Raincharm’s Weblog

Especially when it means you are not working.

One last late night at work, and it is time to switch gears.
Of course not completely, I have some review work to do – but it is different.

We were both in the house, at the same time, on a weekend, with only a few errands to run. And, the temperature has dropped rather precipitously. We may have snow tomorrow. Ashlan reported 2″ in Vancouver, and the cold air is moving south.

So we decided it was time to go through the pile of various cold weather stuff that is piled in our staircase entry (really). Several years ago we bought an open cage metal drawer thing with four levels – one level for each person. Everybody was supposed to put their mittens, gloves, hats, etc in their drawer so they could be retrieved as needed. It worked, more or less. But in recent years it has become rather full, and not so organized.

I was trying to find gloves for Carl and decided it was time to just empty it out, pick through things and put back in things that were actually still in use. Or at least reasonably likely to be used.

We found lots of odd mittens and gloves, many with holes or other issues that had relegated them to the unusable status. Now, why they were not thrown away a long time ago? Who can say. So we ended up with 1 bag of trash, a bag that went down to the winter storage area (for pulling out if we actually get that cold, or need to share with others), a few items to the give-away box, and an organized amount of scarves, gloves and hats that got returned to the drawers.

We also found two ski-passes. Ashlan’s from 2002-03, and Rey’s from 2000. Cute pictures.

So our stair area is getting cleaner. We went through the jackets that were hung on the pegs as well. I don’t know that any got thrown out, but some were relegated to give-away and all but a few to the closet.

Next step up is full of odds and ends kind of papers. That may meet scrutiny this afternoon.

So this is the cleaning that really makes a difference – even in a small area. But it sure feels good, and makes you wonder what took you so long to get to it.

Oh yeah, 60 hour work weeks.

Dave Niehaus, Seattle Mariner broadcast announcer from their first game in 1977 died last week.
He was 75. There have been pages of memories provided through the newspaper, an open house at the stadium, and countless TV bits and pieces. They even replayed one famous 1995 game on TV and radio.

Yesterday, Mr. Niehaus’ family held their private service to bid him farewell.
From a friend who works at the funeral home I was provided a copy of a poem read.
It is based on a poem attributed to Mary Elizabeth Frye

In Loving Memory of:
Dave Niehaus

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am an echo in home run calls.
I am the flash of white on a well struck ball.
I am the sunlight on the outfield grass.
I am the powerful autumn home run blast.
When you jump up to a called steeerike three
I am there, yes you know me.
I am the sound of the broom after a three game sweep
Swung on and belted; I am the tears on your cheek.
Rye bread and mustard, salami abound
I am high above looking down.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. “My O My!”

Flintoft’s Issaquah Funeral Home

This may only resonate with the Seattle faithful, but next year is going to be very different.
Two of the 1995 calls.

Now the left hander ready, branding iron hot, the 1-2 pitch….”K” inserted! It’s over! Right over the heart of the plate! Randy looks to the skies that is covered by the dome and bedlam! As the Mariners now erupt! 19 long years of frustration is over!

—Calling the final out against the California Angels in the one-game AL West playoff in 1995.

Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior’s speed. The stretch… and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martínez swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY’RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE … LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON’T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY, OH MY!

—Calling the winning hit by Edgar Martínez, which scored Joey Cora and Ken Griffey, Jr. to win the 1995 American League Division Series in the 5th and final game. (Over the Yankees)

Off of the blog that is.

The days have been split into Work – More or Less

• Thursday November 11th – Veterans Day
  But at work we had a Retreat with our Board
  Presented one of my large, but not big-big projects.
  It went fairly well. I got my flow charts to look reasonably good, but not animated.
• Friday November 12th
  Regular work, and should have accomplished more than I did.
  I was in the, “recovery from presentation low period”
  Left work within an hour of my actual work hours
• Saturday November 13th
  Intended to work.
  Did not give myself “permission” to not work, but did not work.
  This meant that I had a guilty feeling as I read the last week of newspapers, took care of filing (home), and watched a little TV (Harry Potter)
  Also had a soccer game, in the rain.
  Went out after the game to socialize.
• Sunday November 14th
  Read the Sunday paper (same day as it arrived, a recent record)
  Finally got to some of that work – reviewing the Big Big Project in its current format
  We are presenting to the Board tomorrow, so I really should give it a look.
  Found some little things and maybe some bigger things in the final financial chapter.
  Not my strong suit, so will need to chat with the financial folks tomorrow.

Carl was gone for the weekend to celebrate a 50th of a friend in Eugene.
I would post a picture or two, but he did not take any.
But he is back safely and soundly, so now I must spend some time with him.

Happy

The Big Big Project

Sad

Dave Niehaus: 1935 - 2010

Today my drive to work started slowly.
Weather – scrape, it’s cold outside. And I could not find my scraper in the car. I did not attempt an all out search as the ice was thin and my squeegee did the job.

To the freeway, only to find a backup on the entrance ramp. This slowness continued onto the Ship Canal bridge (in the brilliant morning sunlight), and then onto SR 520 (also a freeway – that is until they start tolling next spring).

