Kingfisher Cove

Blowing Away Statistics

Statistically, this is supposed to be the driest – and nicest – weekend of our calendar year in these parts. Lots of weddings and family reunions and vacations are planned around this time because of those statistics. I have a hunch there were a lot of really disappointed people.

Saturday at Harstine could best be described as WINDY. Every time I’d haul my book and stuff out on the deck and get myself all comfy and settled in, the wind would kick up and knock me back inside the trailer. Today, in addition to WINDY, it was also RAINY. Off and on, but we sure did get caught in it once we decided to venture down to the beach. At least I had a hood on my sweatshirt. Poor JDub didn’t have a hat and I don’t know about you, but I’d think there would be nothing much more unpleasant than having your bald head rained upon. The dogs were soaked. We hot-tailed it back up to the trailer just in time for a major deluge, although it felt like we were deluged on anyway. Wet is wet. We had sun, too, but we really couldn’t enjoy it because of the wind – and then the rain showers regularly rolling through.

I can’t totally complain, though. Talk about relaxing, which was certainly what I needed after last week. I finished two books! One was that Linda Howard book I mentioned in my earlier post, and I would NOT recommend it. It was lame. 95% romance and 5% suspense. Yuk. I’m done with her. The second book I read started out to be a big disappointment. I’d picked it up at the grocery store, thinking it was a new Harlan Coben novel, but it turned out to be a hardcover newly released edition of Coben’s first Myron Bolitar book that originally was published in paperback in 1995, called “Deal Breaker”. I thought I’d already read it (I’ve read most of the Bolitar series), but it turned out I hadn’t. It was very good. Myron Bolitar is a laugh-out-loud character and I’m thoroughly enthralled with him and his psychotic friend, Win. The only somewhat disconcerting thing was that 1995 was quite a while ago and it felt a bit dated. (Yup, in ’95, only upper-crust business people had “car phones” – can you believe it!)  But it was still definitely well-worth the read. 

On our way to Harstine Friday night, JDub and I stopped at Nate's restaurant and found his car in the parking lot so I could see it.  Then tonight after we got home, I sat in it and Nate showed me all the particulars.  It's so cute.  What a nice car!   He wants me to wait to take a picture until he's put 4 or 5 coats of wax on it.  (heh heh)

Helen will get a kick out these pictures of Bailey with the squeaky toy squirrel she gave her during their visit to Harstine.  The dog loves that squirrel!  (Helen, can you hear it squeak?  We sure can!)  Bailey hauled it out to the Durango when we were getting ready to leave (I wanna take it home!), but JDub intercepted it and put it back inside the trailer.  She has home toys and Harstine toys!

What a Relief....

...to have this week over.  After working until close to 8:00 last night (plus working through lunch), as soon as this nightmare proposal left the building today, I was outa there.  I met Margaret for a nummy lunch and and was able to relax for the first time in over a week.   It felt great!   I think my boss wanted to give me a bit of a hard time for taking off early, but there was really nothing she could say.  The company spouts "work/life balance", and I'm taking those "core values" to heart!  Plus, there hasn't been a day all week that she's been in the office before 10:30 a.m.  And this has been her puppy -- I was just assisting!

I'm still kind of reeling from the intensity of all that I dealt with this week -- a gazillion details, I swear.  And then those details would change mid-stream, which would filter through everything I'd accomplished to date and I'd have to revamp or even redo much of it.  At times, it's very disheartening.  And yet, it's important to be "flexible" -- just sometimes difficult when you have a killer deadline looming, because it doesn't change.  It's very easy to direct others to make major revisions.  It's very time-consuming to be the one making them. 

But I'll shut up about it now!  I'm home!  I picked up groceries on my way and JDub's getting off work early tonight and we'll (fight traffic) and head to Harstine.  It's been two weeks!  In fact, JDub hasn't had a day off in two weeks.

News!

Nate bought a new car!  I think I mentioned that his truck was deemed totaled by the insurance company, and it was towed away earlier this week.  He was approved for a loan through the credit union (at a nice interest rate), and with that on top of the insurance money from the truck, he bought himself a black 1997 Miata!  I haven't even seen it yet.  He picked it up today, and he's currently at work.  But I talked to him on the phone and he's one happy kid young man!  JDub was the one who came up with the idea of a Miata.  And then he accompanied Nate to take a look at this one, and he was extremely impressed -- it's obvious that it's been babied.  A 1997 with only 53,000 miles!  Nate got it at an incredible price, too.  I personally think that black is a pain-in-the-butt color (hard to keep clean), but Nate felt that any other color was too "chick car".  (Sigh).   As it is, it'll probably serve as a "chick magnet" -- a sporty convertible?  Ya think?

