ramblings on seattle, travel, fitness, dating, jobs, riding bikes, fibroids, and the entertaining drama that is life
02nd Dec 2008
A few photos from the Vietnam adventure… many more to come eventually!
Mez and I on a hike overlooking gorgeous Halong Bay
Eating street food in Saigon
04th Dec 2008
To heck with planes, trains, and automobiles… we made our way across Vietnam taking advantage of so many different transportation options. In three weeks we took:
3 bus rides (including one sleeper where you lie flat the whole way)
9 taxi trips
1 boat cruise (three days)
2 motorboats
1 kayak trip
3 row boats
1 ferry (with ramp attached)
3 domestic flights
4 international flights (Seattle to Tokyo to Saigon, Saigon to Tokyo to Seattle)
1 cyclo ride (rickshaw on front of bicycle)
2 motorcycle rides
500km on our bicycles (the most fun!)
08th Dec 2008
Time flies, whether you’re having fun or not. :) Luckily, I was surrounded by great people all week, including so many lucky chances to see Caroline! I shall dub this the “Week of Caroline!” It was my first week in town after a month and was scheduled full of good folks. Am still playing catch up with my calendar and probably will be for a while.
Now it’s Monday and I’m off to work where our 9:30am staff meeting will announce layoffs. Can’t say I’m looking forward to going to work today, but such is life in this economy.
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08th Dec 2008
We met and had dinner with Mike in Qui Nhon. He was in Vietnam to find his peace 42 years after the war, and this is part of his story.
Vietnam Vet From Hartland Finds Peace In His Own ‘Valley of Death’
By Susan J. Boutwell
Valley News Staff Writer
http://www.vnews.com/12072008/5223192.htm
On a gray morning last month, Michael Heaney dug below the weeds on a remote Vietnamese hillside and slipped a small military lapel pin into the earth. Then the 65-year-old former Army officer prayed.
“This is for Terry … and for the other nine guys who stayed here that day and who never came home,” he said.
Then considering the Vietnamese men who had led him to the secluded spot, halfway around the world from his Hartland home, Heaney added: “And also for the young Vietnamese boys who died that day, I pray to God, the father of all of us. We are all your children. We are together now, in love and in peace. None of us will ever fight again.”
Heaney, a former platoon leader who 42 years ago saw all 10 of the men under his command gunned down in an ambush by North Vietnamese soldiers, had returned to the land he calls “my valley of death” to reclaim a piece of his soul.
As he traveled to the ambush site with a translator, a Communist party minder and several North Vietnamese veterans, Heaney wrote in his trip journal, “I was in God’s movie, and wondered what the script would have in mind for me.”
The Hartland man, a father of five and a retired lawyer and college history professor, had traveled to Vietnam’s Central Highlands to exorcise a lifetime of sadness and guilt, embarking on a journey he had planned almost since arriving stateside as a badly wounded 23-year-old Army first lieutenant.
Despite the successful professional career and rich family life he built after his tour in Vietnam, Heaney spent countless hours trying to come to terms with the fact that he — unlike many of his Army buddies — had survived Operation Crazy Horse, a firefight so fierce it has been chronicled in military history books.
Heaney’s journey to the hills near the village of Vinh Thanh was his reason for returning to Southeast Asia. But the expedition also taught him more about the battle that ended his Vietnam tour, about war and about the enemy soldiers who killed his men in May 1966.
In addition, the trip bolstered his conviction that there are very few wars worth fighting. “The long-term effect on soldiers and their families is never a factor that’s sufficiently weighed when we’re deciding whether to go to war. It’s ‘Are we going to win? How long will it take? How many casualties?’ ” he reflected upon returning to his Vermont home.
“That’s almost the easy part. The hard part is what about the long-term consequences? Every time you fight a war, you’re consigning a large number of people and their loved ones … to pretty dire consequences — forever.”
‘Screaming Souls’
Before Heaney left Vermont, he had written to a group of North Vietnamese veterans, asking whether they would help arrange a visit to the Vinh Thanh battlefield. He had not heard back before he flew to Southeast Asia and figured he managed to offend the former soldiers, or that perhaps they were suspicious of his motives.
