greg3d

out and about in Seattle

Scott and I were supposed to spend the day up in Seattle geocaching, but the holiday eating caught up with him and he decided to spend the day enthroned, as it were. He instead encouraged me to go by myself, which is to say he kicked me out of the house. So, I made a day of it. First stop was the Rabbit, Rodent and Ferret House for some Timothy hay for the guinea pig. Next stop was Scarecrow Video where i indulged myself and loaded up on cheap used laserdiscs. Good haul of some unusual stuff, such as Pedro Amaldovar's Law of Desire and Akurosawa's Ran. Scott and I had started a geocache sometime ago and only got to the first of five caches. we lost the instructions for the second cache, so I got the coordinates and went tramping through the woods to find the first cache again. Fortuntely it was still there and complete. By then I was getting hungry so I stopped at Uwajimaya for some Asian cooking supplies and a quick lunch. I finished the day at the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park for some 3D photography.

Not a bad day's adventure.

at Universal Studios

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I'm on sensory overload.I don't think I have ever been on so many rollercoasters in one day, or on so many loud attractions. It was fun, but we did both the Studios park and Islands of Adventure in one day. We did the river ride about noon and here it is 7PM and I'm still not totally dry.

Some days are just like that

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It was a slow day at the lab till the thieves showed up

Firstly, I'm heading down to Tampa for Thanksgiving. First time I will have done Thanksgiving down there since 1985. It's about time. I'm taking Mortimer with me. He hasn't had a vacation in a while either. I have lots I want to do, just hope I have time for it all.

I haven't blogged about the mozzarella yet. Last Saturday I made up my mind to hang around the house and putter. I used to do cooking projects all the time a long time ago. I used to make sausage, I used to brew beer. I even made mead once. I kind of stopped doing it when we moved out here because for a long time I didn't have a decent kitchen and I got out of the habit. Besides, there was too much to do here outdoors. So Saturday I pulled out a book on cheesemaking I acquired a while ago, having had it in mind mind to do this quite some time and embarked on making my own mozzarella. It was not a rousing success, but it was fun. The recipe I chose took me all day and made a firm ball of cheese. The problem was that the recipe called for the ball to be soaked in brine and that made it too salty. Maybe some people like it that way. Maybe that's traditional. Aside from that it tasted like mozzarella. I might be able to use it on pizza if I cut down on the salt everywhere else. It is certainly worth trying again. Now you can buy fresh made mozzarella at the fancier groceries around here, so it only all about the fun of doing it.

So. It was a very slow, very dull day for me, and if Hebert reads this I'll catch hell, because he and Michelle were screaming busy. Anyway about 4 o'clock I'm crossing over to the trailer when Debbie, one of the operators jumps in an electric cart and starts to tear off. She sees me, slams on the brakes and yells to me to get in the cart, that she needs my help. Not having much else to do at the time I said yes and got in. After we were moving was when she told me there were thieves stealing scrap metal on the other side of the plant and that we were going to stop them. She said she felt better if the had a man along. I resisted the temptation to suggest we go look for one. So we go tearing across the plant, brazenly ignoring the 10 mile an hour speed limit, since it was an emergency. I expect the cart was doing about 15 mph, but that's neither here nor there. Sure enough there was a white van and three people tossing metal pipes and other scrap into it. Debbie pulls up in back of them and starts giving them hell. The police had been called and she was trying to keep them busy till they got there. They plead ignorance that they were doing anything wrong and started throwing the scrap back, then they jumped in the van and took off. The operators at the control center tried shutting the gates, but they managed to get away. Apparently these people have been seen stealing a number of times. We got their license plate number, so maybe the police can track them down.i think we would have been better off waiting. The police would probably have been there before they got the van loaded up. It didn't look like too dangerous a situation, but I suppose you never know. Well, that was my excitement for the week.

