Kingfisher Cove

My Weekend

It was relatively pleasant! (Aside from the mountain of laundry to deal with, John having to work, and the sucky weather). For the first time in a while, I spent some time in my “glass studio” and had some fun. Also? My “glass studio” not only requires quotation marks, but also an asterisk. [The asterisk would get lost if I combined it with the quotation marks.] It’s Nate’s old bedroom, which is small, and it still contains his double-sized bed were John takes his afternoon naps. There is still a fair amount of Nate’s “stuff” in there, too. And now, a good-sized kiln and boxes and bins and tubs and shelves FULL of glass and fusing supplies, and jewelry findings, and wine bottle stoppers, and slumping/draping molds, and glass scraps and on and on and on… As time has gone by since John got me my kiln for my birthday in 2010, those supplies (did I mention glass? And glass scraps? And MOLDS?), I am plum out of space in there. I can hardly WALK between my (cluttered) work table to the kiln. It’s a disaster.

And the *asterisk"* comes in because when/if the time comes that Nate heads home on leave, what a JOB it’s going to be to get that room close to functional for him to be able to use it as a bedroom without bumping up against an open tub of glass and slicing his leg or something. (However, based on previous experience, he won’t spend very many nights there anyhow. But I’d STILL need to make it bedroomy! Right? Because I’m Mom!)

Well. I still don’t know when/if he’ll be coming home on leave. The Navy (all military branches) are so good that way. Don’t inform, don’t communicate, and certainly don’t allow these poorly paid men and women who are DEFENDING OUR COUNTRY the ability to plan for reasonably priced airfare in advance. You know, when it’s possible to score somewhat of a deal.

I really did have a decent weekend, even though I sound bitchy. It’s because today is Monday and I’m back to work and work sucks.

Anyway!

I made this!

 

I’m pretty happy with it!

I also played a couple of adventure video games this weekend. (Love those things!) Played an especially bizarro one called “Kentucky Route Zero.” It’s a 5-part game (only Part 1 is out so far, with Part 2 due in a couple of weeks, with the remainder “parts” due out every 3 months), and “bizarro” is the only word I can muster. However, I can hardly wait until Part 2!

Framers!!!!

After two long weeks with hardly any progress on the Harstine house, we’ve finally turned a corner!

John headed down this afternoon (and will come back tomorrow evening since he has to work this weekend), and he sent me PICTURES! Yep, the framers are on the job and haulin’ balls!

What you see here, folks, is the FLOOR! We have a floor!! (Well, the skeletal beginnings of one). (Be sure to embiggen!)

This one (above) was taken from our neighbors’ house, so you’re looking across the gully toward the shop.

This one is also taken from the neighbors’ and you can see how the floor will cover the top of the “box” (or “wine cellar,” as John calls it. Um, no, it’s really not a wine cellar! lol). The master bedroom and bath will sit on top of that box.

Another beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. Too bad I had to be in Day Jail. (Aaaaaand…the clouds roll back in just in time for the weekend).

~~~~~

During lunch, I took a quick walk across the pedestrian bridge next to our office that crosses Elliott Ave. to the waterfront. You can see what a gorgeous day it was!

Then I saw this. A woman carrying a big stick. It was rough and big, and it wasn’t any kind of walking stick. She’d come down the hill from Queen Anne and was heading toward the pedestrian bridge. I just thought it was odd enough to take a picture.

That’s quirky Seattle for ya.

Never Ends

Work continues to suck the life out of me. I mean that in all sincerity. Met a killer deadline this week and immediately jumped into another one that is less than a week away — and because it took ALL of my time on my finally completed deadline, I am now waaaayyy behind on this current one.

And in the midstream of it all:

• Tonya, I need this Powerpoint presentation completed by tomorrow.
• Tonya, I need 6 marketing resumes created, edited, and formatted by Friday.
• Tonya, I need help on a proposal that’s due tomorrow.
• Tonya, I need 4 signs designed, plotted, and mounted on foam core for the client event tomorrow afternoon.
• Tonya! Need covers designed for this major report! Today!

Since there is only one of me? And since they refused to hire my marketing assistant full time (and so she’s gone)? I have learned the art of saying:

 

                 No.

 

Of course, that also means that instead of seeing the issue as “we don’t have enough people to handle all of this,” it’s seen as: “Tonya really pisses me off.” (Unless I’m working on their thing – then I’m a goddess!) (heh)

~~~~~

What a beautiful day today was. I’m not sure that it quite reached 70° but it was sure close! (Used my A/C in my new car for the first time!) Obviously I had next to zero time to truly enjoy it, but there was one opportunity. One with a double-edge sword.

