Category: Nature

Off to Mission.

I won’t be posting until after I get home from Mission tomorrow; it’s time for the festival out there with my current and previous coworkers, including no fewer than two bosses, and which involves stringed instruments, alcohol and the World’s Best Campfireâ„¢. Continue reading Off to Mission.

The Soft Collision

That’s what this Cassini movie is called.

Last night Katie and I got together for more resume magic.  We thoroughly reviewed it and then printed out 40 copies.  At one point during the evening she curled up on the couch with me and I got kinda nostalgic about the other times we curled up on the sofa watching  Buffy, you know, back in the good old days when my (Ed: enough of that, now!) – well erm, uh.  Nostalgia, the curse of humanity (points if you know which Dunnett book I swiped that from).

Keith was over too, his job is going reasonably well.

We all ate pork chomps, expertly cooked by Jeff, and broccoli and corn and garlic bread.

It’s not like Jeff and I have been wishing that the people downstairs would magically disappear or anything, but I guess telling them in writing that the domestic violence and partying on weeknights until 3:30 am had actually penetrated our thick skulls was TOO MUCH for them, so they told the landlord we were crazy and made incredible amounts of noise and gave their notice yesterday.

I hope they get counselling.  I remember overhearing Amber say to her girlfriends when they were outside partying last Monday that she wished she could have a relationship where she could just call him and tell him where she was going – and she sounded amused and resigned, not bitter or resentful.  Erk.  I think he’s too smart to actually hit her but their fights were screaming repetitively I’m done with you and making so much noise with the furniture that it sounded like pianos being pushed off balconies.  Of course, the people who move in next could be worse, but I’m thinking that if the landlord has the sense to tell the incoming tenants that our schedule is 5:30 am to about 10:30 pm, 7 days a week, he’ll be able to cull the party animals from the herd.

Also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s a landlord’s market in Vancouver right now.  Tony the landpeer can set the bar really high if he wants to, and he likely should try. Gentrification strikes again, and affordable housing is vanishing.

The saddest thing about them moving is Dezi and the dog.  Dezi’s the 4 year old.  A sweet thing, but whiny.  Meadow, OMG Meadow is a sweet sweet dog, and she came up yesterday and hung with me and Jeff as we had our Frostees on the back deck.  She curled up under Jeff’s chair and visibly winced when her master called her – repeatedly – and only went downstairs, throwing reproachful glances over her shoulder with every step when I softly encouraged her to go on home. What will happen to them, God alone at his eye-window knows.  (Points for the Dunnett reference… again).

It’s a beautiful day

I’m at the folks’ place in Victoria recovering from one of the more memorable days in many moons.

I got up at 4:30 and left the house with Jarmo and crew around 7:30.  We launched from Burrard ramp.  There were eagles at the launch site.  The launch was hilarious, mostly because the Suburban’s muffler was under water for a good chunk of the launch.  Anyway, that was successful.  Out into the Georgia Strait where the combined one two punch of the Fraser’s two arms dumping into the strait caused incredible lumpiness.  I lost my hat (I had sunscreen), applied sunscreen to the back of Jarmo’s neck and his bald spot, and stood for the first 1.5 hours.  We stopped at Galiano and got ice cream bars and pumped the bilges, after which the boat behaved in a much peppier fashion.

Got to Victoria Harbour long about 11:30, with bunting flying and hordes of people for the tall ships festival, including the Nina, and Jarmo just moseys up to the nicest section of dock and gets everybody a pass to the docks.  I bail to go to Pondside for the filking. 

Shortly after I got there me and twenty other people ran through the Tapioca Song… EVERYBODY there knew it off by heart, it was amazing. Instruments included stand up bass (thank you thank you Peggy) hammered dulcimer, banjola, many guitars, resonator guitar and many harmonious happy voices…..  AND – and this makes me so happy I could burst – it was simultaneously signed in Ameslan. 

I played with Devon Rex cats and listened to some of the nicest and smartest people in the world tell stories and sing songs and play exotic instruments.  Happy, happy sigh.

Then I realized I was exhausted and begged Dr Filk for a ride to my folks’ place on his scoot, which he kindly provided.  There I was thinking I wouldn’t get a ride on a motorcycle this summer, ha! THEN I got to ride to my granny’s place in the Camaro, with the top down, during a cloudless summer evening.  I had a lovely (and brief) visit with my gran, then came back here and drank a cup of tea.  There was a deer in the parking lot across the street from her apartment while we were there.

You have to admit I had an amazing day and I send big hugs and kisses to Douglas and Juliana for sponsoring the amazing event that is Pondfilk.  But I am sun- and windburnt and entirely bagged and my bed is calling me in three part harmony with stand up bass accompaniment, so good night moon.  mOm’s going to give me a lift back there in the morning, and then with any luck I’ll hitch a lift back to Vancouver with Tom and Peggy.

