tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32107832024-03-12T20:43:49.359-07:00Nothing good can come of this . . .An experiment in public thought.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.comBlogger955125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-63716678283416105422013-12-31T11:42:00.002-08:002016-07-25T22:49:33.822-07:002013It's been over a year since I've posted here. I noticed that just today as I was thinking about the past year and realized I might want to post something.<br />
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Facebook and Twitter have taken the place of my blog posts (obviously), but they didn't seem like the right place to do a recap of the year.<br />
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As with every year, there were ups and downs, but right now, as I write this, I'd say what stands out is the incredible emotional downturn I suffered this year. Most of it in the last couple of months.<br />
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I've had stressful times in my life. The years running Corsair Publishing come to mind. I was proud of the work I did there, but the stresses over money, where it came from, and where it was going were huge issues for me and I honestly think the stress did permanent damage to my memory -- not just my memory of that time, but my memory in general.<br />
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This year, however, I've had a very different kind of stress. For the last couple of years my wife and I have been trying to have a baby and we'd had little success. A couple of "late" periods, a chemical pregnancy, lots of visits to an excellent fertility clinic to help us in the process. Months and months (over a year, maybe over two now) of what ifs and hoping and being disappointed and hoping and hoping and hoping. And kind growing to hate hope. Trying not to build things up too much. Trying not to put too much meaning into the next success or failure. And failing, failing, failing.<br />
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I won't go into the details, but the process was very long, very difficult, and very draining, especially for my wife, who obviously had to bear most of the pressure and treatments. We had one final chance this Fall. We were pregnant for three weeks, then lost it.<br />
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When I say "final chance," I mean it. We decided we wouldn't actively try anymore because we don't have the money to do it. This last round was expensive and we can't do more of that. Plus, like I said, it wasn't easy.<br />
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The result of the failed pregnancy and the expense is that I had to confront the reality that I won't be a father. That's an ongoing existential crisis for me. I'd never actually thought I wouldn't have kids, or even a kid. So, it's been hard. I feel stressed constantly. Depressed sometimes. Adrift others. It's unlike any experience I've had in the past and it's made 2013 one of my least favorite years ever.<br />
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I have things to be thankful for: a new job, great friends, family near and far who love me, a fun gaming group, and a wife who's far too good for me, but loves me more than anything, just like I love her.<br />
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But even so, I'm not going to be a father. We're not going to be parents.<br />
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Sure, we could end up being one of those couples "who tried everything, then poof! they got pregnant," but I'm not going to hold out hope for that. That's an anecdote, not cold, hard fact. If it comes, I'll take it, but I'm not going to hope. Hope's dead. And that makes me very sad.<br />
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Good-bye 2013.<br />
<br />Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-72678826854658234262012-09-30T15:05:00.000-07:002012-09-30T15:05:03.277-07:00Part 4 of the Move to Seattle<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part IV, and the last of the trip out to Seattle. Enjoy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eleven years as of today. And this being Sunday, even the days of this year matched up with the days of the trip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seth and I arrived in the afternoon to a relatively dark, cloudy city that had just experienced some rain. Quite unlike today which is nice and bright and sunny.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks again to Seth for writing this up and letting me reuse it for all these years!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">************ </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 30 - rest stop, Idaho (mileage unknown) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I drove all morning, determined to make it all the way across the panhandle of Idaho before I turn the wheel over to Jon. But nature calls, and high in the mountains I pull over into a rest stop to make use of the facilities. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I say without reservation that western Montana and northern Idaho are some of the most beautiful territory it's ever been my privilege to pass through. But it's also completely isolated. Those snow gates that can be dropped across the interstate ("Road blocked ahead. Go back to Missoula.") are there for a reason, and you'd have to be pretty hardy to live out here. The price of beauty, I suppose. We'll see if I can't afford it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coming out of the bathroom I see that a man walking his dog is wearing a baseball cap with Bucky Badger embroidered on it. We talk for a minute and it turns out he's from Madison, out here visiting relatives. Strange to find a piece of home about as far away from it as you can get. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 30 -- Couer D'Lane, Idaho (1,705 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A quick stop for lunch in the late afternoon. Jon's cel phone is finally back in range of the system, and he checks his messages while I try to call home and wish my mom a happy birthday on a nearby payphone. Couer D'Lane is the Wisconsin Dells of Idaho, with a population that seems fifty percent tourist and a waterslide on every block. It also increases the number of people we've seen in Idaho by about a bazillion percent, unless you count the other moving trucks. Maybe its just because we're traveling in a U-Haul, but everyone and their brother seems to be moving -- usually in the opposite direction, but that's probably because anyone behind us can't catch up to us and we can't catch anyone ahead. As the days have passed I've found a strange feeling of brotherhood with these other travelers; if our horn worked I would beep it when I saw them, but have to settle for a jaunty wave they probably never see. Oh well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For all the 'friends', we've also found our nemesis. First spotted in South Dakota, a couple times each day we've been passed by what I've named the Luxury RV, a glossy black bus-like RV pulling a high-priced black SUV, like Puff Daddy going on walkabout. Ostentatious, faster than us -- the reasons to be annoyed go on and on. But though I've been watching, the LRV's shiny prow has yet to glide past our port windows. I decide to remain vigilant as Jon takes the wheel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 30 - MOFN, Washington (1,786 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I gave this town its name, as it is in the middle of nowhere and didn't even have the dignity to give itself a name for its highway exit. Though we didn't have time to stop in Spokane and see my grandparents (although we did see a giant inflatable gorilla, prompting Jon to properly bemoan the trip's lack of monkeys), we had to stop here for gas -- and that's nearly all this place has to offer. That, an RV park (despite the "Don't park RV signs here" signs that seem to be tacked to every post), a collection of construction equipment working and otherwise, and a concrete pipe capped with a metal plate jutting out of the ground. My theory is that it's the entrance to a secret underground government base, but that woman back in Montana probably didn't shoot anyone, either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 30 - Roslyn, Washington (1,932 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're almost there, but fannish interest (you can take the geeks out of Wisconsin, but...you know the rest) made us get off the interstate and make our way up a county highway to Roslyn, where they filmed the exteriors for the TV series Northern Exposure. All the shops are closed this late on a Sunday evening, so no T-shirts for us. But the KBHR radio station is still there and we get to peek into the now-dusty interior. We also see Roslyn's Café, the building that was supposed to be Dr. Fleischman's office, and the Brick, where we stop to grab dinner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While waiting for dinner, I wander back across the street and finally get ahold of my mom. While eating dinner, I watch a gorgeous nearby woman, who eventually notices me and subtly flashes her wedding ring. As of this writing, the jury is still out on whether I'm happy or sad to have been caught being potentially prurient. