816.1.
No bike this morning, powering up for taking a carload every evening this week.
Our new neighbor was playing very loud, I dunno, death-rap-metal-thrash, while working on his monster truck as we moved stuff in last night. Making a statement, I guess. His house is tiny, and I presume that the truck is his only source of music. Not a big deal to me so far - I like to make noise, so I tolerate the noise of others. Indeed, we lived across from the Portuguese Hall for six years, with the same throbbing bass line almost every saturday night for a large part of that time, interspersed with wedding receptions, livestock auctions, ice-cream socials, crab feeds, and every other dumb-ass kind of community thing. Cars parked up and down the street, kids screaming out front, and at night as everyone left, each pair of headlights in turn shining directly into our living room. We never complained about them, and they didn't complain when we were playing a Black Sabbath song during a funeral. "Live and Let Die," heh. I sense the gears turning in his little gear-head; he is registering his disapproval that someone should dare to live beside him in a home that has been empty for several months (perhaps previously inhabited by a complainer), and is basically performing a primal sonic spraying of the bushes, as he studiously ignores us. What he sees is a (to him) middle-aged couple moving into Sebastopol, home of the tie-dyed macrobiotic tree-hugger, next door to his little oasis of post-adolescent masculine crudity. The fool - I can remember being almost exactly like that, passive-agressive in my territorialilty about my sonic space. Why can I remember it? Because it's as recent as the last new neighbor at the old place; or the last time the Portuguese had a big "do" while I was drinking and jamming in our front room!
The poor unsuspecting redneck doesn't yet know that he's competing with a master -- we have five or six electric guitars and large amps easily capable of drowning out his pitiful Rob Zombie tape, about 2000 CDs, records, and tapes, and a reasonably kick-ass stereo. We actually have more noise-making equipment than would fit in his entire house! So, though we don't think much of his taste, we are happy that he likes noise. I was a bit concerned that we'd be asked (repeatedly, by prim & puckered, schoolmarmish, vaguely acting-like-they-mean-well persons for whom there is no such thing as "quiet enough") to turn it down here; I guess that won't be the case!
Someone stop me from breaking out the Damned the second I get the stereo set up...
Tuesday, March 27, 2001
Monday, March 26, 2001
812.3.
Beautiful morning. Stopped to get a picture of the peach sky over Skillman, where the road ahead had a strip of tule fog across it...
Only six carloads and one truckload moved over the weekend, but they were large loads. It rained on Saturday after two runs (one of them taking musical equipment to John's for safekeeping. We also set up and filled bookshelves at the new place, providing a set of boxes to bring back and refill. Doesn't seem like much, but the whole point of not having to move in one weekend is that you don't have to knock yourself out on it. And the new house is *just* starting to look less empty than the old one. I will be attempting to run a load up every day this week after work.
Too, those first few days of packing, you spend a lot of time sifting through the stuff.
Realtors who sold the old place sent us 'estoppel' forms to fill out - why should we accomodate their needs in ANY way shape or form? Threw them out, then retrieved and stored them, thinking they might involve some kind of attempt at absolution for the realtors/buyers, in which case we'll just keep 'em, unfilled. By the way, correction to brevious blog: the credit check was only $10 (vs. $40 at the Century 21/Bundesen realtor).
More Born Today work over the weekend; added the 9400th quote to the database AND passed the 10,000 mark on home page hits (since May 2000 - more than that since the page began over on sbt.com). Over 60 billion (bytes) served!
The people at Fox are high if they think I'd rather watch a Schwarzenegger movie (whose name doesn't begin with "TERM") than their standard, brilliant, Sunday night fare of Futurama, King of the Hill, Simpsons, and Malcolm in the Middle (I don't watch X-Files). I actually avoid renting one-night movies on Sundays because I know I'll get sucked into that channel 2 stuff. What a nasty trick to inflict Arnold on the discerning viewers expecting funny, relevant television! Gawd help us if he runs for (or, gasp, BECOMES) Governor of California, but I wouldn't put ANYthing beneath the voters of this state, after Reagan. Maybe Gary Coleman should run.
Eyes of Tammy Faye: The slipcover hype says it will change my mind about Tammy Faye Bakker. Truth be told, I don't want to change my mind about her (in fact, haven't much 'mind about her' to change, spending as I do very little time thinking about Tammy Faye), but it did do that. She's a more admirable person than she's generally credited for. Though I dozed off because I was dead tired, and while in that semi-dreaming state, can only remember the shrill voice of Tammy defending herself and Jim and the PTL, with images of her scruffy dog somehow merging with hers in my mind, such that it was not unlike the yapping of a hyperactive mutt over some trivial occurrence that I couln't quite grasp. Let's talk about degrees of greed, and the Bakkers vs. Jerry Falwell. Really, I've got other things to think about.
Have been waking at like 4am lately. It would really be helpful to change my work hours to like 9-6 or something, but I'm really pretty beat by 2pm, let alone 5 or 6. Nobody gets here until 9 or 10. Maybe after the move I'll try to change my schedule, but it's hard -- I've always been an earlybird, except for one summer in Michigan when I was routinely sleeping till 11...
Beautiful morning. Stopped to get a picture of the peach sky over Skillman, where the road ahead had a strip of tule fog across it...
Only six carloads and one truckload moved over the weekend, but they were large loads. It rained on Saturday after two runs (one of them taking musical equipment to John's for safekeeping. We also set up and filled bookshelves at the new place, providing a set of boxes to bring back and refill. Doesn't seem like much, but the whole point of not having to move in one weekend is that you don't have to knock yourself out on it. And the new house is *just* starting to look less empty than the old one. I will be attempting to run a load up every day this week after work.
Too, those first few days of packing, you spend a lot of time sifting through the stuff.
Realtors who sold the old place sent us 'estoppel' forms to fill out - why should we accomodate their needs in ANY way shape or form? Threw them out, then retrieved and stored them, thinking they might involve some kind of attempt at absolution for the realtors/buyers, in which case we'll just keep 'em, unfilled. By the way, correction to brevious blog: the credit check was only $10 (vs. $40 at the Century 21/Bundesen realtor).
More Born Today work over the weekend; added the 9400th quote to the database AND passed the 10,000 mark on home page hits (since May 2000 - more than that since the page began over on sbt.com). Over 60 billion (bytes) served!
