Kingfisher Cove

Looking at the Weekend

I’m actually not 100% certain if we’re going to Harstine this weekend. But I’m assuming we are. (Guess JDub and I need to touch bases!  Uhm, Sweetie?) I do have plans into early Friday evening, though – I’m meeting my coworker friends at a “martini bar” called “The Blue Olive”. It’s supposed to be quite an interesting place, complete with ice wells (somehow) at your table to keep your drinks frosty-cold. I can’t quite picture this, but I’ve been assured it’s way cool (ha, as ice tends to be...). I’ll bring my camera and try to capture the ambiance. And as usual, I’m looking forward to seeing da girls! Find out what other proposals and action items that Micrmngr Boss Bitch has f’d up.

So today, in anticipation of probably heading to Harstine, I bought groceries for the weekend, and I’ve got a flank steak marinating. (Even if we don’t go, we can still have flank steak for din-din!) I’ve decided I’m going to bring the butterfly garden stake and “plant” it somewhere in our little landscaped area. I’m really not worried about it being stolen or anything because of that security gate that was installed last year. Keeps out the “riff-raff”. Ha. Actually, the island is kind of known for a certain riff-raffy population, because of a prevalent methamphetamine problem. That problem is actually so prevalent in many areas, that grocery/drug stores now lock up OTC cold medications because their ingredients are used to make meth. A couple of weeks ago I needed some decongestant, and even just purchasing the store brand I had to sign a form and show my drivers’ license, and the checker had to retrieve it for me from the locked case. Made me feel kind of weird. Almost guilty!

I finally finished my creepy book, and now I’m ready to start in on “Rattled”. It’ll be so refreshing to read something light and airy! God, that was a dark book. I’d have a hard time recommending it. Makes me wonder about the author and whether he was acting out some twisted fantasy by writing it. It’s true that the uber-bad guys got what they deserved, but the guy dishing out the “punishment” stooped pretty much to their level. It did have a surprise ending, though.

I love ICQ! I’ve been carrying on a 4-way conversation with my former coworkers, which we do pretty frequently. I just sit here at my computer and cackle.

Hmmm...

I have a phone-interview this coming Monday afternoon -- for yet another competitor of my former company.   Could be interesting.  It would be a bit of a commute, but maybe not terrible because it's in the opposite direction of the mass flow of traffic (heading into and out of Seattle).   I have mixed feelings.  Yes, I need to get back work, I know.   But God, I dread it.  The politics, the idiots, the stress, the "Twilight Zone".  Every time I move on to a new company, I think to myself:  "Maybe this will be different!  Better!  Maybe I'll even retire here!"  Yeah, right.   Whatever.

Thumb is still an issue -- the glass splinter is apparently still in there.  But, it does feel a little better than yesterday so maybe it's on the mend.  There's still not much I can do with that damned thumb, though, without gasping in PAIN.

I still haven't hopped in the shower since going to Curves this morning, so I'd better go do that.

I'm Kind of a Slug

This morning I had my sorta/kinda job interview. Knowing that it really wasn’t a true interview, it was a pretty stress-free way to dip my toes into the interview waters. The reason why it wasn’t a true interview is because they aren’t looking to hire right now, but probably will be in the next six months or so because their office is moving to larger digs and they’re in a growth process. It could be sooner than six months because I did mention that I’d be interested in working part-time. I think that would be really nice, kind of the best of both worlds. It’s such a burn-out field, that not having to contend with it 40+ hours/week would provide some breathing space. And I think I could still make enough for it to be beneficial to the household and have some personal play money, although I’d likely not be able to go back to having a house cleaner. Sigh.

Anyway, yes, there were questions about my previous employment (this firm’s competitors), and I was careful to not be too forthcoming about specific details. However, it was important to me for this guy to understand that although my previous experiences weren’t terrible (ha), there were issues in the processes of pursuing business development opportunities with these firms that I’d prefer were improved upon, such as cooperation from technical staff; better communication, such as actually reading emails; a mutual understanding of expectations; and a solid and respectful appreciation of architectural & engineering marketing – that the people who choose to do this are a unique and pretty talented breed that do not deserve to be looked upon as wasteful overhead.

