Lake Quinault Lodge

>This weekend wa one of the ways I pay us back for the long hours and continuous days I work. I got an e-mail from the Lake Quinault Lodge offering a buy-one-get-one-free weekend. Stay one night and get a second night free.

We love the Lodge, as it is quiet and peaceful, with lots of very nice hiking trails in the area. The Logde was built in the 1920's and is a beautifully crafted structure, with a lot of exposed log beam features in the main lobby, as well as a huget stone fireplace. It is in the Quinault Rain Forrest, so if you hate rain, this would not be the place to go. There is no cell phone service. The rooms do not have phones, and most of them have no TV.

There IS a very good restaraunt with exceptional food. The cedar Plank Salmon is exceptionally good, but the crowning glory of the place is the Marrionberry Cobbler, topped with top-shelf vanilla ice cream. The also have a seafood stew that is way above par.

This was monk's first time there, so he was beside himself with excitement. He has a little problem with barking at every noise the first night. It's a good thing he is so damn cute, otherwise I would have to strangle him. By the second night, he had gotten over his initial excitement, so we all slept better.

Saturday was an exceptionally nice day, as the sun was out, the skies were blue and the temperature was moderate. After all, this is the quinault RAIN forest, which holds the record for the most rainfall over time, like an average of twelve feet per year. We took the dogs for a walk by the lake and watched the sunset. It was so still you could hear the ducks quacking clear across the lake.

What a wonderful way to recharge your batteries.

Curmudgeonly

That's how I have been feeling lately.
Part of it has to do with the time of the year. I tend to withdraw this time of year. So just leave me the hell alone, already.
Part of it has to do with being stuck on second shift. I hate second shift. It totally screws up your life. I get home at 11:30 or so, take a couple of hours to unwind, usually get to bed around 2:00. Eight hours sleep get's me up at 10:00. By the time I shower, and get breakfast, it's too late to do anything before I report to work at 2:30.
Part of it has to do with working six or seven days a week, although there has been nothing to do. I sat here both days this weekend and didn't do a blessed thing except play solitaire, surf the internet and do some statistical reports. Well. I did bid on and win a set of Dellorto DHLA 40 carbs ( I know that is greek to most of you) , but that is hardly work related.
So, you there, get off the lawn or I'll sick the dogs on you (A Shi-Tzu and a Brussels Griffon). That ought to be a hoot.

Uncle Fred II

Well, the results were a lot worse than anticipated. They had to take Uncle Fred's whole foot to the ankle. The blood flow in his lower leg was so bad that the doctors didn't feel there was enough to support healing. That's one of the worst things about diabetes. I have seen people I love slowly be decreased because of the things that get amputated. First a toe, then a second toe, then the whole foot, then the leg to the knee, then the whole leg, and finally loss of life.
I just hope that Uncle Fred will rally and take it for what it is: A severe warning that he needs to mend his ways.

Hope he rebounds quickly.

Uncle Fred

I received the news through e-mail that my Uncle Fred is in the hospital. That's him in the picture, with his sister, my Aunt Mary Rose. He had injured his big toe, and not taken care of it, and it went septic. They have had to amputate.
Uncle Fred occupies a special place in the family. He never married, and kept the farm first with my grandparents, then with my parents.
I would trust Uncle Fred with my fortune if I told him to keep it and hold it for me. I cannot say that about any other person on this Earth. He is the most honest person I have ever known, and his integrity has never been questioned.
Unfortunately he believes everyone else is just as honest as he is, and has the same integrity. This mkes him one of the worst possible businessmen on the face of the Earth. I hate to think of how many times he got screwed in a cattle deal or was sold a bad milk cow with mastitis. Or got a "Deal" on a used peoce of machinery. It never changed his attitude or his way of doing things. He was what he was in an elemental way. Easier to change the weather than change Uncle Fred.
I sure hope his recovery is quick and trouble free.

Happy New Year

2010 will not ever be my favorite year. Way too much drama. two major eye surgeries, Three dental surgeries. Drama with the kids,
New year's Day has been the kind of day I hope to repeat many times in the coming year. Slept in, late mutual shower and and all. I made Tempura for dinner for Carol and I and my cousin Lynn. A quiet evening at home. A scene I hope is repeated often in the upcoming year.
We have been together for nine years, marries for almost the same, but we have never had the time to really explore our relationship. Hopefully we will have the time to just relax and spend some time together.
L and D were driving down the freeway the day after Christmas, and the driver's side wheel and tire departed the truck and crossed six lanes of traffic without hitting a thing. We had made plans to work on his truck on New Years Day. Guess we shouldn't have delayed. The noise he was hearing wasn't brakes after all, but a wheel bearing. He managed to stop the truck without hitting anything. Damned lucky.
So I have loaned them my truck until they can get theirs repaired.
Hope everyone had a nice Holiday season. Mine turned out to be pretty good. The new grand daughter has red hair and these incredible golden eyelashes. She has a good disposition, is mostly happy, but will certainly let you know when she wants something. Nothing I love better than holding an infant in my lap.