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it's back to the road, with only Snoqualimie Pass between us and Seattle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 30 - Bellevue, Washington (2,015 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not Seattle, but it's close enough. We make our way through the dark streets and eventually find the house Jon will be staying at. We have some problems finding the key that supposed to be hidden outside, but luckily one of the other roomers is home-and turns out to also be a WizKids employee named Dave. Dave shows us Jon's (surprisingly tiny!) room, and we unload what we can from the truck. It's almost ten, and too late to find a storage space; Jon will have to do that tomorrow after I leave. Dave does help us move the U-Haul and trailer to the WizKids parking lot (including taking the wheel for the particularly tricky job of turning the truck around in the narrow parking lot), and takes us over to the nearby mall and an all-night grocery store so I can get some cash for the trip back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then bedtime and up in time to run to the airport in the morning. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">***************** </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's the whole tale. I hope you've had as much fun reading it as Seth and I did driving it. </span><br />
Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-10538492113571667362012-09-30T14:36:00.001-07:002012-09-30T14:36:27.148-07:00Part 3 of the Move to Seattle<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though I sat in front of the computer all day yesterday (Saturday), I forgot to post this. So I'm making up for it by posting parts 3 and 4 today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 29 - Sundance, Wyoming (911 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another gas stop, this time in the town where the Sundance Kid got his name. A pretty small place, and my stay is marked mainly by the three guys in the gas station buying hunting licenses-and swearing that the rifle on the wall being raffled off is the same one that was there last year. They're putting together the pieces of the conspiracy as I wander back out to the truck. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 29 - Sheridan, Wyoming (1058 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've made it over the thousand-mile mark, so we celebrate by stopping for food and gas. Again. Jon also needs to pick up a new address book, so we make our way downtown and find a Wal-Mart Plus-a Wal-Mart with a grocery store. Jon quickly finds the address book and we make our way across the parking lot for a quick lunch at Taco Bell. (For those keeping score at home--number of days on the road: 3; stops at a Taco Bell: 3. Make your investments appropriately.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our quick lunch turns out to be anything but. It takes ten minutes to even order, and when we sit down to wait we realize that the dining room is full not of people eating but of people waiting. Oh yeah, and they're out of chicken. The situation is so absurd that Jon and I begin making fun of the restaurant and its employees -- apparently in an increasingly vocal manner, as Jon later reports that a cute girl ten feet away was laughing. (Sadly, she was probably of high-school age, so no missed opportunity there, faithful reader. But thank you for thinking of Jon and I.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 29 - Big Timber, Montana (1,273 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a morning of climbing the foothills of the Rockies and blasting through Billings (a competitor with Toledo for Ugliest City in America), the Little U-Haul That Could has to pull off in western Montana for gas. As we come out from paying, there's a woman hanging around near the corner of the building smoking and leaving one hand suspiciously inside her purse. Our schedule demands that we get back on the road, but let's pretend that she was waiting to shoot someone, okay? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 29 - Missoula, Montana (1,541 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jon handles late night driving up into the mountains and across the Continental Divide, and around 11:30 we pull into Missoula. Less prepared than previous days, we haven't picked out a specific hotel from the AAA guidebook. But I see a billboard for one I remember. Unfortunately, I direct Jon off the highway an exit too early and we wander through town a bit before getting to the right area. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of further surprise is that the hotel we stop at is full. Not just that, but so are the next two. Luckily, we find a Best Western with a room and crash. Our wake-up call comes right on time, and we make our way downstairs just in time to enjoy the continental breakfast -- which actually _is_ pretty continental, reminding me of the breakfast buffet at the hotel I stayed at in London (which itself is _not_ Continental, but you get my Ugly American point, right?) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it's time to gas up, and get back on the road. </span><br />
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Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-58591392771850992412012-09-27T22:10:00.004-07:002012-09-27T22:12:47.484-07:00Day 2 of the Trek... 11 Years Later<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's Part II of the cross-country trip from eleven years ago. Again, as you're reading, remember that this is written from Seth's perspective, not mine. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">***************** </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 28 - Blue Earth, Minnesota (333 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to say that it was the fifty-foot tall statue of the Jolly Green Giant that made us get off the highway, but we just decided to stop for gas and snacks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The gas station used to have a Taco Bell Express, but it has gone out of business-recently, apparently. As I stand waiting to get into the restroom, two couples who are part of Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation enter. The woman in the lead walks up to the darkened corner and says, "What? No tacos?" For some reason it strikes me as odd; I guess I'm just accustomed to the preteens overrunning the Taco Bells in Madison. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 28 - Mitchell, South Dakota (521 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stopping for gas again, we also stop for lunch, grabbing sandwiches at Subway and then making our way through a maze of surface-street construction to the world famous Mitchell Corn Palace. The last time I was here was a quarter-century ago, and while the Palace is pretty neat, my picture-augmented memory held it up as much neater. I don't remember it being in the middle of downtown, for one thing; I guess I always thought it was a building out in the middle of the fields. And the colors are much more subdued-the pictures I've seen were taken in 1976, and I guess they fancied it up for the Bicentennial. This year's themes are pretty straight-forward nature themes done in straight-forward corn colors. Jon and I do find a display across the street showing how the decoration is done, and I do have to respect the process. It seems like an awful lot of work, beginning with laying out the design on the building and cutting a whole hell of a lot of corn cobs in half in preparation for mounting them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though downtown Mitchell seems to get a lot of its income from tourists, most of the other tourist shops are closed down for the season and there's not much else to see. So after a quick picture of Jon in front of the Corn Palace, and a seemingly interminable wait at a train crossing, we're back on I-90 and headed west. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 28 - Kadoka, South Dakota (705 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only two things are amusing about our stop in Kadoka. One: Jon makes a series of funny jokes about people who were too dumb to spell the name of their own state right, and end up naming their town Kadoka. Two: At the gas station, I wait in line to buy my Diet Coke behind a group of guys loudly planning that evening's visit to a strip club. I'm not quite certain they ever caught on that I was laughing at them and not with them. (Okay, now that time has passed, I'm not certain that either of those items are amusing in retrospect. But then, we were back on the road within fifteen minutes-it didn't leave much time to be amused, and I have to take my amusement where I can get it.