Truth be known, I’m not so sure I sold myself all that well. I express myself 100% better in writing than I do verbally. I’m quite shy, although I do have a sardonic sense of humor that may or may not be appropriate at times, and I don’t think as quickly on my feet as I wish I could. (I so admire people who do!) But, we’ll see. I know that I didn’t come across as a total dweeb or anything, but I’m also aware these days that I’m no cute young thing anymore. (Not that I was ever “all that and a bag of chips”, but the youth thing was generally pretty playable, especially with stoic engineers). It’s a strange place to be.

So, other than poking at my sore thumb (I will say that I’ve had some progress, without getting graphic about it. Hey, Cutco knives have a whole ‘nother selling point!), I haven’t done much else today (it’s hot in this house again, although a new thermostat is on its way). I’m still reading my frightening book – Donn Cortez’ “The Closer”. I don’t know how many times I’ve said to myself, “I can’t read this anymore, it’s just too awful.” But it’s kind of like passing a nasty accident on the highway – you can’t help but look. (I won’t look, I won’t look. Then you do). This story is definitely well-written (that’s not the issue), but it’s so much more frightening and graphic and horrifying than any Stephen King or Dean Koontz book, because it’s about real (although fictional) people who are more evil than anything King or Koontz could dream up in the occult world. Jeeze. But I’ve just gotta know how it ends! THEN I can begin my Amazon pile.

Self-Surgery is Probably NOT a Good Idea

It looks kind of like a plantar's wart.  (Ever had one of those?  OH. MY. GOD.)  Well, and this feels a lot like a plantar's wart, only worse, because my entire thumb is throbbing!  And every time it tries to use itself (which thumbs are known to do, and often), it about knocks me to my knees. 

What we have here is a festered glass splinter.  (From the before-mentioned uhm, project, that I promised wouldn't be mentioned again).  JDub suggested I take a heated pin and try....you know.  Eeeww!  But, the pain is so ungodly that I figured it couldn't really hurt much worse.  Right?  And then relief will follow.  Right?

Wrong!  Hasn't happened!  Hurts worse than ever!  About died when I took the pin and....you know. 

Good thing I don't have to use that thumb to hit the space bar.

I'll Bet You're Sick & Tired of Reading About Butterflies

Just one more post about it, I promise!  I'm pretty sick of this butterfly myself!  I just finished dealing with another brain fart faux paux -- the damned thing was TOO BIG* for the garden stake (or the hangy thingie, which are the same diameter).  So I had to do a bunch of grinding of the edges to get it to fit, and this was after it was totally done and polished and READY.  So I had to pull off the solder and foil along the edges and make another grinding mess (ground and wet glass spattered everywhere), and then I realized I had to also grind some of the soldered end-seams, which was no fun a'tall. 

But yes, I do love doing stained glass!  If it was simple and a no-brainer, I'd be bored.  Right?

So, ta-da.  It's even sunny out so you can see the colors pretty well.

*Why?  I think because the soldered seams were heavier than I anticipated, which took up more space and made the circle "grow".  Also because I have absolutely no spatial ability! At least this faux paux was fixable.

I'm a Foilin' Fool

I'm taking a break -- I'm a little over half finished with foiling, but man!  Those little pieces are killer.  I'm pretty sure that my thumb/wrist issue is probably arthritis.  I am, after all, an old fart.  (See below).  I need to either 1) take some ibuprofen and continue onward-ho, or 2) go take a nap.  Which is what JDub is doing right now, and it looks quite inviting.

Later ~ Heh heh.  Not only did I finish foiling, I also soldered the sucker!   Once again, I can barely unfurl my hands.  Plus, I have a tiny little glass sliver that must be in there a ways and it hurts like a sonofabitch.   I am SUCH a whiner.  I do know this.

So this is pretty much all I've done today.  Well, that and laundry.  And I did cook spaghetti for dinner (rah).  Tomorrow I will apply patina and then silicone it into the garden stake.  It would be nice if the sun would come out for a bit so I could get a good picture of it.

Now I'm off to watch Grey's Anatomy. It's a rerun but we haven't seen it before because we discovered this show later in the year.  (We love Grey's Anatomy!)

We're Becoming Old Farts

Well, I guess we're already there.  We "arrived" some time ago, truth be known.  But there are days when it really hits home.  Like today.