Chaos

I am not a big fan of Christmas. Too many bad memories associated with the time around now. I manage to survive, but I always feel a lot better once Christmas itself is passed. I get the following week off, so I can pull the covers over my head and make the world go away for a couple of days.
We are headed out on Friday for Utah to see our new grand daughter. We won't straay too long, will be back on Monday. As the saying goes, relatives are like fish, they start to stink after a couple of days.
Tomorrow we have to get going early. Take the dogs off to the pet hotel, come back and pack, cook egg rolls, and go in an hour early to work. Promises to be a hectic morning. Then Friday finish packing and head out to the airport for a 1:30 flight.
Not looking forward to the security crap at the airport, but you do what you have to do.

Brakes II

Well, I have the Westy Back, and the brakes work just fine. They replaced the defective proportioning unit for free, so I guess I can't complain.........wait.........check that..........
Yes I can.
They screwed me out of $1000.00 doing a bunch of work that didn't need to be done, while not repairing what DID need to be done. I wanted all of the other stuff done eventually, but not right now. I mean, who wants to spend a grand on brakes right before Christmas?
I still need to get some other stuff done in my quest to get the Westfalia into better-than-new condition. For some reason, someone has removed the defroster fan switch. It is in the glove box, not connected to anything. I have a feeling that when I get around to checking out the situation, it will not be nice. Vanagons have a history of burning up defroster fan switches. I just hope the fan itself is OK. It is a kind of a pain in the butt keeping the windshield clean.
Then the stereo went all wonky. It keeps turning itself off and back on. You can hear an audible click in the computer somewhere, but I haven't had time to check it out. I had all of the 12 volt accessories wired to go through the secondary battery so that you can play the stereo without draining the primary battery. I think they must have screwed something up.
Well, maybe on Sunday I can get the time to go out and look at it. Only thing is, Sunday is the only day I have with Mrs A, and I hate to spend it out elbow deep in a car.
I still haven't put up the tree either, or strung any outside lights.
Bad Al, bad, bad.

Brakes

I have been driving my truck instead of the Westy for the last couple weeks, just to drive it a little. When I went to switch back over, I got in and.......no brakes.
I am all in favor of brakes. Stopping is the second most important thing you do in the car. Stopping is secondary, because brakes mean nothing if you first can't get going. I got in the car, and the pedal went right to the floor. Since it was freezing butt cold out, I didn't want to work on it, so I took it to the local shop. They managed to wring a grand out of me by the time they were through. And that was with a 10% discount........about that discount: Firestone sent me an on-line coupon that said 10% discount if you spent over $500 and put it on your card. SO when I went in to pay my bill, I handed over the coupon. The guy behind the counter called over the manager, they looked at the coupon and said "This is only if you open a new credit account, and threw it in the trash. I asked them to dig it out of the trash and hand it to me. They reluctantly did.
I read it very carefully, even all of the small print. There was nothing that said anything about a new account, just if you charged over $500 on your Firestone credit card you got a 10% discount. That was over $100, so I confronted them, and asked them to show me where it said it was for new accounts only. They couldn't, so I got me my $100 discount.
Part two: I drove the Westy to work on Thursday. When I get out to the car and get in, the brake pedal goes clear to the floor. NO BRAKES. I spent over a thousand dollars and I HAVE NO BRAKES.
I managed to get the van home using the emergency brake. This morning I had a Dental appointment, and afterwards I stop in, drop the keys on the counter, and loudly announce "I just spent over $1000 for you to fix my brakes AND I HAVE NO BRAKES. I am extremely unhappy".
They asked me if I could bring it in, and I said "WERE YOU NOT LISTENING???? I HAVE NO BRAKES!!!"
So I insisted that they call a tow truck at their expense, and tow it down to the shop. Which they did.
I just got off of the phone with them. The Brake Proportioning unit was leaking, which was draining off the fluid. If they had done any testing, they would have seen it dripping. Before I could say anything they snuck in "We will replace the Proportioning Unit free, but it won't be in until Tuesday".
Here I was all worked up and ready to fight, and they pulled my soapbox out from under me.

Belated.........