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 28 - Wall, South Dakota (758 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, we arrive in Wall too late to partake of the joys of Wall Drug. But we settle for eating dinner across the street in the Cactus Café, the very restaurant where I had dinner with folks from work on the way back from E3 in May. If you had told me then that I would be eating in that restaurant again just four months later, I don't think I would have believed you. But there we are. The menu isn't quite as cosmopolitan as Burlington's famous White Fox Den, but it goes a little bit beyond bar food, so I enjoy a good French Dip sandwich and a bowl of clam chowder. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the way out of town, we stop at a gas station-not for gas, but so that I can prove after much frustration at lunch that Sobe Wisdom is unavailable in the state of South Dakota. Like many things in life, I am quickly proven utterly incorrect and come out with a Sobe and a box of Whoppers. Jon is laughing when I come back and points out a truck-driving future redneck who has hung up his truck on the concrete and steel base of an enormous sign, hooking his bumper over the five-inch lug nuts that hold the whole thing upright. We're tempted to stay and watch, but we're behind schedule... so we press on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 28 - Spearfish, South Dakota (856 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With 700 miles under our belt for the day, we stop just short of the Wyoming border. Happily, the hotel we stay at has a pool, so while Jon deals with some unfinished paperwork I go for a swim and read in the hot tub for a while. I have some weird flashes back to a family trip 25 years ago (the same one that took me to Mitchell) and wonder if we stayed here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our 8:30 AM wakeup call never comes, and we wake up just past 9:00. Still, even with a trip to a nearby grocery store for water, fruit and road snacks we manage to get back on I-90 by ten, and I pop yet another CD into the Rio as we turn west. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">************* </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">End Part II. </span>Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-87030012812120941612012-09-27T09:17:00.002-07:002012-09-27T09:20:13.784-07:0011th Annual Trek Cross Country<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In three more years, I'll have spent as much time in Seattle as I did in Madison. That's what I find most... unsettling about this anniversary. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I missed last year's posting of this re-treading of the trip Seth and I took from Madison to Seattle, but I promised myself not to miss it this year. Why? Because the trip was significant to me. It changed many, many things about my life. The best of which was finding Julia and marrying her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I figured reliving this little chapter of my life might be kind of nice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you enjoy it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">********* </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 27 - Madison, Wisconsin (0 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We haven't left town yet, and we're already running late. It's nobody's fault, really: packing up the truck took a bit longer than planned, but we still could have made it out of town with time for plenty of progress...until it came time to go back to U-Haul to hook up a trailer for Jon's car. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Looks kinda heavy," says the guy at the shop, and suggests we go across the street to the recycling center and use the truck scale. Driving the 17-foot truck directly across four busy lanes of traffic is a bit daunting, but I brave the task while Jon starts to deal with the trailer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pulling up onto the truck scale just as the recycling center just as they prepare to close the gates, I jump out and read the label on the side of truck: 'LIMIT 11,000 LBS. GROSS'. Then I look over at the digital readout on the side of the building: 14568. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I take the truck back across the street and deliver the bad news. The garage is closing, so there's no time to come back for the trailer. Instead we hook up the car and trailer, then return to Jon's house and spend a couple hours unloading two tons of books and comics that will have to go down to Jon's parents in Burlington for storage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SEPTEMBER 27 - La Crosse, Wisconsin (161 miles) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made a quick stop at a gas station and a Taco Bell in Tomah, but it's here that we decide to stop for the night. It's 11:30, and there's no point in burning ourselves out on the first leg of the trip. The AAA guidebook lists a Hampton Inn that offers a discount, so that's where we crash. Uh, sleep. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're up by 8:30, pack up, partake of the free breakfast, stop by a nearby Woodman's grocery store so I can mail off a birthday card to my mom, and then we hit the road. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See you tomorrow!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-22096248913199865992012-07-01T17:08:00.001-07:002016-07-25T22:51:58.474-07:00GetawayWe decided to take a Friday off and get away for the weekend. She's recently made a trip to the Eastern side of the state to help move her grandma into a new house and loved the countryside, so she suggested we go over there somewhere.<br />
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For those of you who don't know. Seattle is right along the coast (actually Puget Sound) and a few miles inland are the Cascade Mountains. The mountains block most of the moisture in the air from making it over them, so the Eastern side of the state is a desert. It doesn't get much rain, but because of the lack of clouds, the sun is unrelenting and the difference in temperature (and climate) between Seattle and Leavenworth (where we stayed) is pretty amazing.<br />
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Anyway, as I said, we decided to spend the weekend in a little tourist trap called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leavenworth,_Wa">Leavenworth</a>. It's a town that decided to dress itself up as a little piece of Bavaria, likely because it's up in the mountains and (maybe?) has a similar climate. There's a single main drag on which all of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=ciatsh&tok=ZxSRdO8HH4QzMcNXsWlisw&pq=why+is+eastern+washington+a+desert&cp=6&gs_id=s&xhr=t&q=leavenworth+wa&gl=us&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1600&bih=785&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=GOLwT6HmGoTSqAHr8LSOAg">the buildings have been built to look like chateaus</a> and all the signs in town (even McDonald's) are painted in a "Bavarian" script. Mostly it's all about shopping, drinking, and maybe some kind of outdoor activity like golfing, hiking, biking, or whitewater rafting. There are a number of German-style restaurants. The place is pretty popular and has been going strong for decades.<br />
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We spent two nights there, walked around town, drove to a couple of nearby attractions and basically relaxed for the weekend. It was a lot of fun and the timing couldn't have been better because I just finished working on a big project for Green Ronin, so my schedule was clear!<br />
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Here are a few photos from the weekend.<br />
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Above: The view from the balcony of our hotel room.</div>
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Below: Shots of Ohme Gardens. Built by a family from the 1940s up until the '70s. They built it on a scrubby outcropping of rock and kept it watered so the plants would grow. Now with mature trees on the land (where normally there would be none), the place is cool and green in stark contrast to the nearby barren hills and land. Now it's a county park.</div>
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Above: Thyme covers the ground everywhere.</div>
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Above: See the path in the distance? That's part of the gardens. All the paths are stone and all of the stone was brought in and laid by hand over the decades.</div>
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Above Two: The two photos above give you a sense of the scale. She's at the far end of the pond, then her again at the top of a path next to one of the stony outcroppings.</div>
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Above: Me reading the history of the place next to the "Hidden Pond" they built.</div>
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Above: One of the many, many, hand-built stairways and paths that wind throughout the garden.</div>
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Above: Me on one of the awesome benches they built of stone.</div>