Then, while checking e-mail in an Internet cafe several days after arriving in Vietnam, Heaney received a response.
“We like your idea of reconciliation,” a member of the group wrote.
Heaney traveled to Vinh Thanh, a small settlement outside An Khe, where the First Cavalry had been based in 1966. Not much had changed, he said. He found the rooftop bar where they used to drink Tiger beer, which was still on tap. He found an overgrown asphalt runway where they had landed planes. The strip was now home to squatters who Heaney learned preferred to set up their shacks on pavement, which attracted fewer rats than a grassy foundation.
As Heaney arrived to meet his North Vietnamese counterparts, a dozen or so old fighting men gathered at their veterans headquarters building, lining the stairs and the balcony to greet the American. He was, Heaney said, somewhat embarrassed to be “the talk of the town.”
He stepped into the parking lot, feeling “conspicuously Caucasian,” Heaney wrote in his journal. He looked toward the distant hill, the site of his ambush.
As Heaney and his escorts traveled to the battle site, the morning dawned gray, with low clouds, just as it had on May 16, 1966. The outlines of the hillside and nearby ridges startled Heaney.
“I start getting these very definite vibes, like, oh my, I’ve been here before,” he said in an interview last week. “It didn’t freak me out, but I felt very alert and almost like this whole thing happened yesterday. It’s been 42 years and I’ve had these images in my mind, in my heart, all this time and I really didn’t realize how accurately I had remembered the whole scene. So it was a very, very somber, sobering moment.”
“So there it is, the whole place right in front of me,” he said. “I can see where the helicopters landed. … I’m OK, but it’s a pretty heavy duty moment.”
On that long-ago day, Heaney and his men had gone scouting on what they thought was a “milk run,” a routine mission to scatter a rag-tag bunch of local Viet Cong fighters. Instead, they walked into what soldiers call the killing zone — the trap set for them on the Vinh Thanh hill, not by local gunmen, but by North Vietnamese Army regulars.
After the shooting started, Heaney learned his men were dead when he called for them to pull back into a defensive perimeter, and no one returned. So he called in Army reinforcements, massed down the hill.
Last month, Heaney gave the translator his digital camera to film a video of the return to his dead men. He tucked the First Cavalry Division pin into the dirt to honor the 10 Americans.
Heaney particularly wanted to remember Terry Carpenter, the 19-year-old Ohio radio operator who had been a constant presence at his side during the five months Bravo Company’s third platoon fought together. Heaney was dressed in shorts and hiking boots, which framed his scarred right leg, ripped through by a bullet in the Crazy Horse firefight.
“I was quite full of emotion when I was doing the little ceremony,” Heaney recalled. “But my overriding feeling was, this was so right, this was so appropriate. I’ve done what I came to do. I said goodbye to my guys. I can go on. They can go on. They are no longer abandoned souls up there on a mountainside. They’re free and I’m free. And I’ve sort of kept faith with them. I had a very strong feeling of that.
“The Vietnamese have this term, a phrase; they say ‘screaming souls.’ If people aren’t buried properly or they’re not found, they’re not prayed over when they die, they wander endlessly and they become screaming souls and you can hear them at night screaming. I felt like my guys in some way were these screaming souls because no one had come and said goodbye to them. No one had come and said, OK, it’s over, you can go on to whatever’s next — heaven, peace.
“I felt like that was my job. I was their platoon leader. I loved them. And I know it’s right, because I felt so good about it. I felt empty. It’s a good emptiness, it’s a peaceful emptiness, like a burden I’ve been carrying for so long had been put down appropriately, put down the right way.”
As Heaney looked up from the tiny monument he had brought to his lost men, he saw a peasant woman shuffling past. She carried a heavy load, two baskets suspended from a pole resting on her shoulders. He captured the scene in his journal, writing: “How baffling & curious we must have seemed to her. But she gave no sign of it, and continued on. Perhaps she was carrying the souls of my men — so much lighter & serene now — out of their wilderness, bearing them down from the hill so they could at last begin their joyful journey home.”