The people at Fox are high if they think I'd rather watch a Schwarzenegger movie (whose name doesn't begin with "TERM") than their standard, brilliant, Sunday night fare of Futurama, King of the Hill, Simpsons, and Malcolm in the Middle (I don't watch X-Files). I actually avoid renting one-night movies on Sundays because I know I'll get sucked into that channel 2 stuff. What a nasty trick to inflict Arnold on the discerning viewers expecting funny, relevant television! Gawd help us if he runs for (or, gasp, BECOMES) Governor of California, but I wouldn't put ANYthing beneath the voters of this state, after Reagan. Maybe Gary Coleman should run.
Eyes of Tammy Faye: The slipcover hype says it will change my mind about Tammy Faye Bakker. Truth be told, I don't want to change my mind about her (in fact, haven't much 'mind about her' to change, spending as I do very little time thinking about Tammy Faye), but it did do that. She's a more admirable person than she's generally credited for. Though I dozed off because I was dead tired, and while in that semi-dreaming state, can only remember the shrill voice of Tammy defending herself and Jim and the PTL, with images of her scruffy dog somehow merging with hers in my mind, such that it was not unlike the yapping of a hyperactive mutt over some trivial occurrence that I couln't quite grasp. Let's talk about degrees of greed, and the Bakkers vs. Jerry Falwell. Really, I've got other things to think about.
Have been waking at like 4am lately. It would really be helpful to change my work hours to like 9-6 or something, but I'm really pretty beat by 2pm, let alone 5 or 6. Nobody gets here until 9 or 10. Maybe after the move I'll try to change my schedule, but it's hard -- I've always been an earlybird, except for one summer in Michigan when I was routinely sleeping till 11...
Friday, March 23, 2001
Will post this here, just to record it....
Not that it matters, but for what it's worth, Bundesen really really sucked, at least for us.
We applied thru them for a place we really liked a couple of months ago, and it took more than three weeks to find out that we didn't get it. This might be attributable to the actual landlords, but... Of course for our $40 credit-check fee (we paid $20 for the same credit check at another realtor), they could resubmit our application to other places we liked.
I called them last Friday morning about one of their listings (half a mile from our current home), leaving a voice mail to ask that they put in an application (since they already had the previous one) and to call me ASAP, giving work and home numbers and the approximate time I leave work. We took it upon ourselves to check the place out Saturday, at least the outside, and stopped in at Bundesen (which is hello? closed on weekends!) and left a note for the agent, again requesting that they put in our application for the place and please call us. I called again Monday morning, again leaving a voice mail. She FINALLY called Monday evening at 6:30 -- at work -- to tell me there were (now) three applicants for the place and the landlord would be deciding this Friday (tomorrow), and would we like to come in and fill out an application? Grrr.
This whole thing (and really the whole time since the current landlord died) has been a HUGE exercise in patience, and most of the real-estate types with whom we've interacted have provided negative experiences (the Century 21 lady selling our place actually left like three or four cigarette butts in the ashtray by my computer - what the *(&#$)(& was she doing sitting at MY desk for the length of time it takes to smoke four cigs?!?!? - and further (we heard second-hand), had to express her opinions to prospective buyers about "don't all those guitars make a lot of noise?" We never saw her (just as well), but you just KNOW she's some skanky ol' pasty fat-bottomed red-nosed ho' with like fifty Big Mac wrappers in the back-seat of the Buick (and an overflowing ashtray...), acting like she owns the county... Of course we probably could've nailed her ass on the smoking, but of course we're trying to make the most favorable impression possible on the buyers, hoping against hope that we can stay on at $900-1000 in a market where $1200 is pretty much rock-bottom.
Then, too, we're dealing with that market, and with landlords who specify "No pets," "No smoking," "No fun," and "Nobody need apply"...
- and others who *literally* remodeled with a staple-gun in order to call a place "2BR" and ask $1450/mo for it, and we KNOW we have to decide fast and for sure that we don't want it because SOMEone will rent it -- and quickly...
- and yet others who have dragged a single-wide house trailer into their front yard so we can pay $1500, $1600 a month towards their kids' college and the kids are spending the money on drugs and guns at the high school.
- and others still who use words like "cute" to mean "tiny," and "rustic" to mean "falling apart," and "country-style living" to mean "outdoor bathrooms," and "sweeping views" to mean you see the landlord with a broom on his front porch from your permanently-fused-open bathroom window...
and they generally waste our time when we make an appointment, spend 30 valuable minutes driving out there, and then have to peel out when we see the friggin guy from Deliverance standing in front of the place the Beverly Hillbillies vacated after striking oil...
And gas & electric & water prices going up up up and dot-coms losing money and going down down down.
And oh yeah, a wedding coming up Apr 29, where we've made six people travel to death valley and stay in the "cheapest" motel for 2 days, and a reception coming up May 19 where we're committing 80 people to spend an afternoon with us, many flying in from distant parts, and for all we know, we'll be living in a car by then!
So, you can take my opinion of Bundesen with a grain or two of salt -- or all of Utah. :-)
It's been a long time since I've felt so powerless (gee, was it December? The Supreme Court & presidential election? Maybe it HASN'T been that long!), and I hope it'll be a long time before it happens again.
But we're really happy about the new place, and the time we have for getting all our stuff over there, and the room in which to put it, and the lack of staple-guns in evidence.
Not that it matters, but for what it's worth, Bundesen really really sucked, at least for us.
We applied thru them for a place we really liked a couple of months ago, and it took more than three weeks to find out that we didn't get it. This might be attributable to the actual landlords, but... Of course for our $40 credit-check fee (we paid $20 for the same credit check at another realtor), they could resubmit our application to other places we liked.
I called them last Friday morning about one of their listings (half a mile from our current home), leaving a voice mail to ask that they put in an application (since they already had the previous one) and to call me ASAP, giving work and home numbers and the approximate time I leave work. We took it upon ourselves to check the place out Saturday, at least the outside, and stopped in at Bundesen (which is hello? closed on weekends!) and left a note for the agent, again requesting that they put in our application for the place and please call us. I called again Monday morning, again leaving a voice mail. She FINALLY called Monday evening at 6:30 -- at work -- to tell me there were (now) three applicants for the place and the landlord would be deciding this Friday (tomorrow), and would we like to come in and fill out an application? Grrr.