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Above: My favorite bench, built under a huge stone.</div>
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Above: A picnic table built of stone. Of course. You can't tell in the photo, but there's a nice, little waterfall running down the rocks next to the fern behind the table.</div>
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Above: We stopped in Roslyn, where they filmed Northern Exposure in the early '90s, on our way back on I-90. I haven't been here since Seth and I drove through when we moved me to Seattle in 2001!</div>
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Above: My girl out in front of the mural for the Roslyn Cafe -- which is now actually the Roslyn Cafe as you can see by the sign on the left and the people eating breakfast outside.</div>
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Above: The office of Dr. Joel Fleischman, now a gift shop.</div>
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More soonish, I hope!</div>
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<br />Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-69373050058551300202012-05-02T20:27:00.001-07:002012-05-02T20:27:22.030-07:00A Quick Spring HelloMy mother is awesome and despite the fact that I have been very lax in updating here, I wanted to show her the great gifts she's sent us in the last couple of months.<br />
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The plants she sent for Easter weren't all tall and green when they arrived, but they are now! I finally remembered to take some pictures and just downloaded them tonight to show them off. We're not sure what they are yet, but we're looking forward to finding out!<br />
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The giant mass of fruit on sticks was a Valentine's gift. At least I'm pretty sure that was the holiday. Anyway, this was very popular at a family gathering and we all loved it!</div>
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Thanks Mom and Dad!</div>
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Lastly, I can't believe it's been almost four months since my last update. Reading the last couple made me remember the pain of my kidney stone, though. No fun.</div>
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<br /><br />Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-21621069492690916062012-01-08T17:02:00.000-08:002012-01-08T17:02:56.174-08:00Recovery PhaseIt's been just a little over a week since I went to the ER for my kidney stone adventure and while I'm feeling so, so, so much better than I was a few days ago (let alone last week!), but I still get tired very quickly. I'm sure it's because my body's putting quite a bit of energy toward healing up whatever damage was done by the kidney stone and the surgery, but wow, am I sleepy.<br />
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If I had the time, I'd probably take a day or two off and just relax, do some work at a leisurely pace, read, and rest, but I'm sure I've used up any sympathy time I have at work. Actually my co-workers have been great and really helped to keep my work moving along with very few hiccups. I'm grateful for that. It's a small team and everyone is busy enough on their own.<br />
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I did a fair amount of Green Ronin work yesterday and today, so I'm feeling good about that, but I have so much more to do that I feel a little lame for taking a break here at 5:00 on Sunday to go read some comics.<br />
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What's wrong with me? Relax, man!<br />
<br />Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-62409223448613504682012-01-05T08:22:00.000-08:002012-01-05T08:22:32.952-08:00Absolutely Miserable... But Better NowI arrived back from a nice Christmas vacation to see my family in Wisconsin, worked for a single day, then woke up Friday with a sore back. I thought perhaps I'd thrown it out on the plane and was just going to deal with it and go to work, but when a bout of neasea hit me in the car and the pain was steadily increasing, I turned around, woke Julia, and had her take me to the emergency room thinking I had appendicitis. <br />
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As soon as the ER doctor saw me standing at the counter in the exam room he said, "Kidney stones. I'd gurantee it." And he was right. They gave me some IV pain medication so I'd stop groaning and sent me off for a CT scan (I think) and it confirmed a 7mm kidney stone on my right side. He said it's not possible to pass anything 6mm or larger so I'd have to have a procedure to get rid of it. But, since it was Friday -- and the Friday before a holiday weekend, I'd have to deal with it using pain meds for a few days.<br />
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We picked up the perscriptions and headed home. The afternoon was mostly fine, but in the evening the pain came back with a vengeance and -- even through the oxycodone -- at about 11:30 when I knew there was no way I'd get any sleep, we went back to the ER. <br />
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Honestly, it felt like I didn't even have any pain medication in me. It was worse, way worse, than the pain from earlier in the day and by the time I was in the exam room for a few minutes I was pretty much unable to speak, moaning from pain punctuated with a scream every now and again when the pain really ramped up, and literally vibrating because it hurt so much. I can't actually tell you what any of the people looked like who were talking to me, taking my blood pressure, and trying to get another IV in me becasue I had me eyes closed the whole time. All I know is that when you make as much noise as I was the ER staff moves fast and even other patients take note. Or at least that's what Julia tells me. She said at the worst of it we had a couple people in the room and a few more hovering at the doorway to see if they could help. <br />
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Anyway, once the IV was in and they'd pumped me full of "the most powerful painkillers they had" I calmed down and then we waited and waited. I was on a stretcher and loopy from drugs, but Julia had to spend a good four hours sitting in a very uncomfortable chair, doing nothing, during prime sleeping hours (midnight to 4am), plus, she had to watch me be in pain, so I'm sure it was no fun for her at all.<br />
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End result? They sent me home with more/different painkillers for a few days.<br />
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"A few days" turned out to be five, then six days. We had the pain under control, but the drugs made me miserable. I slept or stared into space most of the time because I couldn't concentrate enough to read or even really watch TV. It was... difficult. Again, I'm sure Julia was having a blast, too. <br />
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The other big problems with the pain meds was that they pretty much stop your gut from moving things along. So even though food wasn't particularly appealing to me, after a few days I couldn't actually take anything new in because nothing was going out. Ugh, what a miserable feeling... to have for daaaaaaays!<br />
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Monday was a holiday, so we scheduled an appointment with a urologist for Tuesday. We thought it was going to be when the stone was removed, but it turned out to be a consultation and the earliest I could get the stone removed was Wednesday. That was difficult. I'd really thought Tuesday was as long as I was going to need to wait and to have the doctor say, "We can probably squeeze you in tomorrow," was really, really, deflating. Miserable.<br />
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So finally, Wednesday morning, still drugged up, unable to eat, unable to go to the bathroom, exhausted, and ready for all of this to be done, I go in the procedure. I thought it was a fairly simple, outpatient operation, but no one had really prepared us for what it actually was. I hadn't thought I'd be under a general anesthetic, but I was, I hadn't thought there'd be much of an aftereffect, but there was, I hadn't thought there'd be so much peeing blood, but there was. BUT! the stone is now out and I'm off the pain meds (even though I could use a little bit to take the edge off, but no way!). My back and side is a bit sore, it hurts to go to the bathroom, but I have something for that, and really the most distrubing thing is looking in the toilet after I pee. Not a good thing to see. Sorry if that's all a bit gross for you, but it's really not a pleasant experience and I really hope none of you have to go through it. And I certainly hope I never have to go through it again.<br />
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I remember at one point asking the emercency room doctors to "just cut it out of me." I was serious.<br />
