alas, next year the departures will drop down to the mid-700's and then go down from there.

But this posting is not just about the cruise industry but about the cabs. They all screamed when lightrail went in saying it was their doom. Well, it appears that has not happened and in fact, Yellow Cab just got the new contract to begin schlepping people from the airport in September. It was not willingly given up either from what I heard. Here in Seattle we have yellow cab, green cab, orange cab and heck there is one called Sitka. I use one maybe once a month, but they always seem full. And the cabs today look pretty much like the picture above.

But oh the days when Checker Cabs controlled the road and oh so comfortable. They were big and you felt special riding in one. My friend Markie used to own one. Oh the fun we had riding in that thing. He sold it but the memories still ring true. I enjoy seeing one in a movie now and then, but you so know if one shows up now, it is a total fantasy as they have been off the streets for a while now as actual cabs. But the memories live on, Happy Saturday!

Happy Birthday Janet!

Janet has been one of the best things in my life. We have a running joke between us in using "MSMF" and "MBMF" which mean My Sister, My Friend and My Brother, My Friend. We have had a lot of fun over the years and enjoy times at the beach and having our nearly daily chats to talk over all the woes of the world and "Project Runway" decisions. Some of you have gotten to meet her and for those that have not let me tell you she is really a pretty awesome person. She is a teacher at a private school in Oregon and lives near a pond and has been enjoying the life cycle of Canadian Geese and their new babies who are growing like crazy.

I raise my glass in a toast to my favorite sister!

Spud Thursday!

Good Evening and thanks for stopping by. It is not quite the weekend but I am so ready for it to be here. What a week. At work we have gone through two different people who wanted to step in and head up the accounting department and just were not the right fit. Hopefully we can get that all handled in the next week or two. Also, yesterday, Wednesday, the internet went down for the whole office for just under 4 hours. Who realized we were THAT dependent on the internet to keep moving forward. I am now more than ever aware. Further, there is a staff change happening in Vancouver, again, and well, I cannot believe only a week ago I was returning from vacation and ready to hit the ground running. I want to go on vacation again.

Vacations are about a time of going home and relaxing or perhaps going off somewhere and discovering. One thing I do enjoy doing is enjoying comfort foods while on holiday. One that always makes its way on my plate is the ever wonderful potato. Actually I just love, love, love baker potatoes. Often I will use butter or sour cream on them, but I also have opted for cottage cheese or salsa plus the usual salt & pepper make it on the menu for the night. Well, tonight I am enjoying Spud Thursday!
Yes indeed, these tasty treats get to venture in every now and then. I have opted to buying only like 2 or 4 at a time and really enjoying a great potato. There is nothing better and it is a meal unto itself. Did you know that potatoes originated in Peru. YES! I was totally unaware. So while I go and enjoy my all dressed up potato, not quite, but looks almost as good as this...

Here are some insights on potatoes from Wikipedia. I would suggest going there and reading further to see all the cross references as I did take the liberty of deleting all those so as to get this posting to go up and be enjoyed by all of you. Have fun reading and here is to Spud Thursday!

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family (also known as the nightshades). The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world's fourth-largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize. Long-term storage of potatoes requires specialised care in cold warehouses and such warehouses are among the oldest and largest storage facilities for perishable goods in the world.

Wild potato species occur from the United States to Uruguay and Chile. Genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species suggest that the potato has a single origin in the area of southern Peru, from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex. Although the region known as Peru is the birthplace of the potato, today over 99% of all cultivated potatoes worldwide are descendants of a subspecies indigenous to south-central Chile. Based on historical records, local agriculturalists, and DNA analyses, the most widely cultivated variety worldwide, Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum, is believed to be indigenous to the Chiloé Archipelago where it was cultivated as long as 10,000 years ago.

Introduced to Europe by Spain in 1536, the potato was subsequently conveyed by European mariners to territories and ports throughout the world. Thousands of varieties persist in the Andes, where over 100 cultivars might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household. Once established in Europe, the potato soon became an important food staple and field crop. But lack of genetic diversity, due to the fact that very few varieties were initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus-like oomycete Phytophthora infestans, spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western Ireland, resulting in the crop failures that led to the Great Irish Famine.