This whole thing (and really the whole time since the current landlord died) has been a HUGE exercise in patience, and most of the real-estate types with whom we've interacted have provided negative experiences (the Century 21 lady selling our place actually left like three or four cigarette butts in the ashtray by my computer - what the *(&#$)(& was she doing sitting at MY desk for the length of time it takes to smoke four cigs?!?!? - and further (we heard second-hand), had to express her opinions to prospective buyers about "don't all those guitars make a lot of noise?" We never saw her (just as well), but you just KNOW she's some skanky ol' pasty fat-bottomed red-nosed ho' with like fifty Big Mac wrappers in the back-seat of the Buick (and an overflowing ashtray...), acting like she owns the county... Of course we probably could've nailed her ass on the smoking, but of course we're trying to make the most favorable impression possible on the buyers, hoping against hope that we can stay on at $900-1000 in a market where $1200 is pretty much rock-bottom.
Then, too, we're dealing with that market, and with landlords who specify "No pets," "No smoking," "No fun," and "Nobody need apply"...
- and others who *literally* remodeled with a staple-gun in order to call a place "2BR" and ask $1450/mo for it, and we KNOW we have to decide fast and for sure that we don't want it because SOMEone will rent it -- and quickly...
- and yet others who have dragged a single-wide house trailer into their front yard so we can pay $1500, $1600 a month towards their kids' college and the kids are spending the money on drugs and guns at the high school.
- and others still who use words like "cute" to mean "tiny," and "rustic" to mean "falling apart," and "country-style living" to mean "outdoor bathrooms," and "sweeping views" to mean you see the landlord with a broom on his front porch from your permanently-fused-open bathroom window...
and they generally waste our time when we make an appointment, spend 30 valuable minutes driving out there, and then have to peel out when we see the friggin guy from Deliverance standing in front of the place the Beverly Hillbillies vacated after striking oil...
And gas & electric & water prices going up up up and dot-coms losing money and going down down down.
And oh yeah, a wedding coming up Apr 29, where we've made six people travel to death valley and stay in the "cheapest" motel for 2 days, and a reception coming up May 19 where we're committing 80 people to spend an afternoon with us, many flying in from distant parts, and for all we know, we'll be living in a car by then!
So, you can take my opinion of Bundesen with a grain or two of salt -- or all of Utah. :-)
It's been a long time since I've felt so powerless (gee, was it December? The Supreme Court & presidential election? Maybe it HASN'T been that long!), and I hope it'll be a long time before it happens again.
But we're really happy about the new place, and the time we have for getting all our stuff over there, and the room in which to put it, and the lack of staple-guns in evidence.
808, roughly...
No bike today, bringing boxes home from work, etc.
Movies:
Remember the Titans: Actually, probably the best of a recent spate of football movies, including as it does an actual story that contains actual relevance to something other than football. Denzel Washington, determined to have a meaningful acting career, does a good job. Loved Ryan Hurst in this movie - as it happens, I've seen almost every previous movie he's been in, but didn't remember him from those. Hmm, 7 stars (out of 10).
Lost Souls: Winona Ryder, with long hair, has made a career of looking frightened, and has probably kept Maybelline alive with eyeliner sales. She's now inching towards my list of unwatchable movie stars. I slept well, so give it 3 stars.
No bike today, bringing boxes home from work, etc.
Movies:
Remember the Titans: Actually, probably the best of a recent spate of football movies, including as it does an actual story that contains actual relevance to something other than football. Denzel Washington, determined to have a meaningful acting career, does a good job. Loved Ryan Hurst in this movie - as it happens, I've seen almost every previous movie he's been in, but didn't remember him from those. Hmm, 7 stars (out of 10).
Lost Souls: Winona Ryder, with long hair, has made a career of looking frightened, and has probably kept Maybelline alive with eyeliner sales. She's now inching towards my list of unwatchable movie stars. I slept well, so give it 3 stars.
Thursday, March 22, 2001
804.8.
And we pass 800 miles, 15 bike-days after passing 700! (I think I'm averaging a little higher lately; have ridden almost every day, but for a couple of errand-days...)
Weird cloud of something blowing across the road on Skillman this a.m. Gnats? Dirt particles? Dunno. Red-Tail on the wires near Bailey. Stayed in at least 2-5 through the whole ride, except where stopping for traffic.
Analyzed possible routes from Sebastopol yesterday. It'll be about 20 miles, but may not be too bad hill- and traffic-wise, cutting through some backroads and neighborhoods. Will definitely give it a try.
Work: got a document outlining changes to the templates from one of the writers in that other town. He clearly hasn't read any of the earlier correspondence, thus went to great pains to create, for example, cross-references to elements we decided not to use. In cases like this, I try to take some time before responding along the lines of: "you ignorant slut!"
Home: We've locked in the Sebastopol house with yesterday's deposit! It's like a 60% increase in rent, but we were in a weird little low-rent pocket here for several years, and I basically think of it like we were paying $1200, because that's the absolute minimum rent we'd have been able to find for a comparable place today. By this (admittedly somewhat twisted) logic, the increase is less than 25%. And it's very close to 100% more space, counting the attic. Once we pay the first month's rent (tomorrow), we will have keys and can probably start moving stuff -- we also get THAT break, two weekends for moving, a real blessing.
And we pass 800 miles, 15 bike-days after passing 700! (I think I'm averaging a little higher lately; have ridden almost every day, but for a couple of errand-days...)
Weird cloud of something blowing across the road on Skillman this a.m. Gnats? Dirt particles? Dunno. Red-Tail on the wires near Bailey. Stayed in at least 2-5 through the whole ride, except where stopping for traffic.
Analyzed possible routes from Sebastopol yesterday. It'll be about 20 miles, but may not be too bad hill- and traffic-wise, cutting through some backroads and neighborhoods. Will definitely give it a try.
Work: got a document outlining changes to the templates from one of the writers in that other town. He clearly hasn't read any of the earlier correspondence, thus went to great pains to create, for example, cross-references to elements we decided not to use. In cases like this, I try to take some time before responding along the lines of: "you ignorant slut!"