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Okay, so, happy new year!<br />Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-26776891553775084632011-09-13T20:38:00.001-07:002011-09-13T20:38:32.522-07:00Starting Back UpSummer's been a bit crazy, but now that it's over and we've had our rummage sale and I've been at my new job for just over a month, I figured it would be a good time to start posting again. I figure I can steel a few minutes here and there to manage some updates to let anyone who's still reading this know what's going on.<br />
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You'll hear from me soon.<br />
<br />Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-38264839042591384362011-06-16T12:17:00.000-07:002011-06-16T12:19:36.164-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Backyard Birds</span></b><br />
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I remembered I'd taken this picture earlier this week and wanted to share it.<br />
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It's a (I assume) mother <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&q=northern+flickers&revid=1292381790&sa=X&ei=_1b6TdPqG-PciAL-9cz6BA&ved=0CDgQ1QIoAA&biw=1600&bih=785">flicker</a> showing its offspring how to eat the suet in our backyard. The mother perched on the post and ate from the side, then perched on top and ate a bit, then perched on the cage holding the suet to eat some more, I assume in an attempt to show the youngster the different ways it could eat the suet. The chick was small enough that it could stand on the top of the feeder and stretch out it's neck to peck at the block, however. It did eventually perch on the rod to the right and eat some that way, too, however.<br />
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It was fun to watch.<br />
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Sorry the picture is from so far away, but you can get an idea of what's going on from it. The chick the the gray thing on top of the brown bird feeder.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-utJDclvDHdc/TfpWp7dqW9I/AAAAAAAAAFM/jk0PRTlyl7E/s1600/DSCN8986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-utJDclvDHdc/TfpWp7dqW9I/AAAAAAAAAFM/jk0PRTlyl7E/s320/DSCN8986.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-85894301037010215712011-06-16T12:11:00.000-07:002011-06-16T12:11:34.072-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Crazy Full!</span></b><br />
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Our garage is packed to the gills (even though garages don't have gills) with stuff for our garage sale. Julia and I have <i>plenty</i> of stuff to sell, but then her mom and brother brought a bunch of boxes of their stuff to add to the mix and we're overflowing!<br />
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Here's some pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like. And this doesn't include the clothes we'll have to lay out on blankets on the ground and furniture we have to move out of the way and set up outside -- or a couple of boxes of toys, a "free" box, and a 25 cent bin that aren't shows in this pictures. I hope we get a lot of business!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTOZ58Cjkp0/TfpUn8pMT-I/AAAAAAAAAFA/-we-T7i6exU/s1600/DSCN8990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTOZ58Cjkp0/TfpUn8pMT-I/AAAAAAAAAFA/-we-T7i6exU/s320/DSCN8990.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z_8Nm5030po/TfpUpi_DojI/AAAAAAAAAFI/1I47Dn29-X0/s1600/DSCN8996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z_8Nm5030po/TfpUpi_DojI/AAAAAAAAAFI/1I47Dn29-X0/s320/DSCN8996.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As you can see, <i>lots</i> of games and home decoration stuff!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This, and my work during the day, has been pretty much my whole week. Plus, the sale is going to eat up most of the weekend, but I think it'll be a good sale and it will be <i>great</i> to clear some of this stuff out! Can you imagine how many more boxes this would be if we had to move it again? (Not that we're moving anywhere, mind.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-8619443031608602192011-06-10T13:07:00.000-07:002011-06-10T13:07:43.444-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Fixin' ta Get Ready</span></b><br />
<br />
Julia's been out in the garage all morning moving around everything we've piled out there for our upcoming garage sale. We've been talking about having one since before I came back in November and the plan is to have it next weekend (the 17th, 18th, and 19th). We have a ton of decor stuff, books, games, action figures, clothes (mostly mine), and house stuff to unload. There are eight tables out there now, including our dining room table with both leaves inserted, and we still need more tables! I still haven't organized the game books into boxes, but I have them all set aside and ready to go. That's my job for Sunday.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow we're heading to Kirkland for a photo shoot with the rest of Julia's family, then to a dinner cruise on (I think) Lake Union and Lake Washington to celebrate her aunt's birthday. That should be fun.<br />
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Right now I'm working on some things for an upcoming book for work, so I better get back to it.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-58749728880318183432011-06-09T16:27:00.000-07:002011-06-09T16:27:35.322-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Third Stage of Blogging</span></b><br />
<br />
Stage 1: Blogging is new and exciting and you do it all the time!<br />
<br />
Stage 2: Blogging is a part of your schedule and you do it out of routine.<br />
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Stage 3: Blogging is inconvenient for whatever reason.<br />
<br />
I'm definitely in Stage 3. It's not that I don't want to blog, it's that my schedule has changed pretty significantly in the last couple of years.<br />
<br />
When I was in California, I didn't really feel like anything was going on. In a lot of ways my life was on "hold".<br />
<br />
Now that I'm back in my home with my wife, my schedule is so different than before I moved away that I don't seem to find the time to post here. It used to be that I'd post something at the end of the day in those empty hours before bed. Now those hours are spent with my lovely wife. (I think I traded up!)<br />
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I'm going to make an effort in the next week to post more regularly. Maybe over lunch or first thing in the morning. We'll see how it goes.<br />
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<a href="http://juliasgardens.blogspot.com/">Julia's been posting some great pictures of our yard</a>, which is really looking good here in the third year of growth.<br />
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I spent a couple of hours a week or two ago putting together a Website for myself. I reserved <a href="http://www.leitheusser.com/">leitheusser.com</a> a while ago and now there's finally something on that page, which is cool. I have to figure out what to put on that first page, but at the very least, my resume and C.V. are up there.<br />
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Okay, see you tomorrow!Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-1063649492324944142011-02-09T19:43:00.000-08:002011-02-09T19:43:29.367-08:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Clutter</span><br />
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My lovely wife has <s>gone a bit crazy</s> become quite interested in decluttering the house. She comes home most evenings and immediately sets to cleaning out all the things we've hidden in and around the house.<br />
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Tonight she worked on the kitchen and here's what she found -- and then weeded out the things we don't really need.<br />
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Anybody need a wooden spoon or two?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B9h_oWKHHoU/TVNeT-PUjZI/AAAAAAAAAEc/MBKnw59x2yw/s1600/DSCN8388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B9h_oWKHHoU/TVNeT-PUjZI/AAAAAAAAAEc/MBKnw59x2yw/s320/DSCN8388.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Or maybe a spatula?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vdQ3ywWoryI/TVNeUw9V6JI/AAAAAAAAAEg/6RnsBScvzMY/s1600/DSCN8389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vdQ3ywWoryI/TVNeUw9V6JI/AAAAAAAAAEg/6RnsBScvzMY/s320/DSCN8389.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Perhaps you need a few of these? We have more than this picture shows.<br />
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And all our knives.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IlFldfQjpQI/TVNeXD3GB8I/AAAAAAAAAEo/QMlS8CQAnGQ/s1600/DSCN8391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IlFldfQjpQI/TVNeXD3GB8I/AAAAAAAAAEo/QMlS8CQAnGQ/s320/DSCN8391.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I think I may keep some of those big knives in case she starts eyeing my games and comics!<br />
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On the plus side, the house looks great!Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-32560560056392747512011-02-02T10:37:00.000-08:002011-02-02T10:37:47.789-08:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Home Work</span></b><br />