The morning’s events taught him “how important these rituals are,” Heaney said.
“Ceremonies, goodbyes, whatever you want to call them, all soldiers try to do this in the field when a unit loses people. Almost always, even if it’s in a dicey situation, they take time out and say their prayers and have a little ritual goodbye. But often it’s hurried and it’s not enough because the sense of loss is so deep that it can’t be handled quickly.”
But the violence on the Vinh Thanh hillside prevented farewells 42 years ago. Men lay dying. The medics were dead and most of the emergency supplies used up. Heaney and many others were badly wounded. Most of the American soldiers thought they would die on the hill, Heaney said.
When the shooting stopped and the NVA regulars retreated — much to the surprise of the Americans — Heaney was among those shuttled to a field hospital. He had to leave his men without a prayer of goodbye.
“In my case, it took decades to get this finished,” he said.
Many Wounds
Heaney crossed his personal finish line with help from an unlikely source: some of the North Vietnamese veterans who belong to the Vinh Thanh District Veterans Organization, including a quiet, diminutive man who was on the other side of the guns during Operation Crazy Horse.
The man contradicted what Heaney said is American lore and military intelligence about the 20-hour battle — that the 150 U.S. reinforcements flooding the hillside to come to the aid of Heaney and his downed men were outnumbered 2-1 by a large North Vietnamese column that had been hunkered down in the hills.
The man told Heaney that there were only about 100 soldiers who had pinned down the Americans, ultimately killing 20 U.S. soldiers and wounding 40, including Heaney.
During a two-hour session with the veterans group, Heaney said, the man “started to tell me about the battle and some of the other fellows talked at him (in Vietnamese) and I think shut him down. What I’m guessing is that he was going into too much detail or may have been heading in that direction and they felt, this guy doesn’t want to hear about Americans you killed.”
But it wasn’t long, he said, before the soldiers began to share stories about the battle in which they and Heaney had fought.
“They wanted to know if I had been wounded. I showed them my wound and I was very proud of that. Thank God I had something to show ‘em. That sort of gave me some authenticity, some credibility.”
One man, the soldier Heaney got to know best, was very interested in his injury. “ ‘Oh, that’s awful. You got so badly wounded,’ ” Heaney recalled the man saying, through a translator. “Then he proceeded to show me his five wounds. He got shot in both shoulders, in both legs and the stomach, at different times, not all at once. So that became a big joke between the two of us.
“Whenever he met me, he would point to my leg and say, ‘Oh, you poor guy,’ ” Heaney said. Then the man he would come to call “Many Wounds” would point to his scars. “Many Wounds would say, ‘I have here, I have here, I have here.’ ”
Secrets
But it wasn’t all lighthearted banter between Heaney and Many Wounds. Heaney said his new friend was trying to understand what had driven Heaney to return to Vietnam. One day, the North Vietnamese soldier asked Heaney: “What are your secrets?”
“That slowed me down, that question,” Heaney said.
“I said, ‘What do you mean? Am I hiding something awful? Are you talking about women? Are you talking about things I’m ashamed of?’ ”
“He wouldn’t answer me. ‘No. Your secrets,’ ” pressed Many Wounds.
“I think it was probably the way his words were translated. I think he was really trying to figure out, what do you really want to get out of this trip? … So I told him the best way I could. I told him what I’ve told everybody. I told him I wanted to find some peace. I wanted to put down a burden I think I’ve been carrying for some time. I wanted to say goodbye to my guys. And once they had a chance to hear some of that, they accepted me fully and accepted that this was a worthy adventure, an expedition, I was on. And they decided they wanted to help me with it. To make it as good as it could be. And they did. That’s exactly what they did. And I think it was good for them too. Because they heard an American acknowledging that this war had been a huge mistake.”
“So they had to think, well if Americans can feel this way, maybe they’re OK after all,” said Heaney.
On that Vietnamese hillside, Heaney was comforted knowing he and his former enemies “had done this thing together,” he wrote in his journal.
“Soldiers are always attracted to places where they’ve spent so much of themselves,” he said. “Part of my heart will always be in that country.”