As a token woman (and I truly believe that’s the case…) I was invited out to lunch for “National Secretary Administrative Day.” I have taken issue with this for nearly 30 years, once I chose that (idiotic) path to become a marketing coordinator and I made it a passion to leave the low-paid, low-respected “clerical” world behind and carved out my niche. Marketing coordinators these days have at the very least a bachelor’s in journalism, communications, or marketing. This is NOT an administrative assistant, clerical, or “secretarial” position, and yet everywhere I’ve ever worked, it’s been treated as such by the moronic, backward engineers/architects who run the companies. (There was one engineering firm who actually gave roses on “Secretary’s Day” to the handful of female engineers on staff. Said female engineers had a SHIT FIT, and management was befuddled. Imagine that).

So here we are again, supposedly into the “enlightened era.” I’ve already got enough people at work pissed off at me, so I figured raising a stink about it wouldn’t do me any good. Besides, free lunch, right?

And it was gooooooood. Went to the Palisade in Seattle (I’d never been before) and it is something else. In fact, it pretty much has the upscale, classy, chic 1960s’ look you would see in “Mad Men.” A little modern, a little Art Deco. With an indoor bridge across a large carp pond. And lovely, right on the water with a gazillion sailboats moored (why are they always moored?), with Elliott Bay and the Olympics in the backdrop. 

It was nummy. And the company was ultimately pleasant.

After all, I’m retiring in 2-1/2 years so why not enjoy a 2-hour fancy lunch?

Except now I’m really behind…

Trying to Regroup My Shit at Harstine

John drove down to Harstine Wednesday afternoon and he’s been working his butt off in absolute pouring rain and howling wind ever since, digging trenches for electrical conduit and septic pump piping. Totally unsexy, but necessary to get it done before he can build temporary steps to make things more accessible for flooring materials, etc. It’s frustrating that the framers have STILL not appeared (due to hiccups beyond their control on their job they’re finishing up). Access to the trailer, or even being able to park, is a major inconvenience because the huge truss/subfloor loads of lumber were delivered long ago and take up all the space!

I couldn’t even think about driving down last night after the week I had. The combination of work-hell and news-hell completely drained me, even though I felt immense relief that they finally caught that asshat 2nd marathon bomber. It just seems that every Friday night for months on end now, I’ve felt shell-shocked. About all I can seem to do after the awfulness of  each week I’ve endured, is stare blankly.

So this morning I packed up a few things and stuck the nervous weenies in my car (first time they’ve ridden in it) and hit the road. Of course, their nervousness of riding in an unfamiliar vehicle and their routine completely ripped apart (Where’s Dad???) made them spurt cascades of fur and my passenger seat now looks like a third wiener dog. I opted to not take Mojo, even though he was around and watched us pack the car. He would have totally freaked out in that unfamiliar vehicle, plus I needed to stop for some groceries and didn’t want to risk him shooting out the back. I’ll be heading home tomorrow anyway, so he’ll be fine at home.

AND…it’s actually not raining! There are even patches of blue sky and every once in a while a ray of sunshine. But it’s hella windy. Makes my eyes stream tears down my face whenever I step out there.

Here are a few pictures from different viewpoints (otherwise not a lot to show since the framing hasn’t begun):

(Above) I’m standing in the shop door and all the poles and beams are up.

(Below) The inside of the shop! (You wouldn’t believe the echo in there!)

(Below) We’ll have to pump to the septic tank — not very far, but the slope is enough to require it — so John installed the pump and the piping. He’s also working on installing electrical conduit while there’s still reasonable access to do it. The back deck will eventually cover much of this.