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Before the end of the year, Julia's dad moved from his old office space, which he rented, into an office he's sharing with another law firm. That meant he had a whole office-worth of furniture to get rid of.<br />
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We were lucky enough to inherit a new table for Julia's studio (which has come in handy for her new sewing machine), I got a great new desk and mounted wall units, plus, we got a whole mess of cupboards and a nice counter for the garage!<br />
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This last Saturday, Julia's dad and brother came over to help mount all of the cupboards in my office and in the garage, so now it's time to show off the end results!<br />
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Here's my new desk, cupboard, and bookshelf, followed my my old bookcases that have been reorganized to not be quite so overstocked. Oh, we also hung one of my favorite prints on the wall that I've had since my Capital City days. (Click to enlarge.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmjb8S--0I/AAAAAAAAAEM/v-Bw6HYm8ig/s1600/DSCN8370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmjb8S--0I/AAAAAAAAAEM/v-Bw6HYm8ig/s320/DSCN8370.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmjexXjWyI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/EUcz4BllsFU/s1600/DSCN8371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmjexXjWyI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/EUcz4BllsFU/s320/DSCN8371.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The garage now looks amazing and we have a ton of storage space that we haven't really had time to move into. We still have a lot of organizing to do out there, but it looks great! The six hours of work installing everything was certainly worthwhile!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmkJvCFadI/AAAAAAAAAEU/pFYF_x5IMgk/s1600/Garage1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmkJvCFadI/AAAAAAAAAEU/pFYF_x5IMgk/s320/Garage1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmkKmKHBcI/AAAAAAAAAEY/A0Wy5M0yta0/s1600/Garage2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TUmkKmKHBcI/AAAAAAAAAEY/A0Wy5M0yta0/s320/Garage2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Pretty great, huh?Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-87279823854446908692011-01-06T08:10:00.000-08:002011-01-06T08:10:42.737-08:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A Lot Can Happen in Two Months!</span></b><br />
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I was tempted to wait a couple of days and post on the 9th, just so it had been an even two months since my last post, but that seemed a bit silly.<br />
<br />
Anyway, when last I wrote, I was days away from leaving Cryptic and California for my home and wife in Seattle. The move when just fine. I ended up renting a large SUV, loading up all my stuff -- except for the things I either sold or left for the other guy in the house to use -- and left by about 12:30 on Saturday the 13th.<br />
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The drive was fine, especially after the first couple of hours when I made it to I-5, which took me all the way up to Seattle. It's nice when you can get on a road and just go with no need to think about the next turn you have to take.<br />
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After about six hours, I was still feeling pretty good, so I called Julia and told her I was feeling like I might just make the whole trip that night, which would put me in at about 2:00am. The radio didn't come in very well in the mountains, so I picked up a book on tape and also listened to a couple of movies (the SUV had a DVD player for the back seats, so I could listen, but not watch the movies... probably a good thing). I'd estimated pretty well and made it home by about 2:30am and found my lovely wife up and doing housework while waiting for me! That was a nice surprise -- that she was up and waiting, not that she was doing housework. I think that was so she'd stay awake.<br />
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Since then, we've gotten back into the swing of living together again -- for the first time as a married couple! Had Thanksgiving, gotten back into some regular gaming with local friends, traveled to Wisconsin for a nice visit with my family for Christmas, and done a lot of work for my new day job at Green Ronin. It's really been great to be home. Twenty months away was too long.<br />
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I won't make you wait so long for an update next time.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-13761654414095458852010-11-09T22:31:00.000-08:002010-11-09T22:31:53.466-08:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Impending!</span></b><br />
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The big move home is happening in just a couple of days and I'm looking forward to it! All my things are packed away except for just the things I need this week... and that stuff will all be packed up by Friday night/Saturday morning.<br />
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I have a ride lined up to take me to get the rental car on Saturday, too, so I don't have to worry about that. In fact, the guy who's offered to take me is also setting up a good-bye dinner for Thursday night at the local Rock Bottom Brewery. I'm pretty sure everyone who'll be there will be from the groups I've gamed with, but maybe some random work people will make it, too. I think my boss is planning to have a good-bye lunch for me on Thursday as well, so it'll be a busy day of food and good-byes.<br />
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Despite all that, I'll be in the office on Friday until the afternoon when I'll do my exit interview, sign some papers, and collect my last check. Admittedly, as the days go on, it's more and more difficult for me to get out of bed and head into work. I suppose that's not surprising.<br />
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Time for me to take some deep breathes and relax a big before bed. For some reason, the last couple of evenings have felt very stressful to me. I'm sure it's because of the move and leaving work (plus all the work I have going on for Green Ronin, which is actually going quite well), but little panicky feelings have made their home in my stomach and I'm trying not to listen to their whispers. Everything's going to be fine and I know it.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-85537468711446808762010-11-04T22:47:00.000-07:002010-11-04T22:47:41.072-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Playing Along At Home?</span></b><br />
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For those of you playing along at home... Julia and I have been talking over the last couple of weeks and over the weekend we came to a decision. So, I'll be moving home in a couple of weeks. Actually at this point it's only a week and a half away.<br />
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I gave my notice this past Monday and everyone at work was very understanding. They knew my situation and knew I wasn't going to be around forever. They've also been great about helping me get the things I had at the office back to my apartment so I could box them up. As of tonight I have everything home except for a few things that will be easy for me to carry or need to stay until the last day.<br />
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Julia suggested I take the train back instead of renting a car and when I looked into it more I found out it might be possible to do that. On the plus side, it'll probably only cost about $400 and that includes transporting all of my stuff. On the negative side, I'd be limited to a total of six 36"x36"x36" boxes that weigh no more than 50 lbs. That could be tricky as I have fair number of heavy gaming books here. Even so, I'm going to try to box everything up this weekend. Amtrak has boxes for sale and one of the guys from work has agreed to take me to pick them up. Hopefully I won't buy six huge boxes and then not be able to do it, but I guess it's better to take the chance. Plus, I'm kind of excited about taking the train. It's not often that it's the right way to travel.<br />
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Oh, and about the trip. I'd leave San Jose about 8:40 on either Saturday or Sunday (I haven't decided yet) and arrive the next evening around the same time in Seattle. I'd probably pay to get my own room, so that I can sleep with my CPAP machine. I figure that would be for the best because otherwise I'll be snoring and not getting very good sleep, which doesn't sound like fun on a trip like this.<br />
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Anyway, we'll have to see how that works out, but I'd really like to do it that way as opposed to driving for two days by myself.<br />
