A Day Like All Days

SATURDAY

Woke up a little early, around quarter to seven, to use the bathroom. I took my medicine but decided to go back to bed while Gary got his shower. Once he was done, I showered quickly and noticed my back hurt while I was in there. We headed downstairs for breakfast and I noticed a cute ginger-blond bear in a hoodie, jogging pants and sandals.

Afterwards we returned to the room and decided not to do the Music Hall tour because of my aching back. Instead, we drove to the Banks garage and caught the streetcar to Findlay Market. As we boarded we were immediately asked to show our tickets to the somewhat bearish fare enforcement officer. After a few pictures we hopped back on the streetcar to Washington Park opposite Music Hall. Gary walked over to the dog park and a medium-sized dog started playing with him. We got some pictures of Memorial Hall and Music Hall before my battery died. When we got back to the streetcar station, a nice-looking young dude with a dark, trim beard asked if the streetcar was free this week. We said no and he bought tickets for himself and the lady with the Hudy Delight ball cap. Once we were on board I spotted a cute daddycub playing with his small son opposite us.

The bearded dude and Hudy Delight lady left the streetcar at the same stop with us, and when we got lunch at the Jefferson Social they were seated at the bar. We'd eaten there once before when we were in town for Labor Day weekend. The bartender had a long, thick, blondish beard. I had a burrito bowl and Gary had a burger, and we split an order of churros. Outside, a homeless man with a thick brown beard re-adjusted his wardrobe against the cold, adding a blue hoodie from his backpack between his red plaid shirt and outer jacket. We drove back to the hotel without incident.

Back at the room, we found the housekeeper hadn't been in to clean up, but I needed to charge my phone and Gary needed to sleep, so we put out the Do Not Disturb sign. We got up about 6 and left for Dad's, arriving at 6:45. We sat with Dad and watched the end of the Cotton Bowl. On the way out, we crossed paths with one of the nurses, who took one look at us in our leather jackets and said, "I wouldn't want to mess with you guys!" We all chuckled at that. We hopped in the car and headed for another Frisch's Big Boy location for dinner. At the table next to us, one of the ladies mentioned that she had been driving school buses for 41 years and had no intention of retiring anytime soon.

When we got back to the hotel we had a slightly awkward conversation with the desk clerk before returning to the room and turning on the Orange Bowl. I was feeling a little queasy and ended up running to sit on the toilet before calling it a night.

CHRISTMAS EVE and CHRISTMAS DAY

We took the usual route to the airport, starting with the Everett Transit 8, Sound Transit 512, and Link light rail. The trip was unremarkable except for how few people were on the train. There was essentially no line at security so we went through in less than 10 minutes.

Dinner at the Seattle Tap Room was nice; I had a burger and fries, Gary had a turkey sandwich, and we each had an Angry Orchard Rosé. The cider is made from naturally red-fleshed apples and is somewhat sweeter than their usual variety. Our waiter, a kinda cute young otter-pup with a scraggly beard, suggested we might like a shot of liquor with our cider, but I declined based on past experience with Angry Balls (a shot of Fireball cinnamon whiskey in a pint of cider). After tasting the cider I thought it would be ruined by the whiskey, which opinion was shared by a couple of our friends from the Fireplace Bears on Facebook. We made our way to our gate nearby, and while our phones were charging, I picked up cough drops, a soda and a copy of Rolling Stone. As we waited, a particular young dude caught my eye as he was taking off a heavy outer shirt revealing a black T-shirt stretched out over his broad shoulders. He spent some time trying to stow the other shirt among the bags at his feet. I thought it curious that he was standing in front of the ladies' room; obviously he was waiting for someone.

Because I'd spent some miles on upgraded seats, we got to board just after first class and VIPs. The chief flight attendant was a tall young bear, with a thick but trim beard, named Amir. All the flight attendants seemed to know the two young dudes, one seated opposite me and the other in front of him, on the aisle. Amir in particular was very friendly with them. We were delayed briefly after pulling back from the gate but took off without incident. I got a little sleep on the flight with the help of the relaxing music channel. When we landed we had to wait a few minutes for paramedics to check on someone in the far back of the plane before we could disembark; it was the mother of a family whose father was a tall strapping dude. It took me a little longer than I wanted to collect my things and leave the plane, but I managed.