Nun Better Cookies & Baseball

The CBS Sunday Morning show on April 18th aired a news story called, "A Good Habit" featuring Sister Mary Assumpta from The Sisters of the Holy Spirit of the Jennings Center for Older Adults located in Cleveland, Ohio.

So why am I typing that bit of information? Well Sister Mary Assumpta is a cousin somehow removed and get to see every now and then. She'll be seeing Mom and Janet over at Eagle Crest this summer when they are all there for the Annual Quilt show. Which if you have never seen is something to be sure.

Anywho, in the picture above our cousin is the one on the far left at a Cleveland Indian's game. She makes cookies for the team and over the years started selling them and is you click through the link above you will see she is the only nun to be on a baseball card. But this is not just about her, but rather about the Order of which she is a member.

Beyond their devoted work with the community, these women are known for their Nun Better Cookies. The kitchens are warming up, as the Sisters of the Holy Spirit prepares for their annual tradition, baking nearly two tons of cookies.

The sisters started baking these so-called Nun Better cookies back in the 1980s when the Cleveland Indians baseball team was in a slump. The sisters thought it would be a good luck charm for them. In 2001, the sisters baked the Nun Better Cookies for donors, and in 2002 started selling cookies to the public. Each year the orders have doubled, and last year's total was over one ton of cookies. The ultimate goal is to make enough money to support the endowment for the Jennings Center for Older Adults' Campus for Senior Services. So there you go and if you Google Nun Better you can find the form or through the hot link above. Cheers!

Copper River Salmon - Part II

Yes indeed folks, tonight Markie is over and we are going to enjoy a "gift" from Amazon Fresh. I ordered a delivery last Friday evening. Well, with the traffic of Chinatown on a Friday plus a home Mariner's game the driver could not find a place to park. His supervisor would not allow him to double park and so I agreed to a Saturday morning delivery. Well, there was a 1 lb. fillet of Copper River Salmon added in. I called and they said it was a gift for being so agreeable in the delivery adjustment. Heck, bring on the gifts...this is #5 now. A bag of produce, a bouquet of flowers (twice), a coffee mug and now salmon.

You just can't beat that. It will be paired up with fresh steamed green beans and a cucumber + tomato salad with a blue cheese vinaigrette. Simple and clean and delicious. Hope that all of you are able to enjoy a nice fresh dinner and we will touch base again real soon. Cheers!

Rhododendron

How I love this plant. It flowers so beautifully and I grew up with them in our yards for years. Well, now up here they are all around our office complex and today, for some reason, I noticed that they were EVERYWHERE! Stunning and late blooming this year due to the cooler weather we are having this spring. The colors are so vivid and they can range from the pink color above to reds and oranges to blues and purples plus white colors as well. If you ever have a chance to see a whole garden of them like they have in Portland, Oregon take the time to go see them, they are stunning. For reference, they usually are at their best around Mother's Day, but weather does tend to play a major role in when they bloom. Cheers!

If it is Sunday, it is Raining!

Yesterday was an amazing day. Started off a bit cool but by noon the AC was on and cooling the apt. I am so not a warm weather person. So puttered away on the computer and got the bills paid and wrote a lot of much delayed messages to people here and there. Could not believe how fast the morning passed.

Soon it was time to go see a friend and his house. It is so hard to walk into a house where they are so excited about it and you look around and go - UGH! But I kept that to myself and toured the house and it just screamed = MAKEOVER. We shall see. But to true suburban form, he had his 80" TV sucking up half the living room. ARGH!

Dinner was al fresco at Markie's and that was a delight. Bar-B-Que Pork Loins and potatoes plus fresh bread and salad. Wine with dinner and vodka tonics before. But the funny part had to be sitting on the back deck watching the news on the tiny portable TV. That was not the best of it as just across the way in the convection over were the potatoes and bread cooking away. Mick was over with his friend Michael and so the 4 of us enjoyed dinner.