On SR 520 one of the new signs they have been erecting was lit up, “Smart Traffic starting Tuesday”
I read this while I moved through the slow-down, in the brilliant sunshine. The Smart Traffic piece is a series of signs along the freeways that provide information on what is happening up ahead. It is supposed to allow you to make informed decisions about choosing exits, alternative routes, and what speed you might choose to drive (if you know it slows down just around the corner).

The slow down was not caused by the newly informative sign.
It was is caused by an Eagle located further out along 520, sitting on a sculpture adjacent to the bridge.

I am curious about what are the smart signs going to say about wildlife on and along the freeway?

“Slow down – eagle on the left”
“Caution, the Mountain is out ahead”
“Beware, deer backup at the gate”

So – yesterday I worked.
Except when I was in the kitchen.
In the kitchen I put away groceries, made lunch and cooked dinner.

Carl had shopped, and got some coffee, which he ground at the store.
It shaves off several minutes to have the coffee already ground, and we go through it pretty quickly, so it does not get stale. (Seattlites, and not coffee snobs – quite.)

This morning I was starting to make coffee, and asked Carl where the coffee scoop was.
It is normally in the jar that we keep the ground coffee in.
He  said, “I don’t know, didn’t you put the coffee in the jar yesterday?”

Well, yes I had.
And then I recalled I just poured it in without thinking about the scoop.
And there it was at the bottom of the jar, under most of the coffee.
I was able to use a fork to retrieve it, and got the coffee made.

And the day has now begun.

I sent off two e-mails this evening.
One had my final chapter to complete and additions to a section in a separate chapter.

The second had updates to information about each of our wells.
Unfortunately my access to pump and motor information was limited, so I could not call these absolutely complete, but they were as complete as I could get them.

And so my BIG PROJECT is off to press, with a few known corrections to be made.
And while it feels “done” for the moment, I have to put together a powerpoint presentation for next Monday, so it will barely be a quiet day or two.

So, tomorrow I get to work on a slightly smaller (shorter) project with a new program.
It involves flow charts, so it could be fun. But the software we are using to create the flow charts is new (yes I can do them in Word, Powerpoint), so it could have some frustrating moments.  Then there is the whole budget thing …. and the annexation public hearing to get the word out on …

Well that’s whats on my mind.
But I am really happy because :

I sent two e-mails out today and shifted a big burden to a new phase.

And I got to video chat with my girl for about an hour.

But it is getting closer.

I am hopeful that sometime tomorrow I will push the “Send” button and clear it off my desk.
Until the next question.

But at least it will be responding, not creating.

Amoung the other things I do at work, I participated in a group that put together a team-building / retirement party. Our boss is leaving after almost 30 years. We have hired the new boss. Our old boss really didn’t want a big fal-de-ral, and we wanted to have as many of the District employees participate. 30 years is a long time, so you want it to be worthy. But we are a public, government agency, so we can’t just throw a bunch of money at stuff. We put together a team-building exercise – to get some HR funding (a small amount), and then got donations.

And – it went great.

We went to the Museum of Flight.
This being Boeing country, there is a lot of history and they have a lot of planes.

Museum of Flight

Bus ride there, scavenger hunt, paper airplane contest, lunch, passing of the plunger (sewer work you know), and general getting to know each other a bit better.

I am actually proud of this effort. The fact that eight of us pulled it off without everybody knowing where we were going or what we were doing, and that people really seemed to enjoy themselves. But most of all – we have 52 employees, and 50 participated.

50 emplyoees, and a sunny day in Seattle - priceless

I actually just feel really satisfied right now. And exhausted.

Which means that it is Halloween today.
It was a gorgeous day in Seattle today.
It was supposed to be rainy on and off, but it was sunny from the get go.

When you are making costumes for your kids in Seattle, rain/weather proofing and warmth are always considerations. But today, just a little warmth, and that was all that was necessary.

For us, we did not hang around the neighborhood to greet our 0-10  trick-or-treaters.
We went to the Sounders game.

This was the Sounders playoff game in Seattle, against the 1st seeded LA Galaxy.
Can you say Beckham and Donovan and Buddle and the biggest center back I have seen in a while. It was an end to end game.
The Sounders scored in the first minute! But then they called it back on offsides.
In the end they came up on the short end of a 0-1 score.

Donovan (10) and Beckham (23)

But wait, this is really just the first half of a game of two cities.
They play a game in each city, and the aggregate score decides the winner.

Beckham (from the front, I usually only get his backside) and Sanna Nyassi

The game ended at about 7 PM.
So we moseyed across the street to a bar called Sluggers, to check up on the World Series.
It was the 6th inning, and we watched until the end of the 7th.

We had parked at the Seattle Center, north end of downtown.
Qwest Field is in SoDo, South of Downtown.
So we had a bit of a walk, basically uphill.
We put a good pace to it and got the the car about 45 minutes after we left the bar.
There were a few slightly shady areas to cross, but the people that we met up with were at least polite when we turned down their requests for money. One even told me that I did not need to be sorry for the circumstance he had put himself into.

We listened to the last bit of the ninth on the radio, and the game ended as we arrived home.