Home: We've locked in the Sebastopol house with yesterday's deposit! It's like a 60% increase in rent, but we were in a weird little low-rent pocket here for several years, and I basically think of it like we were paying $1200, because that's the absolute minimum rent we'd have been able to find for a comparable place today. By this (admittedly somewhat twisted) logic, the increase is less than 25%. And it's very close to 100% more space, counting the attic. Once we pay the first month's rent (tomorrow), we will have keys and can probably start moving stuff -- we also get THAT break, two weekends for moving, a real blessing.
Wednesday, March 21, 2001
797.3.
Not much to write, and blogger is crawling this morning.
Today, we hope to lock in the new place by making the deposit.
Talked to my neighbor last night - they're moving to the empty house behind, for $100 more. That means we're paying only $150 more for a virtually 3BR, 1.5BA, +living, dining, big kitchen, office, 2 car garage, etc etc, over a 2BR (where you have to pass through one br to get to the other) 1BA, living and tiny kitchen, 1-car garage place RIGHT NEXT TO THE LANDLORD. So we have the better deal by far.
I will find a way to ride my bike to work. Maybe not as often, but racking up more mileage when I do.
Not much to write, and blogger is crawling this morning.
Today, we hope to lock in the new place by making the deposit.
Talked to my neighbor last night - they're moving to the empty house behind, for $100 more. That means we're paying only $150 more for a virtually 3BR, 1.5BA, +living, dining, big kitchen, office, 2 car garage, etc etc, over a 2BR (where you have to pass through one br to get to the other) 1BA, living and tiny kitchen, 1-car garage place RIGHT NEXT TO THE LANDLORD. So we have the better deal by far.
I will find a way to ride my bike to work. Maybe not as often, but racking up more mileage when I do.
Tuesday, March 20, 2001
793.0.
Two hawks on the way home last night, both sitting still enough for me to stop and get a long look. One was a Cooper's or Sharp-Shinned, I think.
Oh man. The realtor (Martha Cooper from Bundesen property management in Petaluma) finally called me back last night around 6:30. Though I'd told her in my message FRIDAY MORNING that I'm usually home by 5:00.
The place we TRIED TO APPLY FOR ON FRIDAY has three applicants now, and the owner will decide on Friday. If we'd like to come in and fill out an application... WE HAVE ALREADY FILLED OUT AN APPLICATION WITH THEM - I told her this once in Friday morning's voicemail and again in a written message Saturday!
ALL she needed to do on Friday morning when she got my call (or at least yesterday, when she had my call AND my note AND my Monday morning call!) was get the previous applcation and xerox it, and add it to the pile for the landlord to consider. This was evidently beyond her abilities.
Meanwhile, we looked inside the place in Sebastopol with the owners, and they've accepted us. This place is $75 more than the Petaluma one, but is MUCH nicer. Clean, all fixed up (electrical, plumbing, paint...) and a LOT of space. We'll probably go for it.
The current landlord had the grace to apologize for evicting us, and had no problem with us moving out two weeks early.
They were supposedly adding chlorine or something to the water last night, and we had no water this morning. No big deal for me, as long as there's enough for coffee - I shower at work anyway.
Left the car at the Ford dealer for the tranny recall, and with full documentation on the head gasket problem. Hopefully they won't try to lube me up for a hearty screwing on THAT.
Customer service everywhere has gone completely down the tubes. I have no confidence that Henry Curtis Ford will honor what is clearly a known problem with the car, which is still within stated limits in which the refund supposedly applies. I believe they will try everything they can to weasel out of it, including offering money off on a new Ford or Mercury (basically a cheap trade-in on the Mustang [which they'll then resell for more]). If they honor this without wriggling, I will note it here, and I will definitely keep it in mind when I do buy a new car, 6 months to a year hence. If not, no Fords in my future.
I'm fuming still about the realtor, but happy with thoughts of the Sebastopol place. Please let nothing happen to blow THAT!
Two hawks on the way home last night, both sitting still enough for me to stop and get a long look. One was a Cooper's or Sharp-Shinned, I think.
Oh man. The realtor (Martha Cooper from Bundesen property management in Petaluma) finally called me back last night around 6:30. Though I'd told her in my message FRIDAY MORNING that I'm usually home by 5:00.
The place we TRIED TO APPLY FOR ON FRIDAY has three applicants now, and the owner will decide on Friday. If we'd like to come in and fill out an application... WE HAVE ALREADY FILLED OUT AN APPLICATION WITH THEM - I told her this once in Friday morning's voicemail and again in a written message Saturday!
ALL she needed to do on Friday morning when she got my call (or at least yesterday, when she had my call AND my note AND my Monday morning call!) was get the previous applcation and xerox it, and add it to the pile for the landlord to consider. This was evidently beyond her abilities.
Meanwhile, we looked inside the place in Sebastopol with the owners, and they've accepted us. This place is $75 more than the Petaluma one, but is MUCH nicer. Clean, all fixed up (electrical, plumbing, paint...) and a LOT of space. We'll probably go for it.
The current landlord had the grace to apologize for evicting us, and had no problem with us moving out two weeks early.
They were supposedly adding chlorine or something to the water last night, and we had no water this morning. No big deal for me, as long as there's enough for coffee - I shower at work anyway.
Left the car at the Ford dealer for the tranny recall, and with full documentation on the head gasket problem. Hopefully they won't try to lube me up for a hearty screwing on THAT.
Customer service everywhere has gone completely down the tubes. I have no confidence that Henry Curtis Ford will honor what is clearly a known problem with the car, which is still within stated limits in which the refund supposedly applies. I believe they will try everything they can to weasel out of it, including offering money off on a new Ford or Mercury (basically a cheap trade-in on the Mustang [which they'll then resell for more]). If they honor this without wriggling, I will note it here, and I will definitely keep it in mind when I do buy a new car, 6 months to a year hence. If not, no Fords in my future.
I'm fuming still about the realtor, but happy with thoughts of the Sebastopol place. Please let nothing happen to blow THAT!
Monday, March 19, 2001
787.7.
Almost t-shirt weather this morning. It will be nice to get to that point, and to be able to wear shorts agani, and to not have to carry the additional stuff: sweatshirt, full gloves, earmuffs, neck-warmer, rain gear...