 

Lots and lots of hand-digging. With lots more to go…

Stomach Churning, Blood Boiling Week

I swear, this whole year so far—well into its 4th month—has been every week, one after the other, of extreme suckitude. What with shingles (cleared up, but I still get stabbing pains now and then), and losing my beloved work assistant so the CEO could buy his Tesla (yeah, I know…), and then having my job be so beyond the pale godawful…

Well, it’s depressing.

And then THIS week happened. I really didn’t feel close to being recovered after that violent stomach virus until yesterday. And throughout it all, dealing with my horrendous commute, idiot tailgaters in stop-and-crawl traffic (I came so close to being rear-ended yesterday morning I’m still seething—at the last minute the guy aimed and skidded into the shoulder), having numerous people angry with me because I can’t be tending to *their* emergencies because I’m already drowning in dealing with everyone else’s emergencies.

Then the bombing.

THEN the republicans preventing the senate majority vote with yet another filibuster from passing a watered-down, uber-moderate background check bill for gun shows that 90% of Americans supported. You know, because they’re so afraid of the big, bad NRA who funds bribes them to vote their way. There is apparently zero tolerance for terrorism, but it’s perfectly A-OK that America has 30,000 gun deaths every fucking year.

The following is from the satire site “The Onion” and it is absolutely perfect!

The Onion’s Tips For Passing Gun Control Legislation

• Write gun control legislation. Pass gun control legislation.
• Before voting on gun control bill, try, if you can, to remember any recent examples in which guns have been used to kill innocent people.
• Acknowledge that it’s going to be hard to buck the pressure of the high-powered gun lobby, but not that fucking hard, dumbass.
• Consider if overwhelming public support for a particular measure is something you want to be associated with or not.
• Inform your decision by researching whether guns are good or bad when placed in the wrong hands.
• Muster everything that’s left in your black, desiccated heart to do something that might actually be of service to someone other than yourself.
• Carefully assess the other side of the argument wherein mentally unstable people can buy weapons at a gun show with no problem whatsoever, and then realize there is no other side of this argument.
• Put on your stupid little suit, run a comb through your greasy hair, go to the U.S Capitol building, pick up your fancy little gold pen, and pass a fucking gun control bill.

And honestly, you really need to read Gabby Gifford’s op-ed in the New York Times today. This former Arizona representative who was shot in the head in Tucson and will probably never again be able to speak normally, still has one helluva voice.

Open your eyes. (<<it really will).

I also sent a Tweet to every single one of the asshats senators who voted no. Limited to Twitter’s 140-character max, this is what I said (and yes, I refrained from using the words “fuck” or “shithead”).