Rather than taking the train, we ended up walking through the tunnel from concourse A to concourse C via the people mover, and noticed a rain forest scene in the first tunnel and an Atlanta history exhibit in the second. We had breakfast croissant sandwiches at Atlanta Bread, and then walked to the end of the concourse to our gate for the second leg of the flight to Cincy. A military dude in civilian clothes (guessing by his backpack and the ink on his arms), his wife and their cat sat opposite us. Down the row from them was a huge balding bear with a long, thick beard in a gradient from dark brown at the roots to platinum blond at the tip, in a black Carhartt jacket with hi-vis stripes, jeans and boots.

On the flight we sat in front of a couple guys who were apparently off-duty pilots, since our very bearish co-pilot came back to chat with them. Also, a couple rows in front of Gary sat a cute young bear with a trim beard and a thick neck, wearing a Nike ball cap in black and white. I slept most of the hour-long flight. Our flight path took us just west of the College of Mt. St. Joseph just before landing.

We made our way through the airport to baggage claim and on to the Hertz lot via shuttle bus. Of the full-sized cars on offer, I first tried a Nissan Altima but had trouble finding the controls for the trunk and the tilt steering wheel, so I decided to skip that vehicle and pick up a Ford Escape which is a small SUV like our VUE.

From the airport we drove directly to Erin and J's for the family Christmas party, because it was closer to the airport and Colleen and Rab were already en route with Dad, the gifts and most of the food. Of course, Colleen forgot to inform Erin and J we were coming, so it came as a bit of a surprise when we arrived and J answered the doorbell. Our family tradition has been to have Italian food for Christmas dinner: spaghetti with meatballs and sausage in red sauce, lasagna and garlic bread. This started 39 years ago when we weren't sure when Colleen's firstborn would arrive (as it happened, Steve was born late on Christmas Day, minutes before midnight) and so an elaborate turkey with all the trimmings was out of the question. Eventually Colleen, Rab, and Dad arrived and we loaded the gifts and food into the house. Soon after, Matt and Tristan arrived and we had a really nice conversation with Tristan over dinner. Afterwards we tried a new form of Stealing Santa that involved rolling dice and passing wrapped gifts around without opening them, but that didn't work out, so we went back to the traditional Stealing Santa. Matt and Len got the waterproof Bluetooth speaker and FM radio combos we contributed, while Gary got a set of CorningWare and I got an Amazon Fire mini-tablet for reading e-books.

After a few rounds of goodbyes we headed to the hotel with a stop at Walgreens for some needed supplies. We settled in to watch Jeopardy! and Gary was fast asleep by the time the game was over. I stayed up briefly to finish my journal and follow "Gary's son" (LeBron James) as his Lakers squared off against Golden State (Warriors... come out to play-yay...). I fell asleep about nine.

This weekend gmjambear and I have been busy exhuming the pond in the backyard. The pond was constructed of a Rubbermaid 150-gallon stock tank, a length of drain pipe that goes we know not where, a whole lot of dirt (backfilled against the fence, which is why it all has to come out) and a retaining wall. We'd gotten most of the retaining wall removed over the year or so since we made the decision to replace the fence.

Yesterday we managed to get most of the remaining bricks from the base of the retaining wall moved, and the dried mud and gravel out of the tub itself. As we worked I noticed a tall and muscular young dude at the house behind us across the alley, who was wearing a pair of really tight, stretchy gray shorts and no shirt; and also a small poodle-mix dog (perhaps a cockapoo) who left us a present in the small patch of lawn between the temporary fence and the alley.

After sifting a few wheelbarrow loads of dirt and rocks, we were done for the day and decided to have dinner at Buzz Inn on Evergreen. We saw a number of cute daddybears and their kids passing by our table as they left. Cue Gary: "aw, hell no." After dinner we finished up some laundry and surfed the net a bit before I decided to call it a night.

I woke up about quarter to six to find Gary had made an excursion downtown. When I came downstairs for breakfast around nine-thirty, I saw Gary was back, but had been up all night, so I gently encouraged him to get some sleep. After breakfast I picked up the present the dog had left, and while doing so had a nice chat with Eric, the young dude with the tight shorts, who had come to retrieve the dog (his name is Puddles) as he'd wandered into our yard. They are busy building a new back porch to go with the addition on their house.

After that I swept up the tub and sifted another wheelbarrow load of dirt, then went inside and caught up with Dad by phone. My sister Sheila's youngest son was scheduled to graduate from high school this afternoon, and my sister Colleen's youngest is preparing to move to Boston in the next month so she is managing separate parties for his friends, for our side of the family and for her husband's side. She had to work this evening so I guess I'll have to call her later tomorrow.

