Raincharm’s Weblog

Up and out the door.
Thought my first meeting was at 8 AM, but not until 9.
Grace of one hour to get some things done.
Then it was basically meetings here, meetings there.
Until lunch.

PIES galore.
Actually 6 of them.
2 Apple, 2 Pumpkin, 1 Pecan and 1 Lemon and 1 Peach Cobbler.

We held a raffle for 1 each of the apple and pumpkin. Selling tickets at $1 we raised around $50. The rest of the pies went through a silent auction. Total take – about $110. Woo-hoo!

Since many put the pies out to share, I am a little sugar overloaded.

Which may have been helpful after I arrived home. I left at 4:30, home by 5:30, and we jetted out before 6. On foot. Walked about 6-1/2 miles to watch the Seattle Sounders game. They did not lose. Unfortunately they did not win either. 0-0 tie. But still fun. And we got a ride home with some friends that sit near by.

Got to catch up on their kid’s pursuits. At 18 he is in Denmark for a month, dancing with their ballet. They are paying for this (the Danes). Then for the T-day- Christmas holiday the LA Ballet is using him in their Nutcracker ballet.

I am waiting until he is really famous and I can say I knew him when.

I try to think of interesting things that happened today.

If I go back far enough I remember the first day of SCHOOL traffic on the way to work. The 3 high schools within a mile of my office have been in class for almost a week. But today was the first day I got caught in the mess. And a driver (probably a newbie) at the front of the right turn (free if you can find a spot) queue that would not go. There are two lanes to turn in to. The left lane is the one that eventually turns to the first high school on the route. The right lane allows you to go on by (or into the MacDonalds). Turning into the near lane takes you into the right lane. Many students use this lane for a bit and then try to merge into the left. Or they go past the school and then turn around at the next light and go back. A lot of the time they use the right lane to jump the line. But on some days you just can’t get into the right lane at the corner, so you don’t have much choice. Today was that day, but the front car would not just go into the right lane. So we sat and waited through a couple of light cycles without moving an inch. I am sure they will learn, but really – I hope they would decide it is easier to just take the school bus.

The rest of the day – mostly meetings. Actually, mostly 1 meeting. With a smattering of other bits thrown in for good measure.

Got out around 6:45 – thinking Carl was off at a baseball game. As it turns out, he was home – wondering where I was. He called while I was on the road, but I dutifully ignored the ringing phone. Not only is it unsafe to talk on the phone while driving, in Washington it is illegal. $160 ticket – and a primary offense.

Once home – made a pie. One of the fundraisers being done for me by a few at work is to back pies, raffle a few and auction the others. Tomorrow at lunch. So I made an apple pie. Smells good. (If I do say so myself.)

Let’s see if I can remember what happened over the last several days.

Saturday: I just checked and my last post had my list for Saturday.
It all happened except putting in the zipper.
And we added some Christmas Shopping.

The walk ended up being more like 12 miles, but at a good pace. We walked from Safeco field, east – crossing the I-90 floating bridge, across Mercer Island to Luther Burbank Park, and then retraced our steps. I have put together a brief picture show – with a few of the high and low-lights from the walk.

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Walking across the bridge was a major item on the walk. At somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles each way, it took more than 1/2 hour to traverse each direction. It was, at the same time, a silent and noisy walk. Noise from the traffic made chatting impossible, so we were silent. Also single file. Many bicycles use the bridge, and they do not move slowly. We went through many parks, including the I-90 trail that we followed for much of the walk. It did not rain, although it was raining as we drove to the start/finish line.

I think the Mariners won, although I can’t swear that my memory is correct. When we arrived home Dennis and Anne were still up, but their grandkids were asleep (on the new blow-up bed).

Sunday – this was to be the day Ashlan went back to Vancouver (BC).
I knew she was not ready early, so I went for a walk. About 8-9 miles, with a group of like-minded women. Good to have a group to encourage you along when you would rather sleep in.

Dennis, Anne and the Grandkids were up and about. Playing with our myriad of toys, and packing for an overnight trip to Camano Island.

Ashlan was still not ready, and I still had the zipper on my list.The dress was repaired, and the zipper was actually harder to take out than to put back in.

Pretty soon everybody but Ashlan & I had left. Then Ashlan left – to go to a bookstore with a friend. As it turns out, Ashlan was not really ready to leave Sunday – so we did not.

Monday dawned early. And so did we. Up and out and to the north. The rain increased as the day wore on. We reached Vancouver in good time, and then set about figuring out what to do for lunch. The yam fries from a nearby bar sounded good, but it was a holiday, and before 11 AM. So it was off to Vera’s, a burger joint near the UBC campus. I think we were their first customers. We took our food back to Ashlan’s cute apartment part of a house.

I finally had to leave to drive south, so Ashlan could unpack in peace and wait for her friends to appear. (Her last summer assignment is to guest blog – I am still waiting.)

The drive was wet, and busier than the drive up. A few real slowdowns and a few accidents (rear enders). Back home by 3 PM, but the drive does take a toll. Lazy evening. And then back to the grind.