“Shameful cowardice voting against common-sense measures to help reduce gun violence. You denigrate 90% of whom you represent.”

~~~~~

In other news, I haven’t heard any updates from Nate about his new assignment or when he’ll be able to come home on leave.

AND…nothing major to report on the Harstine house progress! John is down there now, digging trenches by hand for the septic pump and conduit, but the house framers were supposed to be out this week and they haven’t been due to a problem with another job they’re finishing up (the wrong truss sizes or something). Gah! It’s frustrating not to have seen any progress for over a week! But, we realize it’s the way things go sometimes.

Stabby

Random bullets.

• I was so sick all day long Sunday (stomach virus? food poisoning?) that I totally couldn’t imagine ever being upright ever again.
• What a fucking waste of a weekend.
• Can you say, “Simultaneously violently spewing at both ends?”
• For hours and hours and hours and hours?
• And then I got up Monday morning—weak and sore and aching—and went to work where I’m facing two consecutive deadlines. Unbearable.
• My stomach muscles still feel like a Mack truck ran over them, backed over them, and then pulled a brodie in the same spot. You know, because of puking my guts out.
• And work continues to suck beyond anything that is sane.
• I’m doing the work of three people, since they let go my marketing boss and my assistant. BUT. I refuse to work overtime. (It would be unpaid, and they can just suck it).
• And yet…deadlines.
• And then to learn about the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
• With right-wingers immediately calling for the death of Muslims, even though there is *some* preliminary evidence that this was domestic.
• It was Tax Day, after all.
• For which I just wrote a $2000 check.
• And it pisses me off because it hurts US a lot more than the wealthy and the corporations who have all those loop holes and off-shore accounts that force the REST of us to make up the difference.
• I mean, taxes are not fun, and they do hurt, but I do know they are vital for having those first responders in such a horrific murderous tragedy like the Boston Marathon attack. (We can’t NOT have those first responders!)
• But jeeze.
• Let’s SHARE that pain. Why are the republicans so against fairness?
• I’m so weary of all the despicable people in this world.

So This Is Pretty Cool

Nate is now assigned to the USS Russell (his old ship is now home-ported in Hawaii). He and a bunch of the sailors from the Russell unfurled the flag at a recent Padres baseball game! (click to enlarge)

I’ve only communicated with him very briefly these past few months. And I  have no idea when he’ll be able to come home on leave. Sure miss that bugger.

UPDATE!!!

Just spent quite a lot of time texting with Nate (on my iPad – sure makes that easier) while he 1) waited for his truck to be serviced, and 2) waited in the eye doctor waiting room for his exam. I learned a lot! Much has changed.

After being assigned to the USS Russell just last month, he is now awaiting orders for a different assignment. The Russell is inactive and the sonar techs are needed elsewhere. There are three ships he feels will be the one he’ll be assigned to. Two of them are in San Diego (of which one is slated for deployment in August). The third ship is in Everett, WA! (Holding out hope for that one!) (My gut tells me it’s probably the one getting ready for deployment…)

At any rate, once he knows—and he could learn as early as Monday—he’ll be able to schedule leave.

Woohoo!!!

Dark and Stormy Night

Home alone with the critters and that wind is howling. The windows are BOWING. In fact, all day today felt totally like January. It’s so hard to believe how stellar Easter was. Since then, it’s been utterly CRAPPY. (John got off work extra early today – no way I could – and headed down to Harstine. He needs to meet up with Contractor John tomorrow).

Speaking of crappy, that was today in a nutshell. I met yesterday’s deadline (which ended up being down to the wire, thanks to certain people and their piss-poor planning) and today I’m in the thick of another one. And have a kickoff meeting Monday for yet ANOTHER one. I’m so tired of this. I’m so sick to death of this.

I’m so burned out with this.

~~~~~

So tonight I escaped my high level irritability a little bit by watching “The Proposal” on Amazon On Demand. I hadn’t seen it before and it was good!

Some Fun

There is a fun site on the interwebs called “Photofunia” and there are a whole bunch of interesting effects you can apply to an uploaded photo.

Here are a couple more:

How ‘bout one more silly one?

And finally…

The end.

There Are Years When You Gotta Buy Shit

Jeeze.

It’s not enough that we’re having a house built, right? And all that entails.

I had to buy a new car. And yeah, I really needed to. My poor Bug was 12 years old with issues that were dragging me (and my bank account) down.

We’ve been stewing about the Durango. John bought it new the end of 1998 (it’s a 1999) and it’s been approaching 200,000 miles. Yes, you read that right. Every time we drive to Harstine we’re both privately on pins and needles hoping it gets us there and home OK without dying on us. Little noises fill me with alarm throughout that drive. What total shit we’d be seeped in if it died some Sunday night heading home with the dogs and the cat and all our STUFF. Shudder.

So today John bought a new truck. Well, new for us! It’s a 2007 and it has some miles on it, but it was apparently a “fleet” truck and it has been Very Well Taken Care Of. The inside and outside look like it could be brand new. It’s had a transmission overhaul, so we shouldn’t have to worry about that. And records of regular and consistent maintenance. PLUS, a good deal. It’s a Ford F150, dual cab, with a canopy, 4WD, and it’s BIG (which we need for hauling lumber, appliances, etc. throughout this house construction). It’ll be a utility truck, and aside from trips to Harstine, the miles shouldn’t pile on it like they did with the Durango. (For many years, it was John’s commute vehicle, plus we took it all over the place for snowmobiling trips).

At least we’ve been sensible about our new vehicle purchases. Used, but in great condition; and very reasonable prices.

The new truck isn’t especially beautiful (white? blah!), but it is really nice – John and I took a ride up to Starbucks and I’m smitten. Roomy, comfy, and it has lots of cup holders!

 

We will miss that Durango, though. Oh, the memories. Oh, the road trips!

And Mojo is going to totally freak out when we stick him in the new truck Friday night when we head to Harstine.