![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
'Tis the season...
Dec. 3rd, 2017 10:42 amThe week before a concert is always a little over-the-top stress-wise, but also fun as well. This year, the "hell week" rehearsals were scheduled a full week in advance of the first concert due to availability of the venue. In addition, LEAGUE is starting the Lambert House supplies drive again, which means I need to physically visit the office to make sure the collection bins are cleaned out.
Monday: Work went OK, but it appears no one put anything in the collection boxes Thanksgiving week. I had a nice chat with bearded Matt from Cricket and met my new recurring cube-neighbor, Josh. I also spotted the big cub again on his way to the coffee maker. After work I drove to Ash Way Park and Ride and caught the 512 to Benaroya for tech rehearsal. At the bus stop I spotted a cute ginger-brown cub wearing a fur hat with a Russian logo on it and a long cloth coat. A blondish cubby dude with no face fur, wearing cargo shorts and a black hoodie with "Washington Baritones" on the back in yellow sat down to my left. I asked briefly if he was a brass player or a singer, and he confirmed that "baritone" refers to the brass instrument and not the vocal part. Both cubs boarded the same bus as me, and left at 45th Street/UW. I continued on to Seneca Street so I could stop by the University Street tunnel station to top up my ORCA. Tech rehearsal went amazingly well and we were done before 10:30. I rode home with Neil as usual.
Tuesday: Worked from home and bused it to the Starbucks on Olive for a retreat wrap-up meeting. The bus was fairly empty leaving South Everett, with only 4 passengers including me. At Starbucks was a hot bear barista who reminds me of Aaron "A-Rod" from the Bearatones, as well as a cute otter-pup barista with a thick black beard, black-and-white striped shirt and black toque who reminded me of Waldo but in monochrome. The meeting went well, with a lively discussion of what worked and what didn't. Afterwards I had dinner at the Blue Stone Korean restaurant across the street. I had beef yakisoba with a couple small cups of kimchi. At the table of four next to me, there was a tall dude who just joined the Coast Guard and spent the summer off the Aleutian islands with the Deadliest Catch boats. As I reminded Gary, "Trust the gorgeous fisherman..." From the restaurant I hoofed it up the hill to Capitol Hill Station, passing CC's on the way which looked fairly dead, but it was early on a Tuesday so that could be expected. On the way down to the platform I spotted a few cute bears ascending the escalators, including a fairly young, big bear with lots of ink. Once I reached the platform I spotted a hot ginger musclebear with a thick beard, a ring in his nose, Old Navy lady glasses, a tank top with no jacket, and huge furry arms with impressive ink on his left shoulder. I ended up taking the seat behind him on the train and noticed the heavy silver chain around his neck. I was going to compliment him on his ink but he had his pink earbuds firmly planted. I think it may have been Tank from Dylan's (noodlesandbeef) crew. We both left the train at International District and walked in opposite directions. From Union Station I rode a fairly packed 512 with a few standees. Once the train cleared out a bit I noticed a sleepy bear with ginger-blond hair and beard at the other end of the back bench, who looked like he may be related to Art from our neighborhood association (at 40ish that would be either his son or kid brother).
Wednesday: Drove in to the office again and found the boxes still empty. After work I decided to bus it downtown for our extra music rehearsal. Traffic was insane, even though I'd been routed off the freeways and onto back roads. As it happened, the south end of Ash Way was closed due to flooding so I had to detour around, but I still made it to the park and ride at a reasonable time. An otter-pup I believe I'd seen before, in a pink hoodie with sneakers and a backpack to match, sat opposite the back door. Rehearsal went well and I ended up riding home with Neil.
Thursday: Uneventful work-from-home day. After work I pretty much vegetated and watched football and hockey with Gary.