Before anyone else says "That's illegal!" it is completely legal for a landlord (in California) to give a tenant 30 days notice without giving a reason. In this case, it's rude, but it's not illegal.
We're pretty comfortable now with the idea that we need to move, and have more or less organized our lives around that necessity, hoping to lock something in quickly so we can move on with our other plans. Hoping we can start making that happen today.
Scrambled all weekend, cleaning up the current place, looking for houses to look at, and looking at said houses. Unlike most realtors who are SELLING houses, the agencies who deal with RENTALS are mostly closed on weekends. So there's enormous frustration in knowing we have to move and not being able to take serious action towards accomplishing it before desperation sets in.
But we saw a few likeable places. Hopefully something will pan out this week and we can relax a little. The place that was $1375 is a trailer (actually, quite a few of the places are trailers - cheap income property on someone's land), but it's back from the road and fenced in, and has a washer and dryer and two-car garage, so not bad, and we've been trying to apply for it since Friday.
Lots of work (in the early morning hours) on the Born Today/Died Today pages, updated the timeline and alphabetical list pages, and figured out the keyword search feature, all of which makes me very happy. Total quotes on the pages slowly approaching 5000; total quotes in the database slowly approaching 10000. Next, I suppose, I'll try to find a useful way to post more of the unused quotes...
Almost t-shirt weather this morning. It will be nice to get to that point, and to be able to wear shorts agani, and to not have to carry the additional stuff: sweatshirt, full gloves, earmuffs, neck-warmer, rain gear...
Before anyone else says "That's illegal!" it is completely legal for a landlord (in California) to give a tenant 30 days notice without giving a reason. In this case, it's rude, but it's not illegal.
We're pretty comfortable now with the idea that we need to move, and have more or less organized our lives around that necessity, hoping to lock something in quickly so we can move on with our other plans. Hoping we can start making that happen today.
Scrambled all weekend, cleaning up the current place, looking for houses to look at, and looking at said houses. Unlike most realtors who are SELLING houses, the agencies who deal with RENTALS are mostly closed on weekends. So there's enormous frustration in knowing we have to move and not being able to take serious action towards accomplishing it before desperation sets in.
But we saw a few likeable places. Hopefully something will pan out this week and we can relax a little. The place that was $1375 is a trailer (actually, quite a few of the places are trailers - cheap income property on someone's land), but it's back from the road and fenced in, and has a washer and dryer and two-car garage, so not bad, and we've been trying to apply for it since Friday.
Lots of work (in the early morning hours) on the Born Today/Died Today pages, updated the timeline and alphabetical list pages, and figured out the keyword search feature, all of which makes me very happy. Total quotes on the pages slowly approaching 5000; total quotes in the database slowly approaching 10000. Next, I suppose, I'll try to find a useful way to post more of the unused quotes...
Friday, March 16, 2001
784.0.
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
784.0.
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
777.5.
Vulture on the crossbar of a telephone post on Skillman; I had to stop and look at it for a sec. Unlike most birds that fly away as soon as they see you're interested, he just sat there and stared back.
Warm and sunny, but I'm a bit late today.
Yesterday afternoon, very windy -- enough so to make the ride difficult. When I got home, there was a paper taped to the front door - 30-day notice.
Initially, anger, because the current landlord has acted all caring and cooperative with us up to now, and this is REALLY short notice after six years, and we note that she signed the thing *10* days ago. Further there was a phone message from her about the future owners coming by today, with no mention of this at all. Man is my rectum sore!
Quick on the heels of anger, despair. We've looked at rentals in this area, found ones we liked, and been turned down after waiting -- not so bad when you have a secure place to apply from; VERY bad if you have to be out of the current place by April 15. Also, we were paying $900 here, and anything comparable will be $1200 or more. This in the middle of planning and paying for wedding and reception stuff, by the way.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but crying was definitely the front-runner.
Then, attempted action. Browsed the online newspaper classifieds, and called about two places. Debated whether to email Terrie or let her remain blissfully unaware for at least the drive home, and then she got home anyway.
Looked at a 2BR house going for $1350 - maybe slightly bigger than the current place, but in the middle of town, across the street from an apartment complex (higher possibility of burglary, not to mention late-night traffic, gunshots, who knows what else.
We went to the chinese place for dinner (and now THEY are annoying me too, serving EVERYTHING within like ten minutes [and didn't they forget to bring rice?]...) to talk over the options, such as they are. Discussed cancelling the Death Valley part, but really, that wouldn't save us a lot. And the problem seems to me more about the futility of finding a decent place in 30 days than about the money we'll have to blow on first-and-last etc. And the MASSIVE inconvenience of having to move two weeks before a still-in-the-planning-stages idyllic desert honeymoon vacation.
We determined to lower our standards a bit, without being able to determine much else, as we are at the mercy of prospective landlords and a fairytale real-estate market. We will even go for a one-bedroom place, if we can cram all our stuff in, and we accept that this may be the end of Road Rash Diaries as we know it.
I do figure I can handle a 10 or 15-mile commute regularly (depending on hills and safe shoulders) and could even do 20, 25 on a semi-regular basis, and there's also the bike-bus-bike option, but distance from work isn't going to be a determining factor in where we "choose" to live.
This may turn out to the good, but I can't see it at the moment. Though, y'know, the prospect of a new, different, place is kind of exciting no matter what the place is -- it's a fresh start.
The fondest hope is that we can squeak into someplace around $1200, drop some of the luxuries like cable TV and possibly the cable internet, hunker down and get serious about saving money for a home where this cannot happen to us again.
Note that this happened to me once before, many years ago, and I ended moving first to a hellish situation in Bolinas, later to the girlfriend's Mom's house, through one or two "satisfactory" apartments, before landing in the great Fairfax duplex where I lived for 11, 12 years. And it was tough, but also a load-off, to move out of THAT place too.
Vulture on the crossbar of a telephone post on Skillman; I had to stop and look at it for a sec. Unlike most birds that fly away as soon as they see you're interested, he just sat there and stared back.
Warm and sunny, but I'm a bit late today.
Yesterday afternoon, very windy -- enough so to make the ride difficult. When I got home, there was a paper taped to the front door - 30-day notice.