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As for work, I'll be working full-time as a developer for Green Ronin. I have been doing that work in my free time, but they were cool with me transitioning to full-time and they understand I'll be looking for freelance and full-time work while I'm doing stuff for them. Julia and I will be living like hermits until I can start bringing in some more money again, so finding more work will be a big part of my time.<br />
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Okay, that's enough for now. I may get a chance to post before I leave, but if I don't, the next time you read words here, I'll be back in Seattle. In my home. With my wife. I'm definitely looking forward to that!Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-48559394606755895062010-10-20T23:05:00.000-07:002010-10-20T23:05:58.558-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The Single Best Thing</span></b><br />
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Last time I posted, I forgot to mention the single best thing that happened while I was home, now over a month ago.<br />
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The Sunday night before Labor Day, Julia and I were getting ready to go out for Indian food, which Julia'd been talking about all weekend, when the doorbell rang.<br />
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Julia let them in and it turned out to be Jen and Hays and their daughter Lily along with Mike, Sharon, and their two girls, Clementine and Vivian! And a short while later, Seth and Melissa! Julia had invited them all over for a surprise party for me since I hadn't seen my friends in so long.<br />
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We had a nice potluck dinner, talked a long time, got to enjoy the kids all playing together, and even had some cake! It was great.<br />
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I love my wife.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-62516202384947647702010-10-12T21:36:00.000-07:002010-10-12T21:36:15.476-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Time</b></span><br />
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It's definitely time to post something here. It's been far too long and all I can say is that it hasn't been a good time to write about anything here for one reason or another. Initially it was because I had a couple of job interviews I was excited about, but I didn't want to talk about them here until they happened. Then when they <i>did</i> happen, I didn't want to post about them until I heard back. Then when I heard back, I was very sad because I didn't get either of the jobs. I was more upset about one of them, because it was <i>such</i> a good fit for me, but either of them would have gotten me back to Seattle, which would have been great. That was all resolved last week, so I was in a pretty foul mood for a few days. So, no posts for awhile now. Sorry about that.<br />
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I'm looking for work again in the Seattle area and I'm basically starting from scratch again, so I'll let you know how that goes. Julia and I have discussed some other options as well, but we haven't made any decisions yet.<br />
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Since the last time I wrote here, I think I've gone home three times, maybe four. The first of those weekends Julia and I built a very cool little herb garden right outside our back door. We're both very happy with how it turned out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TLUywTs-BfI/AAAAAAAAAD0/LFavuelh4L4/s1600/DSCN7246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TLUywTs-BfI/AAAAAAAAAD0/LFavuelh4L4/s320/DSCN7246.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The image above is the space before we got started. We'd talked about getting some pavers and extending the patio a bit, but then Julia thought it might be a nice space to have an herb garden with easy access from the kitchen door. We talked a bit and decided to use the leftover rectangular stones you can see lining the path to make a wall and we got to work.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TLUyzK8RfLI/AAAAAAAAAD4/m2_7Y81xWGo/s1600/DSCN7720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TLUyzK8RfLI/AAAAAAAAAD4/m2_7Y81xWGo/s320/DSCN7720.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
The above image is after we'd broken up the dirt with a pick-ax (what fun!), laid down some rocks to help with drainage, covered it up with some compost and topsoil, and were about half-way done with making the garden's wall. Having the edge of the patio to line them against made it pretty easy and we had just a few more stones than we needed, which was great!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TLUy1CZnCEI/AAAAAAAAAD8/NV5rOR49lOA/s1600/DSCN7814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TLUy1CZnCEI/AAAAAAAAAD8/NV5rOR49lOA/s320/DSCN7814.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Here's the end result. More dirt has been added, the wall it finished on three sides and abuts the grass on the back. We transplanted a few things from elsewhere in the garden, mostly herbs (hence the name!), added some stepping stones, and picked up a few more plants to green it up a bit. It looks great and we're both very impressed with out couple days of work. Which is why I'm writing about it.<br />
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One of my trips home was for the company I do a bunch of freelance work for, Green Ronin. We have a yearly summit at which we discuss the next year's schedule and try to get everything in order. We currently have the DC Comics license, so that's been the big time sink for me this year. I <i>love </i>working on it, but wow, there's a lot to do. That's another reason why I've been so lax on posting here; most of my free time is taken up with DC work.<br />
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Our cat, Coco, who was so sick, has pretty much made a full recovery. Julia babied her for a good month or two and just this week she's been back to her normal self. She was very touch-and-go for awhile there and I honestly think she might have starved herself to death if not for Julia's attention. We're both very happy Coco's feeling good again.<br />
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I forgot to post my annual recap of my move out to Seattle at the end of September/beginning of October, but this was my 9th anniversary. And yes, that's still hard to believe.<br />
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Julia's birthday was the beginning of September and I was home for that. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's the weekend we built the herb garden. We also had a nice date or two in the last month, which has been very nice and I think we'll continue that little tradition.<br />
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I'm all over the place in this post, but that's because I'm playing catch-up. Sorry about that. Hopefully things are a bit more normal now, so I'll post with some regularity. I know of a few people who will appreciate that.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-14565813365932644852010-09-12T22:59:00.000-07:002010-09-12T22:59:49.715-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">I Was Going To Be Good</span></b><br />
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I was going to write an update this weekend, but I ended up working on the art order for an upcoming book for Green Ronin. And yes, it took all weekend. I wanted to finish it, but I have three or four more descriptions to come up with, but I ran out of steam.<br />
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I went back to Seattle last weekend and it turns out I get to go again this next weekend, which is a nice turn of events.<br />
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I'll go more in-depth about last weekend soon. Julia and I had a lot of fun.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-70685952533261665582010-08-29T23:18:00.000-07:002010-08-29T23:18:10.751-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Weekends</b></span><br />
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The weekends are always rough for me. I have plenty of time to write up a post, but I rarely feel like doing so. The reason? My weekends aren't very inspiring for me. I get a lot of work done, which is a good thing, but I don't really get to relax or go out and have some fun. Y'know, like most people do. Instead, I stay in my room all weekend, except for a walk to the grocery store.<br />
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That said, last weekend Randy called me up and we went out for dinner at the local Rock Bottom Brewery. That was a nice change of pace and we had a good conversation before heading home again.<br />
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As for other things, Julia continues to take care of our cat. She's a bit better, but still not so much so that we can let her out of the bathroom. She is, however, being very affectionate to Julia, which is a big change.<br />