And Heaney believes the souls of his dead comrades had waited there for him too. “That was their destiny. And I had come for them — to them — for what had been mine, all this time,” he wrote.
Many Wounds later told him that Heaney’s tiny hillside shrine had become a sacred place.
“Sure enough, he knew,” Heaney wrote in his journal. “Soldiers always know.”
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08th Dec 2008
The official notice went out today: I’m laid off as of 12/31/08. We’re a small environmental consulting company with only 26 full time salaried employees (and a handful of part time folks). Four of us (or 15%) were laid off last week and officially announced today.
Needless to say, I’m not excited about the loss of benefits, the loss of health insurance, and the very real potential for debt. I already intentionally live a pretty simple lifestyle… cutting costs more isn’t easy. I already take the bus, share a rented apartment with a roommate, bring my lunch to work, etc. That means my expenses are relatively low, but my unemployment check is expected to be way low. I know I’ll survive, and I like to think many companies would be lucky to have me, but I’m just not excited about the prospect of endless, fruitless job searching in this dismal economy. Alas. Such is my life right now… at least I have my health and a wonderful community to be thankful for.
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10th Dec 2008
Washington generates less waste; recycling about the same
from Office of Communication and Education Ecology’s Home Page:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov
OLYMPIA – Recycling continues to be important to Washington residents, according to new numbers compiled by the state Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology). Although the recycling rate remained the same at 43 percent of municipal waste in 2007, the amount of waste generated per person in Washington declined for the first time in six years. That accounts for 4 million tons of recycled material. We sent a total of 5.3 million tons of waste to landfills.
There was a slight decline in diverting other materials from landfills, such as construction and demolition debris, dropping the total statewide “recovery” of materials from 49 to 47 percent.
“People in Washington are responsible about not sending garbage to a landfill. We think about recycling our garbage,” said Laurie Davies, manager of Ecology’s Solid Waste Program. “But we need to think a lot more about not creating waste in the first place. That means thinking about the products we buy, and how they’re made and packaged.”
From 2006 to 2007, Washington’s population grew an estimated 1.9 percent, according to population forecasters with the Office of Financial Management. In contrast, the amount of garbage produced by each person in the state decreased by 1.4 percent in 2007. Washington residents produced an average of 7.9 pounds of waste per person each day in 2007, compared to 8.0 pounds a day in 2006.
Many gains were made in materials collected as part of curbside recycling programs, such as glass, cans and plastic. Ecology officials say this is due to an increased number of curbside collection programs that mix materials for collection — that is “commingling” recyclables in one bin. These programs increase convenience and generally collect more materials than systems requiring separation into many different bins. Additionally, gains were made due to better resale markets for the materials.
Re-using, recycling and otherwise diverting materials such as asphalt, concrete, land-clearing debris, carpet, furniture, and paint helps to ease pressure on landfill space. Increased disposal of construction, demolition and excavation wastes sent to landfills caused the “recovery rate” for these items to decrease. Added to the officially counted recycled items, the statewide rate of materials diverted from landfills dropped from 49 percent in 2006 to 47 percent in 2007.
“We could do better at diverting construction and demolition related materials from landfills,” Davies said. “One of our top priorities to reduce waste in Washington is encouraging and requiring more green building practices. When these programs achieve greater success, not only will they reduce wastes going to landfills, but they will also help stimulate the economy, providing green jobs and environmentally safer homes.
“Recycling becomes especially important as we enter economically challenging times,” Davies said. “We can generate less waste and take advantage of the economic benefits that go along with that by paying more attention to purchasing decisions in our homes and businesses.” Not only can recycling help reduce disposal costs for a household or a business, but recycling actually stimulates the economy and supports more jobs than landfilling waste.””
Davies said Washington residents can also make a difference by being mindful of waste we produce away from home – when shopping or making food purchases. Workplaces can cut paper waste by relying more on electronic documentation and using recycled paper in copy machines and printers. Cutting waste can be a money-saving action, both for households and businesses.
A 1989 Washington state law established a statewide recycling goal of 50 percent.