I do hate that word -- "chick".  Always have. 

New Books!!

Uh.  I worked late tonight (such a drag...) and felt pretty stressed all day long, which will definitely continue into tomorrow.  I have to say, though, that my boss has been very helpful with that stress thing.  She is, too (she said she hasn't been sleeping because of worry about this proposal), but her way of dealing with it and sounding off about it is hilarious.  She'd come to my work area and plop down in the extra chair and let loose with a barrage of Major Potty Mouth.  I'd absolutely crack up, which would then make her crack up, and then we'd both feel better.  She really is a character.  I feel like I'm taking so long to do my part, but my part keeps changing and expanding.  I'm also being extremely diligent and doing a lot of re-writing.  It's sluggish and tedious work and I swear I'm typing this post with crossed eyes.

I sure do get frustrated with our wordprocessing department, though.  I'm so unaccustomed to this because at my previous job, the WP department was absolutely top-notch stellar.  Eager can-do attitudes, and very exceptional grammar and writing skills.  Here, all I get is grief.  "You want it when?"  "I guess we'll try to fit you in."  "Well, I'll try to get it done by then."  (Drop-dead time).  Jeeze.  And then they miss errors and aren't consistent.  I do empathize with them about tight timelines, but they treat me like it's my fault -- when the fault lies with the higher-ups who have procrastinated.  I'm really caught in the middle.  I kind of had to deal with this at my previous job with the graphics department -- had to do a lot of hand-holding and nodding in agreement about how awful everything was.

Anyway.  I felt I deserved some new books for escape!  Since I had those two weeks off without pay, I've settled for mostly paperbacks (which I normally hate but they'll do this time).  Here's my list:

Dream Man, by Linda Howard -- I've read a couple of books by this author and I can't help but like her.   The suspense/mystery parts tend to be well done and intriguing, and then there also tends to be some pretty steamy sexy parts, too.  (I hate romance novels, and this is as close as I get).

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt -- JDub and I saw most of this movie last weekend on TV and it really captured our attention.  (We'd like to see the REST of the movie!)  I did a little research on the book on Amazon and decided I also wanted to read it.

Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, by Fannie Flagg -- I love this author.  One of my favorite books of all time is "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe", and I've read every one of her books.  I'm excited to get back to Elmwood Springs, Missouri and see what kind of hell is being raised.

L.A. Requiem, by Robert Crais -- Based on Margaret's recommendation!  I recently read his "Two Minute Rule", which I wasn't all that jazzed about.  But I'm going to give his series a try.

Across the High Lonesome, by James McNay Brumfield -- Mostly as a result of browsing around in Amazon.  This book received incredibly awesome customer reviews, and I've always believed strongly in word-of-mouth.

Rendezvous in Black, by Cornell Woolrich -- Ditto above.  And when I read this editorial review on Amazon, I was hooked:  "At last! "Rendezvous in Black," the greatest suspense novel from the greatest suspense writer of all time, Cornell Woolrich, is back in print in a handsome trade paperback edition. Do not pass up this chance to encounter one of the most startling, emotionally rattling, and beautifully written pieces of noir in American literature. "Rendezvous in Black" is nothing short of a masterpiece: strange, horrifying, sometimes illogical, stark, achingly poetic, and ultimately devastating."

Tomorrow will be nuts with our monthly marketing meeting that I'm co-coordinating and it's been a nightmare to secure the presenter (who just had prostate surgery), and then another presenter ended up being fired -- so who the hell knows how it's going to end up?  Early last week when there was time to ensure everything was a go, the guy was still out recovering from his surgery.  And since then I've only had the briefest moment to touch base with him.  Sure hope he shows.  (And the other co-coordinator is in a separate branch office and he's been swamped, too).  And I really should be at the office working on this proposal!  Tomorrow is it -- it's due early on Friday.

I think I'll start one of my books.  Sounds like a good idea.  Escape...

Margaret's Meme

1. When did you first start blogging and why? March of 2004. I’d heard about blogs and my brother had written an interesting (although technical) paper about them for a university class that piqued my curiosity. But it wasn’t until one of my friends/former co-workers talked to me about maybe starting one up and then did some research (and discovered Typepad) that my interest was truly piqued. I decided to see just how SHE liked it for a month (she did!), and so then I started up Kingfisher Cove. I decided I wanted mine to be a “place”, that’s why I named it that.

