A Day Like All Days

FRIDAY

I woke up a couple hours early to use the bathroom and went back to sleep. We managed to get downstairs in time for the hotel's breakfast buffet, then returned to the room where I texted Colleen to arrange to meet her at Dad's condo.

We arrived around 11:30 and Colleen, Rab, and Alyssa followed soon after. Gary and I took inventory of the family cedar chest which was in the room where I used to sleep when visiting. There were artifacts for each of us, along with Dad's Navy manuals, Mom's wedding dress, and their travelogue and photo album from Ireland. I took the papers that pertained to me and returned the rest, except for a couple of photos which should join the larger collection downstairs. Afterwards we sat downstairs while Colleen took some phone calls and Alyssa showed us some of the jewelry she chose from Mom's collection. Just before we left, Rab returned the end table from Dad's apartment which we replaced with his new table and lamp combination.

We all had lunch at the Olive Garden off Colerain in Bevis (heh heh...), where I spotted a young black dude enjoying his lunch in the next room and a muscular dude emerging from the restroom. We had a nice chat over lunch and then went our separate ways.

After we got back to the hotel, I ended up taking a nap for about an hour and a half while Gary sat up in bed watching TV. For dinner we went to Skyline Chili, then came back to watch the end of the hockey game (Toronto beat Columbus 4-2) and the Valero Alamo Bowl between Iowa State and Washington State. I hit the sack early before the game ended, but found out later that WSU won by 2 points.

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.

Well, the Canucks have lost the Stanley Cup, and Vancouver is going apeshit. Watching the coverage on the CBC, I've seen at least three vehicles and a bunch of trash cans go up in flames. As I type, they have just overturned a police car and are jumping on it. Tear gas is being deployed and one of the reporters is having difficulty speaking because of it. One dude has been taunting the cops for some time and getting whacked on the knees with a baton. There has been looting at the Bay (Hudson's Bay Co. department store).

As gmjambear pointed out, this is over a hockey game. Not police shooting an innocent man to death, not a civil-rights protest, just a hockey game. "What is this, Detroit?" I responded, "Detroit would have done this if they won."

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.

Kind of funny, an announcer on Hockey Night in Canada used the phrase "it's all about the Benjamins" in reference to a player from the Toronto Maple Leafs signing to play for the Vancouver Canucks instead. Now Benjamin Franklin does not appear on Canadian money; the $100 CDN note bears the likeness of Sir Robert Borden, whoever he may be. Go figure.

Anyway, the whole thing inspired me to create the attached LJ icon. Yes, I know Richard Benjamin's wife, Paula Prentiss, does not use her husband's surname, but I think a bit of poetic license is in order here. ;-)