Today I managed to stay at work until 7:30 or so. There was a late meeting, payroll, and the promise of a day-long meeting tomorrow. When else can the actual work get done?

Well – it has arrived.
To finish up on my previous post, I did not get out the door until after 5 on Thursday (but my carpooler stayed as well), and until 6 something on Friday. I think I am making up for lost time.

But I should note that everybody else at home was otherwise engaged, and there was nobody waiting for me on the other end.

Today’s agenda:

• Work on trying to replace an invisible zipper.
  This apparently involves a different zipper foot that is found in my 50-60 year old sewing machine.
  [Do you know that any time I try to type “sewing” it comes out “sewer”. Muscle memory.]
• Pack for a walk and a baseball game.
  That would be light clothes and heavier clothes.
  It is supposed to get up to the high 60’s today, and maybe rain here and there. Great weather for walking, except the rain, but a little chilly for sitting still.
• Walk.
  Carl and I have planned 11+ miles.
  We are going to drive down to the stadium, park, and start from there.
  This will open up different areas than we usual trek.
  My current plan (thank you Rey) is to go east from the stadiums, across the I-90 floating bridge, to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island, and then back. The bridge itself is about 1.5 miles, and there are trails on either end. I was about to say I had not walked these before, but part of the 2007 3-day walk went this way.
• Baseball –
  See if the Mariners can manage to win one. (They did last night – 1-0 – over the equally anemic Indians)
  Or at least have some great plays.
• Home, to a few more visitors.
  We have had Dennis staying with us for the last few weeks.
  Today his wife and 2 grandchildren (8 & 10) will be arriving.
  We bought a bed (inflatable) to add to our ability to house folks.
  Ashlan took the trundle bed, and it has limited us to sleeping 6 in beds (us included).
  This will get us back up to 8, which is handy.
• Set up the inflatable bed.
  That should happen earlier in the list, but I forgot it earlier.
  That is why I make lists.

Hope your day goes well. Happy weekend.

My expected hours are 8 – 4:30.
Little girl has been away from work for 3 days. 
How has that impacted me?

Monday – Up and into the office by 7:30
I went to the Mariner’s game after work, and got a ride from my carpooler.
Time out the door ~4:45 – 5:00

Tuesday – Picked up by carpooler – in a few minutes after 8
I had a dentist appointment.
Time out the door ~2:40

Wednesday – Drove myself in. All 3 schools by my office are now in session. In by 7:40
Carpooler called to tell me of major traffic issues.
In the middle of some things anyway. Keep working.
Time out the door ~7:15

Generally, the feeling is my hours are going to be a little longer than they were when little one was impacting my comings and goings. But on the other hand, I miss the conversations we could have during the commute.

As I was sitting at the Mariners game last night, slightly bundled against the late inning chill, I was noting that the crowd was small – but could still be called a crowd. At almost 9 (7th inning) I started thinking about what I could get done at home later that evening.

When we arrived home (10:30-11) we turned on the MLB channel. Wanted to see the three memorable plays from the Ms game, with the benefit of replay. Now the Ms lost, so we weren’t reliving too much glory. The plays:

• Shortstop dive – flip to second for a force, throw to first for the double play. Really well done.
• Outfield error by center fielder, batter rounds second and almost to third when he realizes the runner in front is being sent back to third by the 3rd base coach, so he brakes and races back toward second, landing on the bag just before the pitcher arrives to catch the ball being thrown in from the outfield – the runner was called out. We did not agree with the call.
• Jose Lopez hits a pop-up to the infield. 2nd and 3rd set themselves and watch the ball, which lands untouched between them. Now, that was funny.

So, which highlights did I finally see – the first two. Confirmed the first, and did not confirm the second. The third? Nowhere to be seen. I am sure it will make the blooper reels for years to come. Also noted that some teams, that are in the race for the post season, appear to be drawing fewer fans than the Mariners. Don’t quite get it. Maybe it was the $2 minor league hot dogs last night (yes, I had one). Rey – it that a 10×1 or an 8×1 or what did you call them?

So this morning, fall has arrived in all of its wet glory. No scattered showers. This is refered to as a wall of water.
Maybe it is to appease those kids that have to start school today. [Seattle does not start until next Wednesday, but many of the area schools are starting this week.]

I notice that my time for blogging is all over the map clock. This morning’s blog is thanks to my car-pooler who called in groggy and running late.

Yesterday I did a formal training walk (one organized by someone and posted for any and all to join). The formal walks are especially good for the longer distances, when you might get bored, or be tempted to shorten. They are supportive, show me new places around this area that I have not seen before, and most of all – allow you to meet some really nice people.

Yesterdays walk came in at just under 16 miles, and had about 20 people. Many had walked 18 miles on Saturday and were really testing their current limits. But all-in-all it went well. Nobody got onto the sag-car. Not even the 6-month pregnant woman or the woman who had only done 10 miles maximum this year due to a hamstring injury. 

I reconnected with a few women I had spoken to before, and got to know a few more much better. As I have said before, I realize that I have no real problems in my life. There are annoyances and issues, but really am pretty lucky. One woman I met is recovering (well) from breast cancer and her husband departing on the day of her second to last chemo treatment. Talk about piling stressors on top of one another. She is viewing the walk as a likely cathartic event for her.