Tired and happy.  That’s me right now.

Nothing but pix

So, in no partic’lar order.  The broom made me think “Hogwarts is missing a student!”; and the bunny was a creature dumped on Burnaby Mountain by some schlunk, may he or she encrust the worst part of hell, BUT the story has a happy ending and the bunny was rescued; Patricia, LTGW and Francis at the pond; a salamander in the pond (hard to see, but there); a bee in a salmonberry blossom; fungus in the woods; the flowers Jeff gave me earlier this week which smelled heavenly; Trev and ScaryClown at lunch.

New Puppy (Migraine better thanks….)

Dave @ OneLegWest has posted pics of his puppy Max’s first day at home. Check out how happy Jake is to see the new arrival….

I feel so much better and the sun is shining so delightfully that I’m off to Jericho tonight.

Did I mention the whole fam damily was over last night for a spaghetti dinner? Keith and Paul brought Caesar salad and corn bread, and Katie brought her sweet self and picked up her blankie from G’ma. Then we watched Buffy (Darla gets hers, the first time anyway). Happy Sigh.

Oh oh oh, I forgot to mention, I’m getting a FREE RIDE to Victoria for next weekend’s Pondfilk!! Dalai Jarmo just dropped by to say they are taking off at hours ungodly on Saturday morning to go see the tallships. Obviously I’ll chip in for gas so it won’t really be free, but Me Happy! It will be a most convivial crew, and they’ll just drop me off at the Harbour.

Every time I get a migraine these days I think happy thoughts and it goes away. Sometimes the happy thoughts involved nudity, but a lot of times I think about my friends and family and the happiness just wells up like a magical fountain.

Goodbye George/Hullo Darwin

My happiness at attending the Hilario Duran Trio got wiped outta my heart when I found that George Carlin died yesterday.  However I am still happy about meeting Darwin.

Some explanation of the pics.  The first is a CP train the Luddite owns.  He let me touch it.  Considering that I break things by scowling at them, this is amazing.  The second is of course Alex and the newish Darwin, who is the piggiest baby ever until you remember that he’s at the three week growth spurt stage, alternately ravenous and exhausted.  This was literally the first time I got a SFW shot, because, well, he WAS EATING NON STOP.  Anyway, Darwin made out like a bandit both in terms of food and prezzies.  The cat is the cat shown previously, this time on a roof across the alleyway, and the tea towel, if you look at it hard, looks like a girly version of Cthulhu.  You’re welcome!

Incursion by kitty

Who the heck is that?Eddie\'s all fluffed out

This orange cat has poked itself inside our house on occasion, but has never before been so bold as to start exploring the bedrooms. Eddie fluffed out his tail and howled, while Gizmo mostly just stared. It was a stalemate, so I had to encourage the alien cat to leave. At that point all I saw was a cartoon furball heading for the back door. Eddie sat on the stairs and sang a sad song, while Gizmo chased the orange cat across the alley.

Domestic tranquillity update

I phoned Jeff last night after going a little wacky at the mall (total haul $100, shoes and tights) and said, “Don’t feel like cooking.  How do you feel about the Keg?” which plan met with enthusiastic endorsement.  Out of respect for mOm’s diet I’m going to skip the usual trough report.

My plants arrived!  Gai Lan, peppermint and Thai Basil.  I’ll be repotting them this weekend. I just gave them a little water.

I have a mild two inch scratch from Eddie, having helped clip his back nails.  No other injuries were reported.

There are at least fifteen blossoms on the strawberry plants out front.  I must go water them.

I send good thoughts to: mOm, Granny, Tammy, Katie daughter, Kopper, LTGW for the unwitting suggestion which finally broke the dam on the homily, the Luddite, Jeff and kitties of course (although one side growl for the unbelievable amount of hall-running they did last night), Tom and Peggy (get over here for dinner!), Glenn and Maggie (ditto!), Tom U. (ditto!), Mike, Heather, Jarmo and the gang that’s going to Indiana Jones tonight, Patricia, Tom McM, Carolyn Porco, everybody at JPL, all Dunnett fans, and all filkers everywhere.

Oh, I ordered a Zoom H2.  I couldn’t help myself; after almost a year of drooling on Lady Miss B’s H2 I gave in to the dark side and ordered it.

I have cancelled my planned trip to Denvention – I’m going to be needing every penny for France.

I am thinking of a certain pregnant woman, and confecting an especially airy and happy nest of thoughts for her.

A particularly happy and grateful shout out to Jeff, who has shouldered my tech support issues with the understated competence of a true professional.

Oh, and a big hug to the HR department at work.  I approached them and said, calmly, “I want to kill a co-worker.”

Response:  “Really?  Have some chocolate and tell me about it.”

End result:  15 minutes later, I’m back at my desk, snickering, and feeling much better.

Oh.  Nobody in my department – somebody else.  The folks in my department entirely rock, I love them.