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11th Dec 2008
Seattle Public Utilities Advises Protect Pipes, Outside Faucets with Insulated Coverings
SEATTLE — With the National Weather Service forecasting freezing weather moving into Seattle late this weekend, Seattle Public Utilities is advising residents of actions they can take to prevent burst pipes and costly repairs.
Seattle Public Utilities says freezing temperatures often results in broken pipes, flooding and damage to private property. That can mean huge repair bills for property owners, well beyond the cost of a plumber’s visit.
And, while that leak is being repaired at your own expense, you might have to go for a while without water.
Here is a list of tips that can help prevent costly damage and repairs to your home—and keep you safe on the streets:
• Prepare your water pipes for cold weather, ahead of time. Shut off outside faucets, drain the water and protect them by insulating them with rags or foam covers. Pipes in exposed or unheated areas (attics, basements and garages) should be wrapped with tape and insulating materials, available at local hardware stores. Drain and remove all outdoor hoses, and shut off and drain in-ground sprinkler systems.
• Once it drops below freezing, protect indoor sink pipes that are against exterior walls, by opening under-sink cabinet doors, allowing heat to circulate. During severe cold, allow the faucet farthest from your front door to slowly drip cold water. Set your thermostat no lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit, day or night (even if you are away).
• Do not leave water running in unoccupied buildings.
• Please don’t use hair dryers to thaw frozen pipes!
• If a water pipe breaks, immediately close the main shut-off valve to stop excessive flooding. If you cannot turn off the main shut-off valve, SPU customers can call (206) 386-1800 and a crew will turn off the water at the meter for a standard service charge.
• In the event of snow, residents are asked to help keep street drains clear by removing snow and other debris — if it can be done safely. As the snow melts, blockages in the gutters or drains will hinder runoff, increase the risk of flooding, and make the morning commute more difficult.
• If an inlet or street drain appears to be blocked by snow or debris, try to safely clear a channel to provide a path for the runoff. If the drain cannot be cleared, or if the cause of the blockage or flooding is uncertain, call Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) at (206) 386-1800.
Heavy rain following closely after heavy snowfall can increase the chance of landslides due to soil saturation that reduces slope stability. Property owners on slopes are advised to clear both drains on their buildings and storm drains near their property. If a landslide damages your property and you have an immediate concern for your safety, leave the premises and call 9-1-1.
Seattle property owners with structures affected by or endangered by a landslide may contact the Department of Planning and Development at 206-684-7899, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., for a rapid evaluation of damage. Such evaluations are not meant to provide a comprehensive assessment, which will need to be completed by a private structural or geotechnical engineer.
Learn more at http://www.seattle.gov/util/
In addition to providing more than 1.3 million customers in the Seattle metropolitan area with a reliable water supply, SPU provides essential sewer, drainage, solid waste and engineering services that safeguard public health, maintain the City’s infrastructure and protect, conserve and enhance the region’s environmental resources.
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13th Dec 2008
Last night M and I actually made it out to a nice dinner. While it used to be easy to get dinner and go out socially on a Friday night, it feels like kind of thing hasn’t happened in ages. It was my first time at Etta’s (my second Tom Douglas experience) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a fantastic bread salad with butternut squash for the appetizer, the Dungeness crab cakes, green cocktail sauce, kale, and crispy fries for the entree, and M and I split the famous coconut cream pie for dessert. Yum. Then he was so tired we skipped the art opening and went home and went straight to sleep.
Etta’s Seafood
2020 Western Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
Cross Street: Virgina & Lenora
(206) 443-6000Etta’s Seafood showcases the culinary flair of Chef Tom Douglas for every kind of seafood imaginable. From the classic fish & chips to live crab, lobster, pit-smoked salmon and Tom’s famous crab cakes, Etta’s extensive menu features superlative seafood. Situated near Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market, Etta’s Seafood offers both tourists and locals a rich experience of the best seafood in Seattle.