Vancouver, long time no see

Haven't been to Vancouver B.C. in 3 or 4 years. First time, of course, without Arthur. It's been almost a year, but the firsts still keep coming and are still hard. Everywhere I look, a place we stayed, a place we liked to eat, places we walked together. Still, I had fun. I can still do these things even though he's gone, and I can enjoy them. I just set out walking this morning, ended up at Canada Place. My feet were sore and it was hot as heck, so I went up to see what was playing at the IMAX. I was just in time to see Grand Canyon Adventure 3D. It was a good film. Very good 3D and beautiful cinematography. It was an interesting documentary on top of that. After quite a bit more walking around I stopped off at the hotel. I haven't mentioned Mortimer is here also, but I haven't seen much of him. He is running around having the adventures of a 20 year old, and I'm not about to even try to keep up with him. Our interests, on this trip at least, are wildly divergent. Anyway, after the break at the hotel, which was a shower and some TV (rare for me), I ventured out to an Indian restaurant I'd been to some years ago. It was still very good. As soon as I wrap this up, I'm heading to a movie theater across the street from the hotel, which is showing Jean Renoir's Rules of the Game. I've never seen it, but it's supposed to be one of the greatest fims ever made. Should be interesting. Tomorrow on the way home, we are going to stop in Everson and visit Peggy. I'd love to hang around here, but I would rather see Peggy.

exercise and other stuff

It's been a full day.

But I'll start with last night.  I stayed home (mostly) for a change and got to do a bit of cooking. I have had a Thai dish in mind for over a week, maybe it's been two, I think I bought the basil on my last Friday off. Anyway, I finally got around to it last night. Unfortunately the Thai basil, which was supposed to be the centerpiece, had turned to mush. No matter, it was still good without it. I got responsible and entered all the recertifications I've received into my database. Not quite a 20% return, but then I don't quite know how many I have left to send out. It's probably about a third of the ones I've mailed. Not too bad. I haave four or five new certifications I have to process, but I will make sure I get to those this weekend. Might even do them now after I finish writing. I was out of stamps, so after my computer session I drove to the post office, got the stamps and then went for a drive. Kind of didn't feel like going straight home, and it was a nice night so I just started driving. The drive took me through our old neighborhood and I took a look at a couple of the houses Arthur and I lived in when we first moved to Tacoma. They hadn't changed too much. One had good memories, one didn't really. I'm getting better because the memories didn't hurt like they did a few months ago. (I'm not over it yet, not by a long shot.)

Today was errands. Some banking. Still shifting funds and still dealing with some estate stuff. I got my hair cut. I got an estimate for some bumper damage my car sustained sometime ago. I don't feel like going into that story right now. I had to drive up to Kent to ahve it looked at and while I was there I stopped in at an old favorite -  Caveman Kitchens! Dragon Wheels and a pork sandwich. I'm not sure I've ever gotten anything else.

I finally made it to the Y. After lunch settle a bit, I went by the neighborhood Y but it was jammed. It's a family center and school was out today, so I drove to the downtown center. That one is adults only and smaller and I think much nicer. I think I will start going there from now on. It's on my way home from work and it's really not far from home so there really is no reason why I can't get back in the habit. Some treadmill, some stationary bike. It felt good.

I think I'll do those applications. I'll see if Erin is available for coffee later, and then it's home group night. Haven't been there in about a month.

foggy night

It's foggy out side. Thiker than I've seen it in a long time. Rather treacherous to drive through. I needed a meeting, though so I ventured out. It's not so much I needed it because I haven't been to my regular meetings, what with one thing or another. More like many things or another.

Saturday I collected the troops at 10AM. Most of them overslept. Not me. I just wasted too much time. In any case we got off to a bit of a late start, but traffic wasn't bad so we got there only 10 minutes or so late. There is no need to go into the details of the committee meeting, let it suffice to say that I am seeing such growth in those young people. It's not a game. They are serious about what they are doing and they are trying to do they best they can. They understand what they are doing. It's remarkable.