We grabbed the weenies and headed to JDub's parents' house and enjoyed a nummy lunch -- and JDub hooked up their new DVD player.  Then we headed to Harstine to spend the rest of the afternoon.  The sun was out and we took a beach walk and between the two of us, we found 28 agates.   I've really got to get a picture of all the Harstine agates -- it's a pretty impressive MOUNTAIN.  I need some kind of unique glass container to store/display them in.  [Note to self:  Keep an eye out].   About 4:00, we decided that a nap would be a pleasant thing, so we laid out our pillows and blankets on our respective couches and the weenies played musical-couches before finally settling down with JDub.  I left the trailer door open because it was so pretty out, and laying there I could see the trees and water and blue sky.  Then the next thing I knew, it was dark, cold, and three hours later!  Jeeze.  I guess maybe all that fresh air made us sleep like the dead old farts?

Other than the fact that there was a splash of bird shit on the log beneath the bird feeder, there was no sign whatsoever that birds have been partaking!  It was still completely full of seed, and I was really surprised about that.  Maybe it's still a little early.  Or that one bird who pooped on the log neglected to pass the word to his cohorts.  Hmm.

Much Smoother, Except I Have Glass Dust All Over My Face

Alrighty then.  Grinding went much easier than I expected it would.  Those (41!) pieces went pretty quickly, considering.  (Well, considering that I've been grinding for over 2 hours, but that time flew).  I don't think you can really tell, but the second picture shows my prune fingers.  (The grinder uses water as a coolant and so my hands get really wet and turn into prunes, like they -- and my toes -- do if I spend more than 10 minutes in a hot tub).  They still feel really strange and I hope the pruniness disappears REALLY SOON, LIKE RIGHT NOW.  I also started to foil (the big clear pieces) but my hands are pretty much toast to start in on the iddy biddy ones.  (Toast as far as achy PLUS pruney).  But I'm excited that I can get an idea of how it's going to look.   

I think I'm pleased with it so far.  Not sure yet if I'll stick it in a garden stake or one of those round hangy things (like my seagulls/moon).  Not sure what the hell I'll do with it, period.  Sell it?   Or I could just have garden stakes and hangy thingies all over our Harstine property.

BAD Glass! BAD, BAD Glass!

OK, first we have some of the iddy biddy pattern pieces on the glass.  Next, I'm cutting the glass with my handy-dandy Cutter's Mate (get your mind OUT of the gutter); and finally, after much cussing and starting over and revamping pattern pieces and RE-cutting, I have a pile waiting for the grinder.  And that grinder will be smoking because that glass did NOT want to cut and I had to be uber-conservative and leave a lot more excess glass than I prefer (to prevent breakage where I didn't want it). 

It's strange how glass differs.  There are different thicknesses, different textures, and even if two pieces of glass are the exact same except for color, it will still behave differently.  So apparently the color (dye or whatever) affects how it scores and breaks.  Some glass cuts like butter.  But not this glass.  No, I didn't cut myself, but I did get some shards and slivers that drew little beads of blood and made me cuss.

OK, yes, I'm crabby.  It's THAT TIME OF THE MONTH AGAIN, two weeks after the LAST TIME OF THE MONTH. 

No fair.

This 'N That

It's definitely "Marching" outside.  One moment blue skies and glittery water, the next instant black skies and gun-metal gray water, with the pet door flapping in the wind.  Trees are sprouting baby green!  I wonder why it is that March is so often this way (that Lion/Lamb thing).  It's kind of like Winter throws a tantrum when its end is imminent.  "I don't wanna let go!"  It's not a peaceful hand-off, like Summer tends to be with Fall.  (At least, around here).

Besides dealing with mountains of laundry, today is a good day to work on my stained glass.  I haven't for over a week because of my thumbs/wrists hurting.  They still are, but I'm ready to dive back in.  I'm curious to see how this butterfly will turn out -- I hope OK.  The pieces are so NOT FUN to cut out, and I'm pretty sure grinding and foiling them won't be a picnic either. 

I don't know about you, but I have to wonder what this guy was doing to warrant his wife to kill him.  Not that killing is a good thing of course, but I just have this gut-hunch (based on nothing at all except when I first saw this photo and the little hairs on my arms twitched all weirdly) that underneath his "highly charismatic Bible preaching goodness", was something a lot more sinister.   And she'd finally had enough. 

[Yeah, I know, I'm probably totally wrong and she's a looney tune].

Yikes!  Here comes the hail!