Friday: The plan was to pack my tux and other costume materials in the car, drive in to the office, and then drive to Benaroya for a change. Once more the collection box was empty in my building so I didn't bother checking the others. We had a very productive LEAGUE board meeting just before I left for Benaroya Hall. On the way south, I noticed I was having mild but persistent chest pain, accompanied by shortness of breath, tingling in the fingers of both hands, and soreness in the neck. After hearing of one chorus member having a mild heart attack a couple of weeks ago and remembering my friend Cary who dropped dead on the way to dress rehearsal at Benaroya in 2009, I decided to take no chances and, when I arrived at the Madison Street exit, took a right instead of a left and checked myself in to the emergency room at Swedish Hospital. I texted Gary and he happened to be on his way downtown and arrived soon after. The medical professionals were all very cute, especially nurse Mo (who also has a way with getting IVs started correctly the first time) and EKG tech Justin. Blood tests, a chest X-ray, and a CT scan all proved negative for cardiac issues, although the EKG showed some odd results. It sounds like I just had a set of unrelated symptoms and was just frightened out of my wits by the coincidences. Once I was released from the ER, Gary drove us to Shari's in Lynnwood for a late dinner, and by then I was feeling well enough to drive home from South Everett where Gary had parked.
Yesterday: Gary had fixed a bowl of whole-berry cranberry sauce the day before, and I put on a tray of green bean casserole for the Northwest Bears holiday potluck. While I was cooking, Gary did the shopping and picked up a couple of white elephant gifts and some Toys for Tots at Fred Meyer. They had an electric can opener and a toaster for less than $10 each. I wrapped the gifts and we headed downtown by bus once more. We had a decent turnout and met a young bear named Patrick from Missouri who is a biochemist starting a new job at UW. After dinner and the gift exchange, Chuck and Bobby from Poulsbo arrived and we had a nice conversation for about an hour before we had to go. On the 11 bus downtown, a young and cute, but very drunk, sk8r dude wanted to give everyone high fives and was miffed when no one would raise a hand to receive one. I decided to humor him. When he left the bus the cute couple opposite me and beside where he sat were laughing and shaking their heads. Since we'd just missed a 512, we caught the train from Westlake to ID station and took the next one from Union Station.
Today is planned for laundry, football, and Christmas decorating.
Monday: Work went OK, but it appears no one put anything in the collection boxes Thanksgiving week. I had a nice chat with bearded Matt from Cricket and met my new recurring cube-neighbor, Josh. I also spotted the big cub again on his way to the coffee maker. After work I drove to Ash Way Park and Ride and caught the 512 to Benaroya for tech rehearsal. At the bus stop I spotted a cute ginger-brown cub wearing a fur hat with a Russian logo on it and a long cloth coat. A blondish cubby dude with no face fur, wearing cargo shorts and a black hoodie with "Washington Baritones" on the back in yellow sat down to my left. I asked briefly if he was a brass player or a singer, and he confirmed that "baritone" refers to the brass instrument and not the vocal part. Both cubs boarded the same bus as me, and left at 45th Street/UW. I continued on to Seneca Street so I could stop by the University Street tunnel station to top up my ORCA. Tech rehearsal went amazingly well and we were done before 10:30. I rode home with Neil as usual.