Once I got off the phone with Dad, I decided to pick up a few more buckets from Home Depot, grab lunch, and pick up some groceries at Costco. At Home Depot I asked a cute ginger otter if he knew of anyone who deals in bulk dirt, as we'll probably have 4 or 5 cubic yards left over when all is said and done. He suggested Craig's List because if people are desperate enough for fill dirt they'll come over and dig it up. Another possibility he suggested is the sand and gravel place a couple doors north on the same side of Highway 99. I ended up picking up three 5-gallon buckets and two 18-gallon plastic planter tubs with rope handles. I checked out beside a cute daddy bear with a wife and two girls. He had some nice ink on one arm.

Lunch was at Heaven Sent Chicken on 112th Street. I had the three-piece special with corn and an extra side of collard greens. As I ate I texted Gary to relay the results of the morning so he could read them when he got up, and he suggested I pick up some fruit at Costco as well: grapes, blackberries, and bananas. I was surprised he was awake. At Costco there were at least two cute daddybears shopping; one I kept crossing paths with was tall and dark, perhaps Native American or Hispanic, with elaborate, somewhat faded ink on both arms.

After I got home and got the groceries put away, Gary and I watched part of the Memorial Cup (Canadian Hockey League) final between the Erie Otters and the host team, the Windsor Spitfires; then we started in on the sifting and sorting. Toward the end we traced the PVC drain pipe to an elbow in the middle of the back lawn well outside the perimeter of the retaining wall, and decided we should dig no further but rather get a plumber to trace the pipe so we don't ruin the lawn unnecessarily. Then I fixed dinner: bratwurst boiled in beer (a local microbrew called Scuttlebutt) and finished off under the broiler (unfortunately, we have construction debris piled up too close to the outdoor gas grill to use it at the moment), and fresh coleslaw. After dinner we sort of vegetated in front of the TV until Gary decided he'd better get to bed and catch up on sleep.

Didn't do much Friday night other than one last overnight maintenance call for work, nor yesterday as gmjambear finished off some schoolwork. Made up for that today though. ( Read more... )

Another fun day.

gmjambear and I went to the Everett Silvertips game vs. the Seattle Thunderbirds at Everett Events Center. The game was rather full, the ticket seller noted there were only tickets in pairs in about five sections of the arena, most of them upstairs and in the corners. He then recommended seats in the club section, which for a few dollars extra permitted use of the Club Lounge at the top. We went for those seats, then settled to wait in line for entrance to the arena to get our promotional cowbells sponsored by Monster Energy Drink. Cowbells in hand, we went to find our seats. They were about halfway up on the aisle.

With an hour to face-off, we decided to check out the lounge. There was a large bar with tables around it. There was also a separate door for folks with club and skybox seats to enter from Wall Street at the top of the hill, and we picked a table right by the door. So I sat facing the door and pointed out the many bears that caught my eye to Gary. We ordered dinner: Gary had linguine alfredo with chicken, while I had a cup of chili and a French dip sandwich. It appeared the kitchen was backed up as we did not receive our food until just before face-off, so we missed much of the first period. It was very good food though so I had no complaints.

The game was not as exciting as the previous game we attended, although there were a few moments: the Tips' goalie scoring an own-goal in the middle of the second period (which is credited to the last T-bird player to touch the puck), a couple of fights (not nearly as many as last game, and two of them occurring at or after the period-ending whistle), one of the T-birds charging after one of the Tips, checking him a bit high, losing his balance and sailing head over heels before landing flat on the ice, and watching Zack Dailey use some fancy stick work to try to dislodge the puck from the corner nearest us.

By the way, it does not matter who the Tips are playing, the opposing team is still treated to a rousing chorus of "AND THEY STILL SUCK!" whenever it is announced they are back to full strength. Even if, as was the case tonight, they are beating the snot out of the Tips, who ultimately lost 4-0.

Yesterday gmjambear and I puttered around the house a bit and did some shopping. We picked up a workbench and tool rack to help organize the garage and make more room for our tools; also, we put up some more artwork and awards on the walls in the office and master bedroom.

This morning we went to Bear Brunch at Yo's Bistro in Burien. We had a very nice conversation with a couple of bears from Los Angeles who had just disembarked from a week-long Alaska cruise, and who plan on attending next weekend's bear run in Portland. For a short while the proprietor joined our conversation once he had a break in the stream of patrons.


L to R: Harry and Randy from L.A., and Yo, the proprietor of Yo's Bistro.