Overall, a delightful Saturday to be sure. This day is going to be a day of calm. In fact, on that note, I am going to take my leave and go read some more. Have a great Sunday. Cheers!

Bits & Pieces

Hello there,

Yes it is Friday and Michael returns from his work session in Minneapolis tomorrow late morning, but he is going to not stay, but head home to see Hank and enjoy some down time.

I can appreciate that in that tomorrow is going to be that for me. Mick has agreed to move breakfast to Sunday and that is when the apt. will get cleaned and I get to have a very mellow weekend. In fact as I type this, I am waiting for my delivery from Amazon Fresh and that is the like big thing of the weekend. Did the major shop buying paper towels and toilet paper and restocking in general. Granted I will need to do the re-cycle and garbage plus laundry, but all in good time.

Wanted to share a follow-up to having the broken down car on I-90 at the start of the vacation. If you remember, I had a blowout and had to wait a while for Enterprise to show up with a replacement. Well, it was a luxury SUV (who knew there was such a thing) and Jack told me I would get an additional 10% off my bill (which already had 10% off due to a special email I got since I am a Plus member) and that I did not have to refill the tank due to the delays. Well, off I go and have a great trip. So, I go to return the car and tell the person that while I could have returned the car empty, there was actually like a 1/2 tank in the car. She went out and checked the mileage and came back in and said since I had done that she would waive the mileage overage charge as I am a Plus member and had been so nice about everything. She must have known or heard about the incident to kick off my vacation. Well, all said and done my week rental came in at $313.27. When I got home I decided to look into just how much did I save overall if I had rented that luxury SUV and got dinged for the miles. Well folks, we are talking $639.45 so we are talking a savings of $326.18. WOWZERS!

It has been rainy drippy weather all week and it is supposed to get nice tomorrow. We shall see. I am not complaining in that I like cooler weather and to think Dallas is going to be over 100 tomorrow - UGH. So happy not to live in Texas. But how I love the great northwest. I think Saturday is going to be about enjoying coffee, reading and watching a movie or two. May not even leave the building if possible. Love when that happens.

The one thing I was quite happy about this day was getting through the nearly 1,100 emails from when I was gone. That is just insane to be sure. A lot of them I was able to forward on for others, but now I need to get some things settled on the upcoming Mexico and Italy trips for the club. Boy, to be going to Italy right now, the Euro is at it's lowest to the dollar in years.

Reading a great book right now called "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" and is set in Seattle, specifically in Chinatown so I can totally relate. Quite interesting to be sure and so that will be a highlight for this weekend. Have a great weekend and until next time, Cheers!

Ah the Salt Mine

Folks, all I can say is that I am one pooped pup! It was a heck of a day and was non-stop, so with that now being shared, I am going to take leave and relax this night and look forward to doing a better post tomorrow and over the weekend for sure. Cheers, Chris

Vacation - The Rest of the Story

So now there have been 4 posts and this one makes 5 to cover my week away. Mom got a new furnace and we enjoyed an overnight at Crater Lake Lodge. The rest of the weekend was pretty unenventful and that was just fine with me. Mom loves to take care of her kids when they come to visit and you try so hard to do anything. I had to jump after meals just to have a chance to put dishes away. She's 87 and still kicking. We got to watch her favorite shows and enjoy stuffed cabbage and for my farewell meal she cooked steaks with corn on the cob. How awesome was that! Monday arrived all too soon and we hugged and I bid her a fond farewell as my adventure continued with my next stop being Portland.

Arrived just past noon and stopped to chat with Darlene for a while. She was my landlady for a while when I lived in Portland before moving to Seattle. We are still friends and got to chat for over an hour. I was then headed to Janet's apt. as we took in "Sex and the City 2" plus dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory. OK, so if you have not seen the movie yet and are considering going, save your money and watch it on DVD, I'm just saying!