I hate that word. It means I have once again procrastinated my way past the socially accepted deadline to do something.....again.
We went down to Bonney Lake and spent Thanksgiving with L & D. They are working themselves up towards a permanent commitment.
We spent the night. There was beer before dinner, wine with dinner, and whiskey after dinner, so it was just a good idea to stay off of the roads.
The meal was fantastic. Turkey and dressing and spuds and gravy and collard greens and ham hocks and sweet potatoes. And two kinds of pie for dessert. Everything was perfect. Best Thanksgiving Dinner in a long time.
Afterwards we watched "The Expendables". Heck of an action flick. There was so much action that at times it was difficult to tell who was doing what to who with which weapon. Testosterone wafted off of the screen like heat waves. May be the best action film ever..........and it even had a plot.......sort of, but who needs a plot anyway.
Before dinner we watched "Trains and Planes and Automobiles" a true Thanksgiving classic. Then after "The Expendables" we watched "A Christmas Story" while telling stories of our own and solving most of the wold's problems.
What a great day!
Tonight we are going down to Jazz Alley for dinner and to see The Taj Mahal Trio. Not everyone's kettle of fish, but someone I thoroughly enjoy.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Snow Job

I have lived in this part of the world for the majority of my life.
I have never seen the driving conditions worse than last night. The wind was a sustained 35 miles an hour, blowing snow. Underlying the blowing snow was a sheet of ice. One advantage of going home after 11:00 is that most of the idiocy has already transpired. The disadvantage is that the temperature has usually fallen below freezing. What was bare and wet has become a sheet of ice.
So I didn't even try to make it up the big hill to home. I drove around to the ballpark that is located at the bottom of the hill right below home. Parked the truck, and walked the couple hundred yards up the hill home. I couldn't have tried to go up it, as someone had gotten their truck stuck sideways right in the middle of the street, blocking both lanes.
Getting around this morning was a piece of cake, but I am hoping that there will be enough traffic on the main road up the hill that I can actually drive all the way home. It's supposed to be about 14 degrees tonight. Not exactly weather for a stroll.
One more day of this nonsense, then a four day weekend. The warmer weather is supposed to give us something to be thankful for.
I'll just be happy to make it home in one piece.

Four Letter Words

This one starts with "S" and is usually either preceded or followed by unprintable other words. Yeah, I mean snow.
White crystalline stuff falling out of the sky.
I guess this means Indian Summer is over with.
And in a couple of hours I get to go to work.
The roads are getting scary, but not impassable yet. I will be able to make it to work, it being downhill and then flat. Making it back uphill can be another thing entirely. It really doesn't bother me. If it gets bad enough, I just park at the bottom of the hill. There is a ballpark there with a small parking lot. It is about a hundred yards up a steep windy road to the house. I have left my vehicle and walked a couple of times. It's no big deal (other than the time an out-of-control SUV almost ran in to me.)
It is supposed to freeze up overnight, so it might get a little slippery coming home. If I can't make it up the hill, I just turn around and head for the parking at the bottom of the hill.

Dinner

Yesterday, those of us on second shift were supposed to get an end of the year celebration and thanks dinner provided by The Company.
Twenty minutes before we were supposed to go to dinner, they cancelled the dinner.
It seems no one had reserved the room or ordered the food.
It's sure nice to be appreciated.
I ended up going out to the Ptomaine Truck and getting a foot long Burrito.

Sub Prime Dip

I should know better than to go to our cafeteria for food. The quality is questionable at best. Sometimes it is downright disgusting.
I was drooling in the keyboard, so I went to the cafeteria for a stimulant. They stock Sobe NO FEAR sugar free, which will get me through the rest of the evening.
While I was there, I saw that the featured special for the night was Prime Rib Dip. Supposedly this is like a French Dip sandwich, except made with Prime Rib. I love French Dip Sandwiches, and it is almost impossible to ruin them. It looked OK, so I bought one.
I don't know why I do these things to myself. I should know better. I get all optimistic and set myself up for disappointment. Each time I tell myself I will NEVER make that same mistake again, but eventually I forget how hideous the experience was last time.
So: Not Prime Rib Dip
Sub Prime Rib Dip.

Escaping the weekend

Contrary to all my good intentions, I accomplished exactly............nothing.
Well, I geuss that depends on your definition of nothing.
Robert Jordan's ghost written next book of the Wheel Of Enless Sequels just released book Thirteen of Fourteen. The new co-author has been doing an admirable job of finishing out the series. The transition has been practically seamless. I reserved a copy so that it was delivered to my home on the same day it went on sale.
So needless to say, I spent some time curled up with the book.
I finished the jgsaw puzzle I have been working.
I ate too much junk foor, while mourning the state of Football in the State of Washington.
It is incredible that as sucky as Seattle has played, they are still in First Place. It's not that they are good, it's just that the rest of the league sucks even more than they do. It was painful to watch on Sunday, but I stuck it out to the bitter end. For what purpose, I dont know other than I am just plain stubborn.

Time Out

I have this weekend off. Both days. As in two days IN A ROW.
But don't worry about me getting bored. I have all the things to do that I have put off from the last two weekends. The lawn needs to be raked. I need to work on the spare room/library. And need to work on the spare room in the basement.
And I have three cars that need work.
And naps need to be taken.
Watch the Washington teams get beaten in Football. Cats and dogs and birds. All lost last weekend.
HMMMM that sounds like at least three pounds to put in a two pound bag.
But I won't be bored.