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14th Dec 2008
Last year I spent my birthday in severe pain after my fibroids surgery, groggy in bed, drugged out on pain meds in my parents guest room. This year is about 500 times better. :) Last night was expected to be snowy in Seattle and the snow was delivered as scheduled. M and I decided to hole up at his house with hot cocoa and a fire in the fireplace. I invited a few friends over last minute and it turned into an impromptu cozy little party, which at some point was later declared to be my birthday party. The gathering was small and lovely and so great to be cozy with friends on a cold winter night. Thanks M, Lesley, Clayton, Mars, Ava, Simon, Barry, Maja, Lars, Jenni, and Mason for the warm wishes! And thanks for indulging the early birthday celebration!
15th Dec 2008
This study in this Associated Press article states the obvious: if you walk, bike, or take public transit, you’re more likely to be healthy than people who drive everywhere. But it’s still kind of nice to see it in print, and to know for a while there I was in the 1% of the nation who bikes as a form of “active transportation.” I guess if I’m unemployed at the end of this week, I’ll have even more time for riding around town (perhaps I’ll wait till the snow melts down a bit). :)
Study: Leaner nations bike, walk, use mass transit
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
December 15, 2008
Jim Richards is no kid, but he loves to ride his bike. At 51, he has become a cycling commuter, pedaling 11 miles from his home in the suburbs to his job in downtown Knoxville.
“It really doesn’t take that much longer” than driving, he insists.
And he gets 40 minutes of exercise twice a day without going to the gym, which he attributes to a 20-pound weight loss.
New research illustrates the health benefits of regular biking, walking or taking public transportation to work, school or shopping. Researchers found a link between “active transportation” and less obesity in 17 industrialized countries across Europe, North America and Australia.
“Countries with the highest levels of active transportation generally had the lowest obesity rates,” authors David Bassett of the University of Tennessee and John Pucher of Rutgers University conclude.
Americans, with the highest rate of obesity, were the least likely to walk, cycle or take mass transit, according to the study in a recent issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. The study relied on each country’s own travel and health data.
Only 12 percent use active transportation in the United States — 9 percent walk, 1 percent ride a bike and 2 percent take a bus or train — while a quarter to a third are obese, the study said.
By comparison, 67 percent of commuters in Latvia, 62 percent in Sweden and 52 percent in the Netherlands either walk, bike or use mass transit. Latvia’s obesity rate is 14 percent, the Netherlands’ is 11 percent and Sweden’s is 9 percent.
A similar pattern was found in Canada (19 percent active transportation, 23 percent obese) and Australia (14 percent active transportation, 21 percent obese).
Overall, Bassett said, “Europeans walk three times as far and cycle five times as far as Americans.”
The authors say it’s more than lifestyle choices that lead Americans to use their cars more. Europe’s compact, dense layout and infrastructure are more conducive to getting around without a car.
Europeans on average walk 237 miles and cycle 116 miles per year; U.S. residents walk 87 miles and bike 24 miles. Bassett and Pucher calculated that translates into burning off 5 to 9 pounds of fat annually for Europeans compared to only 2 pounds for Americans.
While the analysis doesn’t prove that transportation keeps obesity levels down “they make an excellent case,” said Susan Handy, who heads the Sustainable Transportation Center at the University of California at Davis.
“The question, then, is what do we do?” said Handy, who was not involved in the study. “How do we get more people walking and bicycling in the U.S.?”
Anne Lusk, a research fellow at Harvard School of Public Health, said the study’s results make sense.
“What I found most exciting about this excellent research is the applicability,” she said. “The issue then becomes should we improve our transit, walking or bicycling opportunities simultaneously or should we focus on one of the three?”
Lusk said her first choice is bicycles — and not just because of global warming, fluctuating gas prices or the economic downturn. When Dutch researchers asked people to match emotions with various forms of travel, she said, “The greatest emotion was joy for bicycling.”
Richards rekindled his love affair with a two-wheeler a few years ago while visiting bike-friendly Sweden.
Back home, he has a couple of things going for him. Richards lives in a medium-size Southern city where police officers can be found patroling on bikes and the mayor sometimes cycles to city hall.
The car is still king here, like most places in the United States, but Knoxville has developed a 41-mile greenway system that keeps Richards mostly on paved trails and off city streets.
He also works for an environmentally conscious employer. The country store-themed Mast General Stores of Valle Crucis, N.C., pays Richards and his co-workers $4 a day to ride, walk or catch a bus rather drive than their car.