2. What don't you talk about? I don’t get too specific about personal family issues, not that there are many. I mean, I may get irritated at certain family members at times, but I’m not going to air any super-dirty laundry. (Besides, they all read my blog!)

3. Are you and your blogging persona the same person? Very much. WYSIWYG.

4. How do you use blogging to build friendships? Other than the folks I already knew before they blogged, I haven’t met any online friends in person yet! I’d like to! I've met some truly amazing and intriguing people out there.  But I don’t get out all that much…

5. How would you describe your writing style? Mostly off the top of my head. Which can be boring, acerbic, somewhat witty, boring, informational, narrative, gossipy, boring, and sometimes enlightening.

via Margie

I'd Rather Be Goofing Off

I've been totally focused at work the last several days (including the last half of last week) and I'm feeling it.  My eyes are tired.  It's a big proposal I'm working on, and I'm thankful that my boss and I are basically "job-sharing" on this one, because I don't think there's any way ONE person could handle the whole thing in the squeaky-tight time frame.  It just amazes me how similar people are from company-to-company.  There's one particular guy in one of our branch offices that I needed information from, and he's a PhD with an attitude that defies  humanity.  In particular, there was a project he worked on that I needed to know his role.  He spewed back to me in a very condescending email how "off-base" I was to even "consider including this irrelevant project in the proposal."  (I had no say in selecting the projects -- that was decided by others -- and it is relevant).  Well, turns out that this guy was asked to remove himself from that project and  the order came from the project OWNER!  It doesn't surprise me in the least -- he obviously ripped a CLIENT a new one in his condescending manner ("I have a PhD!")  Once I mentioned to my boss about this altercation and I told her who it was, I definitely got the grin and nod that "yup, that's how he is!"  So, I didn't take it personally.  At first I did, because I really do bend over backward to be amenable and NICE even if I have to be FIRM.  This came out of nowhere and sort of caught me off-guard.  It's frustrating to be treated like crap for no good reason.  (And why are people like that allowed to keep their jobs?)

Otherwise, it wasn't a bad day, just busy.  And thankfully not so hot!  In fact, it was downright cool this morning with a cloud cover, and boy did that feel good.  Later the clouds burned off and it got toasty, but nothing like the last FOUR days.  (Yesterday was 95 -- four days in a row over 90 deg.  That's just pretty much unheard of around these parts).

I'm so excited:  Margaret and I are getting together for lunch Friday.  Woohoo!

Nobody Says It Better

Check it out.

Crabby Is Not A Factor With A/C

By anybody's standards we have had three days in a row of utter swelter. (97, 96, 95 in Seattle; 102, 101, 99 in the town near Harstine Island).  But us Northwesterners especially suffer when it gets this hot.  We are unaccustomed!  And while most businesses, offices, stores, and restaurants are air conditioned, most homes are not.  I suppose there is logic to that, since over-90-deg. days are pretty rare and people aren't used to paying higher utility bills in the summer.  But we do get a lot of days in the 80s.  And that's hot, too, especially if your house has lots of big tall windows, which ours does.  It just utterly traps in the heat -- and it would be much hotter inside than outside.  So three summers ago, JDub installed a new natural gas furnace with A/C (served by an outside compressor).  Truth be known, it was disappointing.  The A/C really never seemed to work quite right and often would STOP working in the midst of a hot day (and the inside of this house would, well, swelter).   Then finally a couple of months ago it quit working altogether and JDub determined an electronic control card was to blame for some of the problem.  (The other problem, he thought, had to do with the compressor unit freezing up, so he had it recharged -- which still didn't help).  But once he installed the new control card, it's worked perfectly!  Better than it ever has, ever!   The control card was obviously faulty from the beginning.

And what a blessing these past three days!  Man!  How amazing to come inside from the blazing outside (complete with heat-mirages quivering off the pavement!) and feel fresh, cool air.   My sweet demeanor has remained sweet throughout all of this.  I've even been able to accomplish some things around here, such as laundry and dog-bathing, without sweat dripping into every orifice.  (Ahem).   Comfort is important, and sometimes vital.  I remember hot summer days in my previous condo and homes parked in front of a fan and feeling damned crabby!   Pre-A/C, I remember coming home from work at this house, after spending the day in an air-conditioned office and my commute in an air-conditioned car, and opening the front door to a veritable OVEN blasting in my face.   Uhm, yeah....crabby.