I fell asleep earlier than normal last night – didn’t even get to the crossword puzzle, or writing letters, or doing some work, or housework. I basically just fell asleep. Today I woke with the alarm, and was ready to get up – and could move right in to getting to work. This is because Ashlan is taking this last week off to play pack. I guess nobody told Carl because he was making her lunch this morning along with mine.

And since I am at work – time to start.

But that does not mean that we have slept. It only means that it has been a sleepy day.

We got up at the normal time (for work). And since it is a weekend, it must involve long walks.
So, instead of joining other walkers for the prescribed 18 miles today, I had Carl join me and we walked 11 miles.
I showed him some of the tricks I have learned about walking around the city. There are a few roads and waterways and railroad tracks that must be dealt with. If you walk a lot you learn the places that are available to get across and around.

Today I introduced him to the 41st Street pedestrian overpass to cross Aurora (Hwy 99). This is the sort of structure you can pass everyday, and not notice that it is there. Later we crossed the Helix pedestrian bridge over the railroad yard, that takes you to the north end of Myrtle Edwards park. (Really somewhere in the middle of a very long pedestrian/bikeway along the Puget Sound, north of downtown. The crossing allowed us to traverse a few miles next to the water, instead of through downtown streets. (I used a simple cut and paste at a try for a picture, so it may not actually publish.)

The walk ended, as many do, at Safeco Field. Home of the anemic Seattle Mariners. But with temperatures in the mid-60’s and the sun out, I was mostly comfortable. Comfortable enough to try to use Carl’s shoulder as a bed.

I was going to walk the 6-1/2 miles home, and get close to my 18. But I decided I was ready to take a break. Tomorrow is scheduled for 15-16 miles. I think that will be enough for the weekend.

Mish-mash pretty much describes me today.

I have been working on a problem that should not really be a problem, except that there are so many sources of data and different ways to slice and dice them. And when you use them in certain ways, it doesn’t always end up really matching the source from whence it came. And if was several months ago that the original data play began, remembering what you did exactly can be difficult.

And the day is interrupted by different things here and there, like lunch with your new boss (starting in October) and several other work-mates. Trying to make a reasonable impression, and just get to know him and his wife a bit better. The biggest issue at work right now is, “What are we going to do about what to call you guys.” You see, his name is Jay too. Now we have multiple John/Jon’s, Jim’s and James, 3 Mikes and a Jan and Janet. I think we might be able to tolerate two Jay’s.

So I figured out the inconsistency, and set about correcting the erroneous misleading table of data. But then of course the day ended before I could complete this task. So chances are I will have to reorient my brain when I look at it again.

Usually if I am in the middle of a muddle I will just stay at work until I can fight my way out of the woods. But, this was Ashlan’s last day, she had tickets to the game, it is a big crowd give-away day, and she had declared she was going to leave at 4:30 with or without me. (Of course if she left without me she would have to find a place to park, which would have lost all of the time spent waiting for me to finish … As it turns out I was ready to leave (even though I was in the middle of my muddle) before Ashlan. She was trying to be respectful and clean up her area before departing.

So we drove down to the mish-mash that is the traffic around Safeco Field on a big giveaway game night. And we kind of had to go twice. The first was a mere glancing blow at the field area, but we caromed off to go find the other car that had carried Carl and Jet to the stadium. In the car were Ashlan’s coat, dinner, mitt and other items. Then we took aim at the mass of vehicles and humanity that surrounded the stadium. As we paralleled the right field/1st base edge Ashlan finally decided it would be faster to walk than wait for me to actually reach the Will Call booth. (She was dropping a ticket for a friend.) I lost track of her before I passed the Right-field entrance line that looped around itself a few times, past Will Call and the Home Plate entrance (where I could not tell the line from the general mass of humanity), past the 3rd base side and then I sailed past the Left Field entrance heading to the Hwy 99 viaduct.

The Viaduct carries traffic through/past downtown without needing to go through all of the pesky traffic lights. And it does it with a view. Unfortunately, it was built on fill in the tide flats several decades ago, and threatens to fall with every temblor. It is scheduled for destruction. (Its removal will also open up views for many buildings of the Puget Sound.) The current plan is to replace the viaduct with a tunnel. The tunnel will continue the bypass of the downtown core, but without the view. Others say, “Just tear it down and let the traffic filter through downtown, or they will jump over to I-5 (and its gridlock).” I don’t think those people really understand that most people on the viaduct are passing town, not stopping, and adding that enormous number of cars to downtown is not going to help. Of course, the newish Seattle Mayor is a NO TUNNEL advocate. He softened his stance to get elected, but is working on ways to “slow” with an aim to “stop” the project. The viaduct will be torn down, and then we will have to WAIT until the slowing and stopping of the traffic finally speeds up the approval for the tunnel. Anyway … I am rambling.

Because my brain is full of mish and mash.

Not quite the whole story

Looking Good

I feel like a teenager again

My blue friend is happy too. (Not creepy at all.)