After a year, his annual checkup shows the results: his heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol all are down.
“I just love riding,” he said. “It’s like a double-shot of caffeine in the morning.”
16th Dec 2008
After my fantastic impromptu birthday on Saturday, I went to bake cookies and trim the tree at Maggie’s on Sunday. I don’t decorate or do much around my apartment for the holidays, so it was really quite nice to spend an afternoon in Christmas-land. Maggie and Jim have a cozy home, Christmas music, live tree, tons of decorations, Christmas aprons (hilarious), chili, and a gorgeous kitchen Kim and I could use for baking sugar and frosting sugar cookies. Maggie and Jim also have six year old Ian who helped trim the tree, tap danced on the rug, and helped me cut out the sugar cookies… super fun. :) Good times!
Last night was my holiday party at work… a somewhat awkward affair that left some coworkers without cheer after the layoffs last week. Some boycotted, but I opted to go for a while and put on a happy face. I went, snacked, chatted, and ducked out early when the song books were handed out. I’m all about glad tidings and cheer, but a forced sing-a-long while the seven year olds sing and accompany your coworkers playing flute, piano, and guitar just seemed a bit much last night. Luckily, Dieter and Emily were sneaking out too so I not only got to leave early, I got a lift back to Fremont and avoided the long, icy, freezing bus ride home. Success!
Tonight is travel stories dinner with Mags and Jim followed by girls craft night at Caroline’s place. At some point I really must finish health insurance planning and prepping for the holidays, but at least I know my doctors visits are done and my gift shopping for M’s sister is done. :) Yay progress!
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16th Dec 2008
I’ve got a long backlog of photos to post, but here are a few from last month’s Thanksgiving mixer.
Eva and Lelsey
Gary and Jaime
Me and Lars
Chilling in the basement
Me and Molly
Damien and Rose
Me and Rose
Me and M
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17th Dec 2008
Jane and I have been friends since I moved to Texas in second grade. I suspect that makes her one of my longest friendships with someone I’m still in touch with and still try to visit when I’m in Houston. I couldn’t be more excited for the arrival of her beautiful baby girl. Congrats Jane and Kevin!
19th Dec 2008
Funny how the snow combined with our current state of mind can be either the most fantastic thing or just awful. For me, the snow was frustrating yesterday… I went in to work and then couldn’t get from downtown to M’s last night. There wasn’t a single bus that would still go anywhere near his place… all were rerouted into different neighborhoods and stayed way away. Needless to say, after a day of feeling awful at my laid off job, the snow just left me feeling abandoned and stranded. :( Accidents everywhere. Buses stranded everywhere. Roads galore closed. I went home alone to my place and was a mess. And now it’s 7:15am and I’m going back in again today for an 8am meeting. Doesn’t feel like a healthy decision to continue working there right now, even if the money will help keep me out of debt while I look for a new job. We’ll see. Many decisions need to be made… this is just one among a long list…
Posted in Environment, Seattle, health | Comments Off
19th Dec 2008
I just sent Antoun a note about maybe crashing on his couch in January while I’m on some contract work in SF, and Gmail ads helpfully offered the following links. Guess as long as I’m unemployed these are going to be the links I get for a while? How (un)inspiring.
Govt Training Courses
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GovernmentTrainingExchange.comWrongful Discharge
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www.business.comOriginal Yellow Letter
Don’t settle for an immitation buy John’s Original Yellow Letter here
www.yellowletter.comTermination Guide FREE
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19th Dec 2008
Today was my official last day of work in the office. To celebrate, I had meetings starting at 8am. Whee. I’ve got a little contract work for Jan on my plate that’ll send me to SF for two weeks, but am otherwise about to embark on the wonderful world of being unemployed. Wish me luck with the job search (and not going into debt!). Dates to know…
12/20: I go to Florida to meet M’s family for the first time.
12/22: I turn a year older!
12/25: Christmas!
12/28: Return to Seattle.
12/31: Party in Seattle for NYE!
1/12: Fly to SF for contract work.
1/24: Return to Seattle.