Tuesday: Worked from home and bused it to the Starbucks on Olive for a retreat wrap-up meeting. The bus was fairly empty leaving South Everett, with only 4 passengers including me. At Starbucks was a hot bear barista who reminds me of Aaron "A-Rod" from the Bearatones, as well as a cute otter-pup barista with a thick black beard, black-and-white striped shirt and black toque who reminded me of Waldo but in monochrome. The meeting went well, with a lively discussion of what worked and what didn't. Afterwards I had dinner at the Blue Stone Korean restaurant across the street. I had beef yakisoba with a couple small cups of kimchi. At the table of four next to me, there was a tall dude who just joined the Coast Guard and spent the summer off the Aleutian islands with the Deadliest Catch boats. As I reminded Gary, "Trust the gorgeous fisherman..." From the restaurant I hoofed it up the hill to Capitol Hill Station, passing CC's on the way which looked fairly dead, but it was early on a Tuesday so that could be expected. On the way down to the platform I spotted a few cute bears ascending the escalators, including a fairly young, big bear with lots of ink. Once I reached the platform I spotted a hot ginger musclebear with a thick beard, a ring in his nose, Old Navy lady glasses, a tank top with no jacket, and huge furry arms with impressive ink on his left shoulder. I ended up taking the seat behind him on the train and noticed the heavy silver chain around his neck. I was going to compliment him on his ink but he had his pink earbuds firmly planted. I think it may have been Tank from Dylan's (noodlesandbeef) crew. We both left the train at International District and walked in opposite directions. From Union Station I rode a fairly packed 512 with a few standees. Once the train cleared out a bit I noticed a sleepy bear with ginger-blond hair and beard at the other end of the back bench, who looked like he may be related to Art from our neighborhood association (at 40ish that would be either his son or kid brother).
Wednesday: Drove in to the office again and found the boxes still empty. After work I decided to bus it downtown for our extra music rehearsal. Traffic was insane, even though I'd been routed off the freeways and onto back roads. As it happened, the south end of Ash Way was closed due to flooding so I had to detour around, but I still made it to the park and ride at a reasonable time. An otter-pup I believe I'd seen before, in a pink hoodie with sneakers and a backpack to match, sat opposite the back door. Rehearsal went well and I ended up riding home with Neil.
Thursday: Uneventful work-from-home day. After work I pretty much vegetated and watched football and hockey with Gary.
Friday: The plan was to pack my tux and other costume materials in the car, drive in to the office, and then drive to Benaroya for a change. Once more the collection box was empty in my building so I didn't bother checking the others. We had a very productive LEAGUE board meeting just before I left for Benaroya Hall. On the way south, I noticed I was having mild but persistent chest pain, accompanied by shortness of breath, tingling in the fingers of both hands, and soreness in the neck. After hearing of one chorus member having a mild heart attack a couple of weeks ago and remembering my friend Cary who dropped dead on the way to dress rehearsal at Benaroya in 2009, I decided to take no chances and, when I arrived at the Madison Street exit, took a right instead of a left and checked myself in to the emergency room at Swedish Hospital. I texted Gary and he happened to be on his way downtown and arrived soon after. The medical professionals were all very cute, especially nurse Mo (who also has a way with getting IVs started correctly the first time) and EKG tech Justin. Blood tests, a chest X-ray, and a CT scan all proved negative for cardiac issues, although the EKG showed some odd results. It sounds like I just had a set of unrelated symptoms and was just frightened out of my wits by the coincidences. Once I was released from the ER, Gary drove us to Shari's in Lynnwood for a late dinner, and by then I was feeling well enough to drive home from South Everett where Gary had parked.
Yesterday: Gary had fixed a bowl of whole-berry cranberry sauce the day before, and I put on a tray of green bean casserole for the Northwest Bears holiday potluck. While I was cooking, Gary did the shopping and picked up a couple of white elephant gifts and some Toys for Tots at Fred Meyer. They had an electric can opener and a toaster for less than $10 each. I wrapped the gifts and we headed downtown by bus once more. We had a decent turnout and met a young bear named Patrick from Missouri who is a biochemist starting a new job at UW. After dinner and the gift exchange, Chuck and Bobby from Poulsbo arrived and we had a nice conversation for about an hour before we had to go. On the 11 bus downtown, a young and cute, but very drunk, sk8r dude wanted to give everyone high fives and was miffed when no one would raise a hand to receive one. I decided to humor him. When he left the bus the cute couple opposite me and beside where he sat were laughing and shaking their heads. Since we'd just missed a 512, we caught the train from Westlake to ID station and took the next one from Union Station.
Today is planned for laundry, football, and Christmas decorating.