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My big news in the last couple of weeks is that I managed to get a second monitor for my computer. I'm still pretty excited about that. It was free, too, because work was "decommissioning" it. Something they do from time to time with their older monitors. I have it turned sideways so I can use it for reading PDFs and other full-page documents and I love it.<br />
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This next weekend I get to head back to Seattle for another four-day visit. It's so much nicer to go for that extra day; four days instead of three feels so much longer for some reason.<br />
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The news that concerns me most in the past week is that Dad had a couple of minor strokes in the middle of the night a few days ago. He went to the emergency room in the early morning and after a bunch of tests told him what had happened, but that he was really quite healthy. They gave him some medicines to take, which will hopefully forestall any future problems. They told him that for being 71 he was in really good shape and shouldn't change whatever it is he's doing. So that's good. Anyway, I hope he doesn't go through anything like that again any time soon.<br />
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Time to watch a movie, read some comics, and hit the sack.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-30721545039828644502010-08-17T22:40:00.000-07:002010-08-17T22:40:27.463-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>One Sad Kitty</b></span><br />
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Our cats went to the vet a while ago and we learned they both have (hopefully had, now) Bartonella, which is commonly called Cat Scratch Disease. It's called that because if a human is scratched or bitten by a car with the disease it can cause a nasty welt that can become infected and make you pretty sick. For the cat however, it's a bigger problem because it can cause all sorts of physical problems and even lead to death. It was a good thing they went to the vet.<br />
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The problem is, Coco, which I think of as our "older" cat even though she and Babby are sisters, is very sensitive and a bit of a scaredy cat. She was very unhappy about the three-week course of drugs we had to force her to take and took to hiding from us most of the time. I think the medicine also made her feel pretty icky, so she mostly kept away from us and was a bit gun shy.<br />
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When she no longer had to take the medicine we figured she'd get better and go back to being the sweet cat she normally is, but that hasn't been the case. In fact, she's much worse. She's taken to hiding around the house, sitting like a little cat loaf, wide- and wild-eyed in apparent fear for her life. She won't eat or drink unless the food is directly under her nose -- and I mean that literally, if the food is a foot away from her she won't move to eat. She's had a number of accidents around the house because she's so terrified, which isn't so bad and we've been lucky they haven't been in really bad places.<br />
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We are, of course, more than a little concerned. She's such a sweetheart normally and it really pains us to see her in so much fear and mental pain. We're trying to make her comfortable, control her environment, so we can keep track of how much she's eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom -- and we bought a diffuser that releases a chemical that's supposed to make cats feel safer and more comfortable (a synthetic version of the chemical they excrete when they cheek comb things). We've only had that for a day now and it seems to be helping since she's not quite as wild-eyed.<br />
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We really hope she recovers soon. Apparently this sort of thing isn't uncommon for cats, but this is such a huge change in her personality we're very concerned for her. I can't imagine how unfun it must be to be terrified all the time. So terrified you don't trust anyone, don't want to move, eat, or pretty much anything else. How awful would that be?<br />
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We just want her to be better, so hopefully the things we're doing will actually help her. I'll keep you updated.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210783.post-27224166748345980472010-08-08T19:19:00.000-07:002010-08-08T19:19:53.176-07:00<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Another Visit Home</span></b><br />
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Last weekend I went home for an extended stay. Okay, it was only a single extra day, but Julia and I have found it really makes a difference. Taking Monday off and flying back Tuesday seems to give us enough time to both get things done and relax -- now I just have to figure out how to do those things plus see some friends. I haven't had any real quality time with my friends for, well, about a year and a half. Ugh.<br />
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Since they redesigned the San Jose airport, I've had to leave a bit earlier than before, which means I arrive in Seattle early enough to have dinner with the little lady. This month, like the last couple, we stopped at Genki Sushi in Renton. I'd ordered an anniversary cake from Jen and she was nice enough to drive down to visit with us and visit for a few minutes. I'd told Julia about it ahead of time, just so the handoff was easier -- she loved the sentiment, loved the cake, and loved telling her family about it later in the weekend.<br />
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Friday we were up early to meet Julia's mom to buy me some new clothes -- for the interview I had the following Monday along with a few other shirts and such. Then Julia and I ran a couple of other errands and picked up the makings of a compost bin we'd planned to build this weekend. That went very well, actually, and I managed to dig the holes, plant the posts, wind the chicken wire around it, and staple it into place in about two hours that afternoon. Here are the end results!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TF9ed-W8oII/AAAAAAAAADk/L6bstKrNC2c/s1600/CompostBins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElcCOizwxXY/TF9ed-W8oII/AAAAAAAAADk/L6bstKrNC2c/s400/CompostBins.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The posts are just in dirt, so they're not super sturdy, but they're buried about a foot deep and don't have to stand up to too much abuse, so they should be good. It's hard to tell from this image, but the bin on the left is the "raw" compost (hidden under some loose dirt we threw in there) and the bin on the right is pretty much all dirt (except for a pretty beat up cardboard box that I threw in on Julia's say so). Over the course of the weekend we added a bunch of coffee grounds we picked up from Starbucks. The biggest thing we need to find for these is dead leaves. We don't have a lot of mature trees in the area, so they're hard to come by, but necessary for good compost. Anyway, we were very pleased with how these turned out.<br />
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Saturday was Julia's family reunion, which was held at her parents' place. We arrived around ten-ish for a late breakfast and stayed most of the day. We talked to everyone, celebrated birthday for me and an uncle, then celebrated anniversaries for Julia and I and an aunt and uncle. We played with the kids a lot, too, which was fun, made s'mores, and generally socialized.<br />
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Sunday we must have worked in the garden, because the only thing I can remember specifically doing Sunday is going to eat at a bar in downtown Renton called "A Terrible Beauty." It's an English pub-style place and it had some very tasty food for us. Yeah, we must have worked in the yard. I'm pretty sure I mowed the lawn Sunday, too. (I saw quite a few grasshoppers and little frogs in the grass, too!)<br />
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Monday was my birthday, but I had an interview to go to at 10 o'clock, so I was up, dressed, fed, and out the door relatively quickly so I could make it over to the foot of Lake Union for my appointment. That went well, but I heard a couple of days later that they decided to hold off on filling the position for a few months at least. They did, however, really like me and will contact me if and when that position opens up. As for the rest of the day, we ran some errands, cleaned up, and relaxed. Oh, I also think I broke our vacuum, so next time I'm home I have to open it up and fix it.<br />
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There you go! A long post about my birthday weekend -- and anniversary weekend, since that was July 26th.<br />
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Hopefully I'll have some more things to write about soon. But really, after that compost bin thing, I mean, how can I top that?Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514494951192943458noreply@blogger.com0