I noticed a movie on our hosts bookshelf it was a very rare copy of Disney's Song Of The South. It's out of print and it hasn't been release in many years. I had never seen it. After we were done with business I mentioned it, and the kids were interested, so we watched it. It's considered dated and racist, but I didn't see it that way. It was actually a very charming movie.

We left shortly afterward, but the kids weren't done with me yet. They decided they wanted to go rollerskating. (No ice skating available.) Don't ask me what I was thinking, but I agreed to it. I managed to go for two hours without breaking anything. In fact, I only fell once. Staying uprigth was an achievement, even though I never did get up much speed. Wish I had a video. I'm sure it was quite amusing to bystanders. I finally got everyone distributed home about 10PM. I spent 12 hours with Alateens and lived. That's an accomplishment.

Yesterday was a house work day. Mortimer came over and packed up some more of his stuff and helped me clean. I decided I would take the time to do some cooking to put away for later in the week. I continued that today. I now have enough dinners to last me a couple of weeks.

Today was a pretty full day also. Started off with coffee with Erin, cleaned out a closet, cooked a couple of dishes, did some photography projects and finished off with a meeting. Not a bad end to the weekend. Back to work tomorrow, but it's a four day week. Busy one too, so don't be surprised if you don't hear much out of me. Alateen tomorrow. Symphony with Peggy and Susan on Wednesday, Opera with Ron on Friday. Al-Anon workshop on Saturday with the teens. Total collapse on Sunday.

relaxing weekend

Three day weekend. Work tomorrow then off on Tuesday for Veteran's Day. I'm conserving vacation or I would have taken Monday off.

Friday evening was dinner and opera with Arlene. Dinner and company was wonderful, opera was so-so. I'm being generous to the singers since they were quite good. The sets were cardboard and the conducting was quite unimaginitive.Whatever.

Saturday I returned to the camera club after a long absence> It became a reuinion when Barry and Rabih turned up. Old friends I hadn't seen in several years. We have tentative plans for a weekend before I head to Florida. It was wonderful to see them again.

Saturday night was a birthday party. One of my friends turned 70 and her family gave her a surprise party.There was a nice buffet at the Elks Club and good times with friends.

I've started shopping for a new washer and dryer. I think we brought them with us from Florida 22 years ago, but it's possible we bought them here. In any case, they are 20 something years old. Still working, but they use a lot of water and energy. I can get smaller more efficient units. A local appliance dealer is having a special sale Wednesday night so I will see if a can get a good deal. Also thinking about a new computer as this one is having problems.

I have to appear in probate court on Wednesday. Usually the attorneys can just file the paperwork anc it's all rubber stamped, but in this case the court said I was needed in person. The attorney is not sure why. I'm not too nervous about it, but I would like to get all this settled. The main thing is to get the house into my name. At least the car was taken care of without much fuss.

Mortimer is off with friends. I have some quiet time at home. Sounds like a movie is in order.

Halloween weekend

It wasn't a busy Halloween this year. We only had about a dozen kids. Down the street in the Proctor District there was a big festival, so I think that siphoned off a lot of kids. By 9PM the trick or treaters were done, so we settled in the basement and watched Halloween movies till 2AM. Saturday was really rainy, so we just hunkered down. I did go to a meeting in the morning and was invited out to a late breakfast, which was an unexpected pleasure. Didn't really do much else. watched another movie. I think I did some chores, but I really don't remember. One thing I accomplished this weekend was to prepare some 3D images for projection. Camera Club is next weekend, so now I have something to contribute. Sunday we went up to Seattle just for teh heck of it. We walked around downtown and through the market. We ended up at Seattle Center with the idea of seeing the Dark Knight at the IMAX. We were too early as they were showing Batman Begins first. We thought about it a minute and decided to see both. 5 hours of Batman on the big screen is pretty grueling. It's also hard on the ears. Both movies are LOUD. It was fun though. It was the last showing of Dark Knight, so we were just in time.

Thank God the election is tomorrow. I've had enough of politics for a while. I voted absentee a week ago.