Initially, anger, because the current landlord has acted all caring and cooperative with us up to now, and this is REALLY short notice after six years, and we note that she signed the thing *10* days ago. Further there was a phone message from her about the future owners coming by today, with no mention of this at all. Man is my rectum sore!
Quick on the heels of anger, despair. We've looked at rentals in this area, found ones we liked, and been turned down after waiting -- not so bad when you have a secure place to apply from; VERY bad if you have to be out of the current place by April 15. Also, we were paying $900 here, and anything comparable will be $1200 or more. This in the middle of planning and paying for wedding and reception stuff, by the way.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but crying was definitely the front-runner.
Then, attempted action. Browsed the online newspaper classifieds, and called about two places. Debated whether to email Terrie or let her remain blissfully unaware for at least the drive home, and then she got home anyway.
Looked at a 2BR house going for $1350 - maybe slightly bigger than the current place, but in the middle of town, across the street from an apartment complex (higher possibility of burglary, not to mention late-night traffic, gunshots, who knows what else.
We went to the chinese place for dinner (and now THEY are annoying me too, serving EVERYTHING within like ten minutes [and didn't they forget to bring rice?]...) to talk over the options, such as they are. Discussed cancelling the Death Valley part, but really, that wouldn't save us a lot. And the problem seems to me more about the futility of finding a decent place in 30 days than about the money we'll have to blow on first-and-last etc. And the MASSIVE inconvenience of having to move two weeks before a still-in-the-planning-stages idyllic desert honeymoon vacation.
We determined to lower our standards a bit, without being able to determine much else, as we are at the mercy of prospective landlords and a fairytale real-estate market. We will even go for a one-bedroom place, if we can cram all our stuff in, and we accept that this may be the end of Road Rash Diaries as we know it.
I do figure I can handle a 10 or 15-mile commute regularly (depending on hills and safe shoulders) and could even do 20, 25 on a semi-regular basis, and there's also the bike-bus-bike option, but distance from work isn't going to be a determining factor in where we "choose" to live.
This may turn out to the good, but I can't see it at the moment. Though, y'know, the prospect of a new, different, place is kind of exciting no matter what the place is -- it's a fresh start.
The fondest hope is that we can squeak into someplace around $1200, drop some of the luxuries like cable TV and possibly the cable internet, hunker down and get serious about saving money for a home where this cannot happen to us again.
Note that this happened to me once before, many years ago, and I ended moving first to a hellish situation in Bolinas, later to the girlfriend's Mom's house, through one or two "satisfactory" apartments, before landing in the great Fairfax duplex where I lived for 11, 12 years. And it was tough, but also a load-off, to move out of THAT place too.
Thursday, March 15, 2001
770.0.
Man, I don't know why my legs get so sore after missing a day (more so than after missing two or three days, seems like), but it takes a lot more effort to get up the minor slopes on Skillman, much less the Fair Avenue hill.
No movies last night; saw Richard Thompson at the Mystic Theatre instead. This was the third time we've seen him at the Mystic, a theatre whose main redeeming quality is that it's local.
What a wondrous guitar player! What great songs! Have reviewed RT shows before, so won't get into it deeply, but suffice to say that, even though I was quite tired, the show was two hours of entrancement. As always. The guy has a unique guitar-playing style, such that he can produce a full sound unaccompanied, somehow keeping a strong bass line going while playing complex rhythms and melodies AND singing. Nothing short of amazing. Seemed like he got into a couple of depressive jags last night, a lot of slow numbers, but still delivered with some rockers like "Daddy Was a Mummy" and "Feel So Good." Great banter between songs, too. He also introduced a very funny new song about Kenny G's lack of musicianship.
Opening act was a woman who played various stringed instruments (one appeared to be a baritone ukelele!) with her cello-playing friend, singing in that kind of nasally affected voice that many women use nowadays. Her chatting with the audience, and her first couple of songs, were really stilted and not-quite-right. Made me uncomfortable. She closed, though, with a great torch song in French "Vie en Rose." (psst! This is how I know that nasal voice was affected.) But you realize while watching someone like that, they have enough belief in themselves to stand up in front of strangers and belt it out, touring the country at budget rates as a second- or third-billed act, and you have to have a certain amount of respect for that...
Annoying guy at work has brought in his recumbent bike, and is of course saying how much better it is in every way than a standard bicycle. <yawn>
Man, I don't know why my legs get so sore after missing a day (more so than after missing two or three days, seems like), but it takes a lot more effort to get up the minor slopes on Skillman, much less the Fair Avenue hill.
No movies last night; saw Richard Thompson at the Mystic Theatre instead. This was the third time we've seen him at the Mystic, a theatre whose main redeeming quality is that it's local.
What a wondrous guitar player! What great songs! Have reviewed RT shows before, so won't get into it deeply, but suffice to say that, even though I was quite tired, the show was two hours of entrancement. As always. The guy has a unique guitar-playing style, such that he can produce a full sound unaccompanied, somehow keeping a strong bass line going while playing complex rhythms and melodies AND singing. Nothing short of amazing. Seemed like he got into a couple of depressive jags last night, a lot of slow numbers, but still delivered with some rockers like "Daddy Was a Mummy" and "Feel So Good." Great banter between songs, too. He also introduced a very funny new song about Kenny G's lack of musicianship.
Opening act was a woman who played various stringed instruments (one appeared to be a baritone ukelele!) with her cello-playing friend, singing in that kind of nasally affected voice that many women use nowadays. Her chatting with the audience, and her first couple of songs, were really stilted and not-quite-right. Made me uncomfortable. She closed, though, with a great torch song in French "Vie en Rose." (psst! This is how I know that nasal voice was affected.) But you realize while watching someone like that, they have enough belief in themselves to stand up in front of strangers and belt it out, touring the country at budget rates as a second- or third-billed act, and you have to have a certain amount of respect for that...
Annoying guy at work has brought in his recumbent bike, and is of course saying how much better it is in every way than a standard bicycle. <yawn>
Wednesday, March 14, 2001
No bike today; have things to do involving a four-wheeled internal combustion vehicle.
Rode home via King yesterday. Nice ride, though the confounded wind! Best thing for that is to just resign myself to taking it slow in a lower gear. Thus did most of Rainsville on the dirt shoulder.