A small vacation

I shut my blog down for a couple of days. Actually I set the permissions to only allow myself access, which is the same as shutting it down.
Needless to say, I have opened it back up again.
I had to get up early to get to court to have R served with a restraining order. It is in place now, so I think I can look forward to a year of peace and quiet.
I also went and got my flu shot today. Hope it's not too late. I was coughing and sneezing earlier, but I'm hoping it was allergy and not the beginning of the flu.
Gotta run. I am at work and they are not paying me to blog. Funny how they are all fussy that way.

Back at it

Well, it is Saturday, and I am getting ready to go to work. Second Saturday in a row.We are working six days a week, down from working seven. I had avoided any overtime since I had my last eye surgery at the beginning of August.
It has been a tough week.
Besides still being on second shift and hating every minute of it, Mrs A is still angry. She went down and filed a restraining order against R. Court date next Thursday. Mrs A is really wound up. She is dreading going to court. Can't say as I blame her.
I booked a flight to Utah for Christmas. Never have been in that part of the country in the Winter. Should be fun. And it will be a good time of year to get out of Dodge. I am not a big fan of the Holidays. Too much stress and expense. At least by going to Utah, we will only be dealing with one family. Plus it will give R a Chance to be with the rest of the family without worrying about violating the Restraining Order.

Down the Drain

I have fought with the downstairs toilet for over 20 years. It constantly develops a partial blockage. Not enough to overflow, but stuff just doesn't go down the way it should. So I go in and vigorously plunge it, and it works OK for a day or two. I have snaked it with no results. I even pulled the toad and checked that there was no obstruction, after all who knows what might have een flushed
So I gave up and got a new toilet. Not just any toilet. A $250.00 Toilet with a fourstar rating.
I happened to be watching the learning channel the other day, and "How it works" or some such came on. The show was about.......toilets. They gave a demonstration, showing what the various models were capable of. The one I bought flush 20 golf balls down in a single flush, and still only use a gallon and a half of water. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.
So I Installed the latest in toilet technology, and so far, so good.

Now, where'd I leave those golf balls?

Updates

R is checking in to rehab on Monday. This is a good thing. Maybe it means that she has turned the corner and is taking responsibility for her actions. While she is "inside" she has signed over responsibility for "i" to her mom. It's great that her mom is actually doing something for her. I guess my attitude is "Wait and see". I can't be too optimistic at this point. We'll see how it goes.

Mrs A and I are going to Utah for Christmas. We have a new grand daughter, and while we can't get away right now, we do need to show R & R that we are excited for them. We have been together for close to eight years now, and it will be the first time we have gone to Utah for Christmas. I am not excited about all the hassle and expense. Airfare is about $750.oo round trip. By the time you add in baggage fees and other crap, it will be $1000.00. An awful lot for four days.

I got the other lense for my glasses today. I can actually see again. Binocular! It will take a little while for my poor brain to adjust. It has been almost a year and a lot of hassle, but it sure as heck beats being blind.

One of the things this means is I will go back to working overtime. Probably next weekend. they have not been working Sundays lately, so I will only be working six days a week.

I was sure wishing I was ready to retire this week. I found a piece of property over around Cle Elem (also known as 'over on the dry side'). 2600 sq ft house two barns and a shop, 23 acres of land. As is bank repo. The intriguing part was the statement "Purchaser is responsible for environmental issues". That could mean anything from the house was used as a meth factory, to having a sewage pond or the river overflowed onto the property. The feedback from the real estate agent was that it was the latter. Price? $199,000. If I was ready to retire, I would jump on it, but the commute to Renton would be at least an hour each way every day. And I am five years away from retirement. I sure hate to let this one get away. It has everything I want. If it only wasn't so far from work, and over a mountain pass.

Nothing New

Just keep our head down and march.

I got the OK from the eye doctor to get my new glasses, but the eye doctor's office called to cancel my appointment. I was really disappointed. It is coming up on a year since I have been able to see properly, and I am getting impatient. They rescheduled for next Monday, but that means a delay of a week to getting my new glasses.

I am still on second shift and hating it. It is crazy at work right now, as it is at the point in the assembly process when they put in the wires. It is good to be rel busy, as there is nothing worse than sitting around with nothing to do.

Mrs A and I are trying to plan a getaway, probably to Lake Quinault. I need to look at the schedule at work and see when I can work in a little time off.

There is a new family member. A grand daughter, Ella Jones, in Utah. We are trying to work in a visit down there for Christmas, since I have a week off between Christmas and New Years. Guess I need to start pricing airfares and car rentals.