We got to share some good stories and enjoy the evening knowing the holiday weekend was coming to an end. In the morning she was off to school and soon I was on the road back to Seattle. Got home and settled in and soon I was feeling like things were good. Michael arrived from the beach as he departed this morning for a conference in Minneapolis. He's back Saturday and Markie just got back this evening from the bay area. He stopped by to get a bag of goodies I have been assembling. So he's headed home and I am finally able to finish up this post. It has been a nice vacation, and yes, work did pop in a couple of times, but far fewer than I would have thought. So for now, I have some great memories and yet it is so nice to be home. Cheers!

Vacation - Breakfast With a View

So I have now posted some of the pictures I took on the trip and talked very little about our dining experiences. How rude of me! Crater Lake Lodge is a lovely place and with no TV, computers or telephones it really allows you to unplug and relax. The rooms are really nicely furnished in a craftsman style and the public areas are welcoming and relaxing. In my last post I talked a bit about the Great Hall which is where you can enjoy pre-dinner cocktails and light appetizers or dessert afterwards. They have numerous options of sitting areas from couches to rocking chairs by the fireplace or tables and chairs to play games or just chat. We tried several different options during the evening as you saw in the last post.

Since we had a late lunch at Beckie's Cafe, we opted for 7pm reservations. Once seated you could see that it was not packed, but still busy. Got to chat with a lovely couple from Portland at the next table and found out it was their anniversary and in sharing that we were there for Mom's birthday and Mother's Day it just made for a festive conversation. We took time out to order and Mom started with French Onion Soup which she happily pronounced as the best she has ever had. She also decided to order the Vegetable Fettuccini. I confirmed with her that it was a tomato based dish and she agreed. Likely due to all the excitement, it proved not to be what she wanted and would have preferred the traditional Fettuccini Afredo, but did say it was fun to try something different. Afterwards, I made it up by ordering the Very Berry Crisp that had three kinds of berries in it and she just loved it and while planning only a bite or two did enjoy a bit more which was fine as I am just not a berry dessert kind of guy unless they are fresh with yogurt!

For my dinner I started off with the Rogue Garden Salad which was a wedge of iceberg lettuce, tomato and sweet onion relish, candied walnuts with a Bleu cheese dressing. Can you say YUM! Then a cup of the Northwest Clam Chowder and they add smoked bacon and thyme to it and it was ok, but sadly a tad too much salt for my taste. Main course was Baked Oregon Bleu Cheese Halibut. Yes, Bleu cheese was the theme for the evening. It was prepared with sauteed shallots with a Bleu cheese melt down (not quite sure what that was?). A nice wild rice pilaf and fresh vegetables completed the plate. Filling but not overwhelming.

All too soon we were asleep and dawn arrived with lots of chirping birds and a lot of light due to the reflection off the snow. We were up and dressed by 7am and I took Mom on a bit of a tour of the Lodge. We arrived at the dining room just as breakfast was getting going and got a seat by the windows. As you can see by these pictures:

You can see why we opted for an indoor table since the outdoors was still a bit on the chilly side. Yes, you are looking at icicles on the rocker on the lower picture! It is not an illusion. But the sun was coming out and melting all the slick walkways that had developed overnight. This was a good thing as we delayed our departure to allow for the melt to occur. At breakfast we were served by the gentleman who was busing the dining room the night before. Seems peoples schedules are pretty full and a crew that is seasonal so they float around a lot of the national parks in the country. Bill, our server was from Maryland. It was his 2nd season at the Lodge and he was working in the Dining Room with his girlfriend. They had just arrived from working the winter at Death Valley. He was quite a good server and our coffee cups never ran dry. Mom decided to have the Stuffed French Toast which was stuffed with Marionberry Cream Cheese and it was a nice sized portion, nothing over the top. I had the Venison Hash and Eggs. I love scrambled eggs and you could so tell these were fresh eggs and not a mix. The Hash was on the salty side like the chowder the night before, but hey, it was their first week up and going again so I was not evil, but opted for understanding.

After breakfast we went back to the room and read a while before heading home. It was weird in that the drive home was relaxing and had little traffic until we got to Medford, but oh the traffic heading the other direction was insane! It was Friday of Memorial Day Weekend and a lot of people were getting an early start.