And now, your heavily-IMDB-linked movies.
Wonder Boys and Almost Famous appeared at the vid store yesterday.
Wonder Boys is a funny movie with an outstanding cast. Rent it and enjoy!
Almost Famous is a film I've been looking forward to, being as it is about rock'n'roll and I generally see everything about rock'n'roll. Also funny, and also with a good cast, this movie was very entertaining and quite believable. If you ever thought "Rock Journalist" might be the easiest job in the world, watch this before quitting your day job. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who I've liked in everything I've seen, plays Lester Bangs probably better than Lester would've (at least kinder and gentler...). The kid got kind of annoying over the course of the movie, but then, I suspect Cameron Crowe probably is too. Billy Crudup was great, Kate Hudson perfectly ditzy. Knowing that this is semi-autobiographical, I looked up the trivia on IMDB to see what band Crowe might've toured with early in his career.
Rode home via King yesterday. Nice ride, though the confounded wind! Best thing for that is to just resign myself to taking it slow in a lower gear. Thus did most of Rainsville on the dirt shoulder.
And now, your heavily-IMDB-linked movies.
Wonder Boys and Almost Famous appeared at the vid store yesterday.
Wonder Boys is a funny movie with an outstanding cast. Rent it and enjoy!
Almost Famous is a film I've been looking forward to, being as it is about rock'n'roll and I generally see everything about rock'n'roll. Also funny, and also with a good cast, this movie was very entertaining and quite believable. If you ever thought "Rock Journalist" might be the easiest job in the world, watch this before quitting your day job. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who I've liked in everything I've seen, plays Lester Bangs probably better than Lester would've (at least kinder and gentler...). The kid got kind of annoying over the course of the movie, but then, I suspect Cameron Crowe probably is too. Billy Crudup was great, Kate Hudson perfectly ditzy. Knowing that this is semi-autobiographical, I looked up the trivia on IMDB to see what band Crowe might've toured with early in his career.
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
759.8.
Dead pheasant last night beside Skillman - surprising there aren't more. Almost stopped to get a feather, but really... yeck! Plus I had just stopped a few minutes back to watch and try to identify a small raptor hovering over a field. It's pretty amazing when they do that, hanging motionless in the sky, moving wings and taiol minutely to adjust, looking down intently at some prey you'll never see unless he dives and comes up with it... This one might have been a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned (haven't been able to unequivocally identify either of those in the wild). Less than or near 12" length, but I don't think it was a kestrel...
Quite a bit warmer this week. Overcast this morning, not a lot of beauty to the ride, just getting to work.
Movies last night
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999): Good movie. Basically a courtroom drama with a strong dose of guilt over treatment of the Japanese during WWII... I rented this damned thing at LEAST three times before, paid late fees on, etc., and though it was overdue again last night, I made myself watch it so I wouldn't rent it again and again forever. Certainly, worth renting at least once, but after all that buildup (and the glowing review on IMDB), kind of a letdown. Don't let my opinion stop you from watching it.
Mountains of the Moon (1990): Oh, I liked this one. Can't prove it by me, but allegedly factual account of the explorations of Sir Richard Burton (not the drunken actor) and John Speeke in Africa, seeking the source of the Nile. I like historical drama like this partly because I may have quotes by some of the people portrayed (such as Burton and his wife/biographer Isabel) in my born-today pages. Lots of action and interaction, and interesting view of the "noble savage" (and the "savage nobles" of Royal Geographic Society in Victorian England!). The principle actors really deliver well-fleshed-out characters. And imagine! A movie set mostly in Africa with not a single "deadly-snake" scene!
You know, some movies are one-watchers; others are good for several viewings. I'm not sure what makes that difference for me, but "Snow" is a oner, and I would watch "Mountains" again. Between these two movies, the former tells a story and the latter creates a world. Someone else would see it the opposite way. Half of the quality of any movie/book/art/music is in the imagination.
Getting close to "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," here, but beyond that, not only is the quality invested by the viewer, half of the backstory and subtext on which the viewer bases their view, is created by them as well.
Dead pheasant last night beside Skillman - surprising there aren't more. Almost stopped to get a feather, but really... yeck! Plus I had just stopped a few minutes back to watch and try to identify a small raptor hovering over a field. It's pretty amazing when they do that, hanging motionless in the sky, moving wings and taiol minutely to adjust, looking down intently at some prey you'll never see unless he dives and comes up with it... This one might have been a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned (haven't been able to unequivocally identify either of those in the wild). Less than or near 12" length, but I don't think it was a kestrel...
Quite a bit warmer this week. Overcast this morning, not a lot of beauty to the ride, just getting to work.
Movies last night
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999): Good movie. Basically a courtroom drama with a strong dose of guilt over treatment of the Japanese during WWII... I rented this damned thing at LEAST three times before, paid late fees on, etc., and though it was overdue again last night, I made myself watch it so I wouldn't rent it again and again forever. Certainly, worth renting at least once, but after all that buildup (and the glowing review on IMDB), kind of a letdown. Don't let my opinion stop you from watching it.
Mountains of the Moon (1990): Oh, I liked this one. Can't prove it by me, but allegedly factual account of the explorations of Sir Richard Burton (not the drunken actor) and John Speeke in Africa, seeking the source of the Nile. I like historical drama like this partly because I may have quotes by some of the people portrayed (such as Burton and his wife/biographer Isabel) in my born-today pages. Lots of action and interaction, and interesting view of the "noble savage" (and the "savage nobles" of Royal Geographic Society in Victorian England!). The principle actors really deliver well-fleshed-out characters. And imagine! A movie set mostly in Africa with not a single "deadly-snake" scene!
You know, some movies are one-watchers; others are good for several viewings. I'm not sure what makes that difference for me, but "Snow" is a oner, and I would watch "Mountains" again. Between these two movies, the former tells a story and the latter creates a world. Someone else would see it the opposite way. Half of the quality of any movie/book/art/music is in the imagination.
Getting close to "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," here, but beyond that, not only is the quality invested by the viewer, half of the backstory and subtext on which the viewer bases their view, is created by them as well.
Monday, March 12, 2001
752.4.