On a travel tangent… Chris just had his photos accepted into the Lady Bird Wildflower Center in Austin! So super exciting! This will be his first public showing and I’m quite proud! He’ll be showing at the Art and Artisans Festival from March 21-22 and I think that sounds like a lovely time for me to schedule a visit to Austin. Hope the timing works out with unemployment and frequent flier miles!! Yay Chris! Yay visiting friend and family in Austin!
Art and Artisans Festival
The annual Wildflower Days celebration begins with the Art and Artisans Festival devoted to arts, crafts and nature. March 21-22, 2009 This early spring event features the work of local artists and artisans, all working with a nature theme. You will find watercolors, metalwork, pottery, jewelry, photography, woodwork and more, all lovingly made by hand. The festival is open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
20th Dec 2008
Missed our 7am flight, left house in the 8am hour for the airport, couldn’t get both of us on standby for the past two flights, crowds are feisty, now in our next long line waiting for standby on tonight’s redeye at 1:10am to Houston. All the while watching the lines grow even longer, the flights cancel, and winter storm reports that promise even more snow tonight and rare blizzard conditions in Seattle. If we don’t eventually get one of these standby flights, the first available flight with room is on Wednesday. Arg. Let the holiday fun begin…
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27th Dec 2008
Time in Naples has flown by this week. We’ve spent a portion of every morning lounging around the condo, and spent a portion of every afternoon at the beach or at the pool. We’ve walked through the mangroves, walked on the beach, shopped, saw the Holiday Pops concert at the Naples Philharmonic Hall, ate a lovely dinner at Trilogy, ate lovely home cooked dinners here at the condo, seen a few movies (Slumdog Millionaire, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Total Recall, Mamma Mia!), visited the Pier, seen the outside of Tom’s condo and house, and went deep sea fishing (I caught a few and threw them all back in). Also got to see dolphins a few times. Oh, and, you know, I met M’s family for the first time. :) They’re nothing less than intimidating in concept but are incredibly sweet, gracious, and generous in real life. Now I know where M gets some of his generous streak! We celebrated my birthday, Christmas, and his mom’s bday too. It was good times and a successful visit! Many, many thanks to M for a great week together! And many, many holiday greetings to my own fam back in Texas and friends all about!
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29th Dec 2008
I think generosity runs in the family… I can see now where M gets it from. He’s always been super generous and his parents last week were incredibly gracious and generous hosts for both my birthday and Christmas. For my birthday they gave me jewelry. For Christmas, they gave me travel and photography books, beautiful silver jewelry (M’s sister has great taste!), and a super soft scarf. Super sweet and generous, right? But as if that wasn’t enough, they also gave me a brand new Nikon D60 digital SLR camera (complete with two lenses). Whoa! I’ve barely had my Nikon D50 from Chris for a year and now I’m the owner of an even newer DSLR? I continue to feel incredibly grateful for my generous friends and family, good fortune, and good luck, though I don’t really believe I deserve this much generosity. Two digital SLRs in two years seems too lucky for little old me. Here’s the newest camera in my growing collection:
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31st Dec 2008
As the year comes to an end after the holiday season, I’ve been thinking about resolutions and what comes next. I’m not actually sure I made resolutions last year while I was drugged out and recovering from surgery. If I did make resolutions, I suspect they were broad and that I probably accomplished them. Perhaps:
I’m still not sure of my resolutions for the new year yet. Somehow life seems a little harder right now. My to do list is not exactly a fun one right now: apply for unemployment, make a new resume, figure out career direction, apply for jobs, try not to spend down all of my savings, go to the gym more, try not to let the uncertainty of unemployment stop me or paralyze me from making decisions for my future, etc. I guess I’d rather not focus on the deficits (no job! no money! no stability!) and instead would rather focus on this as an opportunity to start fresh with the new year tonight.
I continue to be grateful to have all of you in my life… to have so many wonderfully caring, creative, generous, adventurous kind souls to support me and inspire me. I’ll definitely be thinking of you as I go forward into the new year tonight. I hope you’ll keep me in your thoughts too!
xoxo,
Cat
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