So, no Harstine this weekend, but I have a hunch if we'd gone down there, we would have spent the entire time inside the trailer with the A/C blowing.   I believe the tides were supposed to be very low this weekend, which means the beach would have been hot and it wouldn't have been conducive to spending the heat of the day in or on the water.  Usually you think of the water as having a cooling effect, and the northern Sound definitely does, but the southern Sound where Harstine is located, is much warmer.  (Over 100 degrees down there!)

JDub's having his ice cream fix.  Poor guy had to work all day yesterday and today, going in at the butt crack of dawn.  And then back to it for the week on his regular shift.  It's supposed to start cooling down.  85 deg. will probably feel comfortable now!

We had a wonderful "dinner" tonight!  Even with A/C, who wants to fire up the stove on a hot day?  (Not me!)  So we went to one of our favorite seafood places in town and had a fresh Dungeness crab salad -- plus a cup of chowder, which I know sounds strange (hot chowder on a hot day?) -- but you can't go into that restaurant and NOT have their chowder.  I swear, it's the best!

Sure nobody around in bloggersville this weekend.  Don't wanna sweat-up your keyboards, eh?

In Which I'm A Total Blonde During My Conversation With Dad

Dad's a retired sawmill guy.   He knows lumber.  (I wouldn't be surprised that he could take a look at our stand of trees on our Harstine property and immediately know the exact number of board feet of lumber it would produce).  I even wrote a poem about him.

So, he called me the other night.  He speaks in a rather slow, methodical, serious tone of voice.  That's his way.

Dad: Yeah, I’m fine. I picked up my new glasses today.

Me: Oh! You like them?

Dad: I like them a lot. I can see much better now. Remember those prisms they’d attached to my old glasses?

Me: Mmm, yeah, a couple of years ago?

Dad: That’s right. They actually ground the prisms into the lenses of these new glasses. It makes a big difference.

Me: What was the purpose of those prisms again?

Dad: Well, at the time, the ophthalmologist thought I’d either had a stroke, or I had a brain tumor that was causing my vision problems. [Mom had never mentioned this to me…Dad's diabetic so I'd assumed it was related to that]. So, I had an MRI in Yuma that year right after we arrived down there. I had to do that open MRI because of claustrophobia.

Me: I can sure relate to that! [Ugh.]

Dad: Yes. Anyway, they couldn’t find anything. Except for a large amount of sawdust.

(heartbeat pause.)

Me: Huh? What? You’re kidding! What? Sawdust?

Dad: (Cracks up something fierce).

Me: (Cracks up, too).  (Also blushes).

A'Yup

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

Heating Up

Sounds like we're in for it.  90+ deg. tomorrow, and possibly upper 90s on Saturday.  We are NOT accustomed to this around here -- already we've had a few of these and it's so unusual.  (Global warming?  With Britain having the hottest July in history?  Hmm.)   At least our A/C is working now.  However, it still gets uncomfortable if you move around much.  May have to set it a little cooler for these next couple of days.

I have to say that today was utterly gorgeous.  It peaked in the mid-80s, which is as hot as I like to go, but there's also been a light breeze that's made it pretty comfy.  Plus, it isn't so humid, which makes all the difference.  (Like a wind chill factor when it's cold, there really should be a humidity factor when it's hot because it sure makes it feel MUCH hotter than the thermometer says it is.  You know, "it's a dry heat" -- more tolerable).  OK, I'm done analyzing the weather now.

Tomorrow's Friday, yay!  It got here pretty quickly.  I have been quite busy at work these past couple of days, so it's helped move things along. 

Oooh, it's Thursday which means sailboat races on Puget Sound -- I can see a bunch of them out the window where I'm sitting at my laptop.  So pretty!  However, the sails I see are white -- I prefer the colorful kind.  If I had a sailboat, I'd want colorful sails.  (The white ones are pretty cool, too, though - classic).  It means a busy night at Nate's restaurant.  After the races, they all head there for viddles and vodka.  (Or whatever).

So far at least, JDub is growing out his beard!  I'm kind of excited about it.  Once it's established itself, I think he'll look quite "distinguished" -- I like a tidy, trimmed beard.  Mmm.  It's amazingly soft to the touch, too.  It's beyond that bristly stage.