Once home we got settled and played some dominoes. Mom won the first game and we got to enjoy a nap plus just relaxing and taking time to chat and read and kick back knowing we had a wonderful adventure.

Vacation - Mom and Memories

Well, the trip was not just about Crater Lake...it was about Mom! The trip was a bit of a surprise for Mom and she actually did not know where we were going until I got down there. She knew we were going some place overnight and early reports had her thinking the coast and so I gave her a clue by saying we were not going west. Well, she then decided we were off to Lake of the Woods. We used to have a cabin up there. So I told her we had never spent the night where we were going, but had enjoyed its' beauty over the years. Finally I told her once I arrived in Ashland and she seemed to be pleased. I had us booked in for the night and I took care of lunch and dinner on Thursday plus breakfast the next day. We did go down a bit early for dinner to enjoy the Great Hall. This first picture has Mom studying the menu and trying to decide what she was going to have for a pre-dinner beverage. She decided to have a glass of white Zinfandel wine. I opted for the Crater Lake Vodka Martini. How wonderful to be sure.

She enjoyed looking at the multi-page menu and then, once our beverages arrived the server was quite nice to take our picture. She took two and this was the better of the two. The furniture was all done to period and it was lovely.

And here is a nice picture of the fireplace. Oh I guess I could have been a good tourist and took thousands of images, but no, I wanted to enjoy the time and meet new people. With little distraction conversation came quite easy.

So now we have one more post about the Lodge and need to get you caught up on the news, but it is a lazy day and a nap beckons!

Vacation - Using the New Camera

The trip down was quite nice, but rainy and yet I did not mind it at all. It was so needed to get away and I have to be honest to say I am not overly excited to have to go back to work tomorrow, but at least it is only for 2 days and then the weekend. But heck, this post is not about work, it is about the new camera I got a couple of weeks ago. Took it and following shows you how nicely the zoom works. The 3 photos are of Sentinel Rock to the best of my knowledge in looking at a map of the lake in relation to the Lodge.

I was amazed at the quality of the pictures and also, you should know that the pictures on the last posting and this were taken through closed windows. The crispness in the details and I am so glad I got them when I did in that within the hour the storm arrived and we got socked in. But hey it made for a lovely evening sitting by the fire and just relaxing.

Vacation - The Arrival

Hello to one and all,

To go a full week without using cell phone, internet and little TV was strange and yet refreshing!

Today is the last day of vacation and then it will be back to the salt mine. All the more certain that change is in the air and we shall see how it all works out. But this is not about being finished, but rather we are just getting started. I am going to do the posting in 4 parts so that they do not go too far. Last week I drove to Portland on Tuesday evening but not before I was "the stranded vehicle on I-90 bridge" as my 1st rental car had a blow-out. Enterprise Rent-A-Car was awesome in getting a replacement car to me and off I went to get to my sister Janet's place in time to get to dinner before it was too late. We got in some chat time and then z-z-z time. On to Ashland on Wednesday. Arrived in time to enjoy the fire in the fireplace as it was a tad cold and the new furnace was being installed, but not quite working.

Alas, a part was not working properly and so we got to go heat-free for the night. No worries, we kept the fire going until we went to bed. Then it was off to Crater Lake on Thursday. We stopped by to see Meredith and Lizzy for a while and then it was on to Beckie's Cafe in Union Creek for lunch. Between the amazing burgers and the homemade pie = heaven! Mom and I split a piece of pecan pie on the way up and then on the way home we stopped and got pie to have with lunch. YUM! Got to enjoy a piece of peanut butter cream pie and how lovely it was. Can totally understand why the go through 80 pies a day during the summer months. Amazing to be sure!

So we began the drive up to the lake and well, there was snow still on the ground. Just take a look! The first photo is taken from the 2nd floor of the Lodge and then I decided to gain perspective by going to the 3rd floor (middle photo) and finally the 4th floor (bottom photo).

Wizard island is off to the left. It was the new cone that began developing when the mountain blew it's top hundreds of years ago. What a site to be sure. So it would be a good guess that snow drifts were up to 12 feet if not more in places. Yes, it was the end of May!