Afterward we stopped off at the Public Market in Seattle where a street fair was going on. We picked up four small wildlife prints (a falcon on the Seattle skyline, some salmon in a stream, a big brown bear fishing, and a couple of playful wolves in the snow) from the same artist, a bearish fellow judging from his picture, as he wasn't running the shop today; and also some totem-style T-shirts from a lady whose work I've always liked and have purchased before, for our own wear and as gifts. The bridge from the parking garage offered a unique perspective in which Mount Rainier appeared to rise from the middle of Qwest Field.



On the way back we picked up frames for the new pictures and some supplies for dinner. Then when we got home Gary completed the mowing while I unpacked the workbench. (Side note: it takes an entire weekend to mow the entire lawn because the cordless electric mower's battery runs out of juice and has to be recharged overnight between sessions. I find this annoying but Gary doesn't seem to mind.) Then we assembled the workbench together and re-parked the cars in the garage. It's a tight fit but we managed to keep enough room in front of the workbench to retrieve things from it fairly easily.

After dinner, which consisted of salmon burgers with mac and cheese and coleslaw, we tackled the new prints we'd just bought and hung them on the bedroom wall. They look nice with the Four Seasons view of Multnomah Falls we put up yesterday.

So in sum, it's beena nicely productive weekend.

Oh say, can you see
My eyes? If you can,
Then my hair's too short

I've been experimenting over the past couple of months with letting my hair grow out beyond all reasonable bounds. It's been fun, but I'm not managing it terribly well, and it's not even long enough for a proper ponytail yet. However, with my trip to Dallas coming up Real Soon Now (during which I will be meeting my immediate supervisor in person for the first time, not to mention spending a lot of time wearing a hard hat), I figure it's time for the experiment to end. As much as I'd rather not, I'm going to have most of it sheared off tomorrow.

pandabuff mentioned at a special rehearsal this afternoon that having hair that long would bother him, and I know it does gmjambear if only because it overemphasizes his bald spot. But my father still has a full head of hair at eighty-four, even if it has gone mostly snow white. So I figure while I've got it I should make the most of it.

So today we decided we both needed to get out of the house, and I wanted to get some pictures before making such a radical change in my appearance, so we visited the Everett Marine Park and Lions Park and got some pictures of Possession Sound and the mountains. Then we took some posed shots of each other to use in LJ icons and such.

I'll want to do "after" pictures tomorrow. But for now, here are some of the pictures we got in the parks today.

Haven't had a whole lot of time to post the past few days.

Monday was a long day. Work went OK, then I hopped on the bus early to get downtown and grab an early dinner before rehearsal. Having some time to play with, I hopped on the monorail to Seattle Center. The return monorail trip was delayed about 20 minutes because they had to test the one working train, which was annoying because they didn't announce what they were doing until they had pulled the train into the station and then pulled out again without letting anyone board. Rehearsal was exhausting. We got to work with the band for the first time though which was nice. After rehearsal I decided to try the express bus across Lake Washington instead of the Rodeo Bus, especially since I'd parked at the park-n-ride lot next to Boeing instead of at the Renton transit center. However, I ended up catching the 240 local bus and it took forever to get there. I barely got home in time to do my system patching work at 11 PM. Saw a couple of interesting folks on that long bus ride though, including a bearish antique dealer and a youngish fellow in a tweed jacket praying the rosary quietly to himself.

Tuesday I got a late start having slept in a bit. I got to see this big red bear in Carhartt overalls working on the electrical system at Bellevue transit center again, as he's been there the past few days. On the way home I had a chat with a young woman who works in the cafeteria. She mentioned that she was interested in board games and I mentioned a few of them that snicholson had demonstrated on Game Nights back in New York. We ended up discussing our respective commutes and I mentioned that I sing with SMC, which prompted her to ask if gmjambear sang with the chorus as well. I had to tell her no, he doesn't; he's the "chorus widow". After returning home, I went for a walk with Gary in the park before another round of patching.

Today I decided to park at Kennydale for a change. Looks like the bus bypassed us, as we had to wait about 40 minutes when there should be one every half hour. Ah well, one of the other riders was easy on the eyes, with tousled brown hair, a nice smile and a fair bit of fur peeking out of his open shirt collar. Once I got to Bellevue the red bear in Carhartts was up on a scissors lift working right over my head. ;-) Unfortunately, I discovered that there's a hardware problem which will prevent me from working from home for my final patches tonight. So in about an hour I will have to haul butt to Bothell and start my 11 PM maintenance window by physically powering down the server so I can (hopefully, fingers crossed) monitor it remotely afterward.