big bad ugly

One of the greatest joys of an office stiff is to find that we have been granted the almost holy three day weekend. With all of our advancements in technology, why we haven't all moved to the four day work week, I cannot comprehend! But I digress.

Day 1 - big bad ugly, target, tour:

I was asked if I would be willing to video tape a surf contest on saturday that is called "the big bad ugly" it is called this because the weather usually really sucks this time of year, and the waves at this one spot do get pretty tall.

So I got my ass up at like 6am - which really is a crime on a weekend morning and dragged myself to get hot drinks before heading over to meet my friends and get to work filming. Although rediculously cold, it was a surprisingly clear and sunny sky, especially considering that the weather guesser said it would rain all day.

After filming for a few hours, the storm began blowing in around us, the clear sky gave way to thick dark clouds crowding in and we could actually see the rain falling out on the ocean horizon. When BAM, insane gusts of wind that were almost too much to stand safely in, huge raindrops that we realized were actually hail upon closer inspection, and just all manor of chaos seemed to just explode out of the sky.

Scrambling to get the electronic equipment out of the water and into a dry place while remaining upright, wrestling with my umbrella against the wind and trying not to fall into a puddle was probably quite a sight, however, it was when the wind brutally ripped the umbrella out of my hand, lifted it high over the spectating crowd and then into the ocean right where the surf competition was happening, that everyone is STILL talking about...

So, fully drenched, wind whipping my wet hair into my face, I made the executive decision to get the hell out of there and told my friend to meet me at my house. We tracked heavy, sandy mud everywhere while trying to get into the house, out of the weather, out of the wet clothes and into dry clothing!

It was at this point that we realized it was only 10:30 in the morning! So, we decided it was a good day for a shopping day at "tarjjjaaay" (Target) but on the way, it began to hail again and we noticed there was actual snow in our hills and we decided to stop at the local restaurant to get something to eat, take pictures of the rare snowy hillside and let the storm pass. It was there that we ran into one of the owners, who is also a friend, and is in the process of building a new business very near to the Target store (about 30 minutes away). We mentioned we were planning a trip out there as soon as we finsihed lunch and invited us to stop by the new place and take a tour of the progress they have made.

They are opening the new place on St. Patrick's Day - appropriate since it is an Irish Pub & Grill. After several hours in Target, a few hundred dollars lighter, and many cabinets heavier, we stuffed everything into the trunk and went to get some dinner. The restaurant we chose is right next to the new place, so we stopped in as soon as we finished eating.

The new place is very cool, it has an antique bar, sidewalk seating, a huge covered outdoor dancefloor and stage, a patio with fire pits and there is just a generally good vibe to place. Add that the owners have been good friends to me, good customers of my side business and have been working night and day to open on time, and it was hard not to be terribly excited for them.

Truthfully, I feel honored that they have shared so much of their dream with me. It was about a year ago that they told me how they have always wanted to own an Irish Pub and then in mid December that they told me that had purchased a new place and that they wanted me to help them. I did a walk through of the building when they closed escrow and here we are less than a month away from the grand opening.

That was day one of the three day weekend!

Day 2 - putter, build, build, build, organize

So, I spent Sautrday building the new shelves I had purchased the day before. My house is very old and the rooms are fairly small, my kitchen us an odd very narrow room with a tiny ancient stove, horribly dark and poorly designed cabinets, faded wood paneling walls, saved only barely by a beautiful bay window that has shelves built in for growing plants indoors at the end closest to the front of the house.

The shelves will serve multiple puposes, storage, decoration, hiding the hideous walls and lightening the room up a bit. It took me all day to put them all together and to get everything I had taken out of the kitchen back in, but I did manage to get it all done. I am quite pleased with the results so far, and very much looking forward to having more time to continue my early spring cleaning.

Day 3 - nada - tea, read a book - fabulous!

It is very rare that I allow myself to just "do nothing," it seems there is a never ending list of things I am always behind on at any given moment. But I decided to think of Monday as a "free" day. It was still pretty cold, but very clear and sunny. I drove into town and got a hot tea and then took out a new book and parked myself on the breaker wall on the beach and read for about 3 hours. It was just so lazy and lovely, and seemed so decadent. As always in a town so small, I ran into several firends and aquaintences along the way and ended up going in to our little bar to have an adult beverage and an appetizer with a couple of friends.

I was home by 5:30pm and decided to make a big batch of chicken tortellini soup, since it seemed like the perfect end to a slightly chilly day. When finished, I ate a big bowl and watched Sunday night TV and promptly fell asleep on the couch!

It was definately one of the nicest, most relaxing weekends I have had in a long time. Again, why can't we go to the four day workweek?

Ciao!

Things in my pocket

Recently, I have unconsciously started the habit of folding things up and placing them into one of my pockets, most often my jeans. By itself, this isn't so bad, especially when its money, it's like your washing machine becomes the magical ATM, but moments ago I made a grim discovery. I was placing my hands into my back pockets as I began a chat with a co-worker and my fingers encountered a papery substance that I then pulled out. I discovered a condensed wad of been through the machine pressed and dried pulp. At first, I chuckled and thought, "oh look, I have accidentally washed something!" and then the realization hit, "oh shit, what did I wash!?"

I conduct a fair amount of my side business networking in my non office hours, and often get potential client phone numbers and email addresses via small pieces of paper that are easily found to scribble quickly on. I do this so often, that I literally have absolutely no idea what or who may have been on this little mashed up wad. Just the deduction alone of trying to figure out, when I last wore these particular jeans prior to washing them will take many more minutes than I have in any given day.

A few times, when this has occasionally happened on the past, I have been fortunate enough to have been able to ever so carefully seperate the pressed sheets and if the implement was a ballpoint pen, recover what was written. The item I found today, sadly, is unrecoverable. The overwhelming feeling that I have lost something important is drving me a little crazy but the idea that I may let a client down or have lost precious business is just making me ill. Argh!! Yet another bad habit I must conquer! :O)

What really floors me about this is that I can't seem to get the most basic cleansing of the most superficial spots on my clothing in my washing machine, yet a carefully folded piece of paper trapped inside of two pieces of clothing comes out pristine.

Unfreakingbelievable!

I wish you love

Happy Valentines Day!

the extra large football game

At first, it was a little hard for me to get excited about a superbowl that did not include the Raiders, but I found reasons to support the teams that were going.

Seattle is near and dear to my heart, my Aunt and her family live there and I have visited many times. In fact, I was there visiting a few years ago when they demolished the old superdome, making way for the new one, which seems to have inspired the team.

And Pittsburg is a neighbor to the town where my Stepdad grew up, and he is passionate about the Steelers. My stepdad is a really cool guy, and there isn't much that he really gets excited about, so I was just excited for him.

So, I went into the game feeling like it would be nice if either team won, and it would be a little sad for the losing team. It was a decent game, and I was correct, it was good that the Steelers won and a little sad that Seattle didn't. But the real bummer, is how much controversy has been flying around since. I have seen many stories about how the rules need to change, that Seattle got robbed, that Pittsburg should feel a hollow victory, etc. Since I would have been happy either way, I feel impartial - yes there were some questionable calls, but I am not a referee and I don't have access to the video footage they do, so I have to trust them to do their best. It isn't good for anybody, to Monday morning referee. Instead, why not focus on how to make improvements going forward.

Like making sure the Raiders are at the Super Bowl next year - heh heh :)

When I grow up, I want to be him

The Dali Lama seems to me to be the most peaseful and truly joyful man. Just looking at the happiness radiating in his face makes me smile. I would love to have that serenity and that kind of pure joy.