greg3d

It's been a while...

Looks like the last time I posted to this blog was when I was in Mexico in 2012. So here I am in Dallas, waiting for my flight back to Cancun. As usual with adventures like this, I'm with Mortimer, however this time with his wife, Batgirl. I left Seattle last night at midnight and flew to Dallas. Mortimer and Batgirl, had flown in earlier yesterday, so I was able to meet them at their hotel and get a couple of hours sleep. Our flight is delayed about an hour. We got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We had a leisurely lunch and are now just hanging out till the plane turns up. I've missed writing. Time to start up again.

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.

briefly

Union meeting tonight, not much of note there. At least it was short. Dinner with Mortimer, since we didn't do our usual Tuesday. Nala seems fine. She is just a finicky eater. She's bouncing around acting normal, so I guess I'm just paranoid. I'll still keep an eye on her. Speak of the little devil she just bounded in here and bounded back out. She seems to like to know where I am. She seems frisky tonight, in fact. Guess I'll go give her some attention and then head off to bed.

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.

and so it begins

It's recertification time for sponsors. I typed up the letter and printed out the certification forms and spent an hour at Kinko's making copies. Tomorrow begins the envelope stuffing. This is the last time I will have to do this, except for teaching my successor next January. One year left as Process Person.

Haven't heard a word from Mortimer since Friday. I did see a missed call on Saturday, but no message. Good sign. If he wasn't happy I think I would hear about it. Must be enjoying his new digs.

The house seemed rather empty tonight. Readjustment is needed. It's not like I was bored. I cooked dinner, straightened up a a bit, worked on a puzzle and got the abovementioned project started.

Got the furnace fixed. I noticed some dampness in the basement a few weeks ago. Just before I left on vacation when the bad weather started, a stream of water appeared by the chiminey going accross to the floor drain in the bathroom. I intially though the roof might be leaking, but it turned out to be a small pump that removes the condensate from the furnace had quit working. I called the dealership, and was quite impressed that they came out immediately. My diagnosis was correct and the service man fixed it on the spot. For $300, but oh well.

It's ten minutes to 10:00. I think I'm going to call it an early night.

Happy New Year

I hope the new year brings a fresh start to us all. I could use one.

It has been a difficult end to the year. Yesterday was Arthur's birthday. He would have been 51. It hit me very hard. Harder than I expected. I'm still saying goodbye.

Mortimer is moving out this weekend. He came to the conclusion it was time to get out on his own while I was in Florida. By the time I got here he had his plans made. I gave it my blessing and this week we have gone around getting the essentials he needs, like towels and bedclothes. He's excited, I'm relieved. I'm ready to try living alone again.

My friend Erin is going to start looking at condos. I think I'm going to tag along. I'm not sure if I will go that route, but it's worth investigating.

Tonight I'm going up to Seattle with Mortimer and a few others to see the fireworks. At least thats the plan. If it doesn't happen, I'm fine with that too. Bring in the new year quietly. We shall see.

down time

 I have a day off today. No real plans except to catch up with some of the unending Safety paperwork. Some volunteer work can turn into an unpaid part-time job.

Opera tomorrow night along with dinner with friends. Important thing to remember with this one: No intermission, so cut down on the liquids with dinner.

I put everything aside last night and Mortimer and I relaxed with a movie. I hadn't allowed myself to do that in a while. Been too obsessed with my backlog of sponsor recertifications, or just plain haven't been home. Or just plain depressed from the Apocalypse that has been going on around me.

 Mortimer got an interview at the restaurant he has his sights on. He has another application ready to go. Hopefully something will turn up soon so he can get started on finding his own place. It's been nice having him here, but I really need to get back to learning to live alone. I'm getting used to having someone around again and I don't think that's a good thing for me in the long run.

Still haven't bought my plane tickets for Tampa. Need to just make up my mind on my flights and go for it before the flights fill up. I'm toying with the idea of New York in February, but there is not anything of huge interest at the Met then. We will see how finances shake out and if my potential traveling companion is available.

Best get to work. As soon as Mortimer wakes up my chances of getting anything accomplished really go down.

Mortimer returns

He's back.

I'm going to upload another little video as soon as I get I chance. It's not complete because filming seems to eat up the battery quickly in the little digital camera. I haven't watched it yet to see if it's usable.

Mortimer has been in a rehab center for the last 5 months. I got his permission to post that after I said I hadn't written much about him, not knowing whether he would mind. He is proud of completeing the program, having gone there voluntarily and stayed the course voluntarily. 141 days. Quite an achievement. He took a wrong turn a couple of years ago but now he seems to be back on track. He is staying with me for a few days while he waits for an opening at a clean and sober house. He's job hunting and is planning to complete school. He has been taking classes over in Spokane and all his credits will transfer over here.

It was a full weekend. I picked him up at the train station at noon on Friday. It was my day off so we had a chance to talk and catch up on things. After my usual Friday night meeting, we joined ZB and KG at the movies. Saturday morning we took care of the front yard. It was getting overgrown, so he mowed the lawn and I weeded the flower bed. We went out for a bit so he could fill out some job applications then we visited his former guardian and Sisco the Mad Lab. He just about got licked to death.

It was a beautiful day Saturday so I grabbed the camera and we headed up to Mt. Rainier. It's a nice drive up and it wasn't too crowded. Maybe because it was late in the afternoon, entry to the park was free. After we got tired of walkling around we headed down the other side of the mountain and drove to Ellensburg to see John. He was free, fortunately, so the three of us went to dinner. WE got back to the house about midnight, pretty well beat.

Sunday I planted my bulbs in the front flower bed. I put enough in to stop traffic.

Also on Sunday was a digital broadcast of the last Broadway performance of Rent. Karate Girl joined us. In the play a character dies and leaves a partner behind. I've seen the play before and also the movie so I did not expect to react the way I did. I started bawling and couldn't stop till an hour after I got home. I had to have Mortimer drive. Arthur died two months ago Saturday. The anniversary got to me, I guess.

It's still hard sometimes, but for the most part I'm doing well. In the last couple off weeks, the lights have started to come back on. I didn't realize how many parts of me had shut down. I'm feeling more aware and functional and I'm starting to enjoy myself. I do still think about Arthur a lot.

fledglings

Mortimer left today for his new life in Spokane on the other side of the state. He is going into a six month program that will help him get started in life and he's thinking he will settle there. I will miss him, but I think it is the right thing for him. Zany Blue is also out on her own now, with a job and a relationship and her own apartment. Karate Girl is 90% fledged, living on her own while going to Jr College. She and Mortimer are 19 and ZB is 21. My Alateens have grown up.