Pleased to have passed 750! Wonder if I can get a thousand before the late-April wedding, or at least the May reception? It's a vague goal, like my plan to take a long ride yesterday, never happened. See how close I get by uh Apr 14, when there's two weeks to go, and then get serious if it's doable. 25 workdays till the 14th = 200 miles at 8/day. Actually, pretty easily doable, if I keep avoiding the car, and occasionally take those longer routes.
I often talk about the 'golden' evening light, but there's also a 'silver' morning light, when the grass is dewy or frosty and the sun hits it with cold white light... Looks almost like snow. Took a picture this morning that'll probably be overexposed, but I have to make the attempt.
It almost seems like winter is already over (saw first [dead] snake of the year Friday afternoon), but I would expect a few more rains this year. Got good (and compact) rain pants yesterday at sonomaoutfitters, while buying our new 3-person Walrus tent (which probably will never have three persons in it, but we'll have more room). On comparison with our old-faithful 2-person Cirrus tent, it actually packs smaller and weighs less, so might even use it for backpacking. The Cirrus is and has been a great tent, but it's just a little cramped inside, especially with bad weather when we're stuck in there with a bunch of our stuff. The Walrus also has a hoop on the rainfly at the entryway, providing an extra area for keeping boots dryish. When you read the footprint dimensions on a tent, those aren't entirely accurate - the Cirrus, when set up, curves upwards at the edges... Before honeymoon, might also get good new pads, but you wouldn't believe how expensive those things are!
Visited yesterday with my best man John, who is planning a bachelor party. No strippers or anything like that, please. In fact, I'm thinking that maybe we just want a unisex bachelor/ette party... but y'know, this really is a separate 'guy thing' and 'gal thing.'
A million lizards at John's place, and a pair of (he says) mating red-tails - one flying over us screeching as we sat on the back porch.
May be able to recoup the head-gasket loss. Known problem with 1995 Ford 3.8L V-6. I *knew* it wasn't just me! Even if I get no reimbursement, THAT much is immensely satisfying, that it wasn't (necessarily) stupidity on my part that caused the head gasket(s) to fail.
Oddly, the job of creating a style guide has been taken from me, the only person in the organization whose title is "editor." Also, the other cities choose to NOT have their doc edited because of the one-editor bottleneck. Then what the f890 IS my job? I'm all verklempt... talk amongst yourselves... We'll work it out.
Movies: The Music Man (1962). They shouldn't have had the half-hour-plus "Behind the Movie" thing before the real thing (Shirley Jones hosting, others from the movie interviewed, many pieces of scenes previewed). I'm usually a sucker for a musical like this, and it certainly has its moments, but I can't buy the Liberace-ish Robert Preston as a leading man, nor can I clear the Partridge Family from my head while watching Shirley Jones. Much enjoyed the very-young Ron Howard and the very-old Hermione Gingold. Still, for all the distractions, the movie comes up swinging and ultimately delivers a lovely old-timey magic.
Pleased to have passed 750! Wonder if I can get a thousand before the late-April wedding, or at least the May reception? It's a vague goal, like my plan to take a long ride yesterday, never happened. See how close I get by uh Apr 14, when there's two weeks to go, and then get serious if it's doable. 25 workdays till the 14th = 200 miles at 8/day. Actually, pretty easily doable, if I keep avoiding the car, and occasionally take those longer routes.
I often talk about the 'golden' evening light, but there's also a 'silver' morning light, when the grass is dewy or frosty and the sun hits it with cold white light... Looks almost like snow. Took a picture this morning that'll probably be overexposed, but I have to make the attempt.
It almost seems like winter is already over (saw first [dead] snake of the year Friday afternoon), but I would expect a few more rains this year. Got good (and compact) rain pants yesterday at sonomaoutfitters, while buying our new 3-person Walrus tent (which probably will never have three persons in it, but we'll have more room). On comparison with our old-faithful 2-person Cirrus tent, it actually packs smaller and weighs less, so might even use it for backpacking. The Cirrus is and has been a great tent, but it's just a little cramped inside, especially with bad weather when we're stuck in there with a bunch of our stuff. The Walrus also has a hoop on the rainfly at the entryway, providing an extra area for keeping boots dryish. When you read the footprint dimensions on a tent, those aren't entirely accurate - the Cirrus, when set up, curves upwards at the edges... Before honeymoon, might also get good new pads, but you wouldn't believe how expensive those things are!
Visited yesterday with my best man John, who is planning a bachelor party. No strippers or anything like that, please. In fact, I'm thinking that maybe we just want a unisex bachelor/ette party... but y'know, this really is a separate 'guy thing' and 'gal thing.'
A million lizards at John's place, and a pair of (he says) mating red-tails - one flying over us screeching as we sat on the back porch.
May be able to recoup the head-gasket loss. Known problem with 1995 Ford 3.8L V-6. I *knew* it wasn't just me! Even if I get no reimbursement, THAT much is immensely satisfying, that it wasn't (necessarily) stupidity on my part that caused the head gasket(s) to fail.
Oddly, the job of creating a style guide has been taken from me, the only person in the organization whose title is "editor." Also, the other cities choose to NOT have their doc edited because of the one-editor bottleneck. Then what the f890 IS my job? I'm all verklempt... talk amongst yourselves... We'll work it out.
Movies: The Music Man (1962). They shouldn't have had the half-hour-plus "Behind the Movie" thing before the real thing (Shirley Jones hosting, others from the movie interviewed, many pieces of scenes previewed). I'm usually a sucker for a musical like this, and it certainly has its moments, but I can't buy the Liberace-ish Robert Preston as a leading man, nor can I clear the Partridge Family from my head while watching Shirley Jones. Much enjoyed the very-young Ron Howard and the very-old Hermione Gingold. Still, for all the distractions, the movie comes up swinging and ultimately delivers a lovely old-timey magic.
Friday, March 09, 2001
744.9.
Did the extra two miles last night on the King Road route. Great-GrandBoss saw me preparing to leave at 3:30 - hope he understands that I often get here before 7 and often don't do lunch.
TGIF. Have done good work this week.
Newt/salamander in the garage this morning -- maybe he's keeping warmer there than outdoors. Nice sunrise, chilly air. Wanted to stop and take pictures, but only took one. Need a holster or something for the camera. Like in a car, you might catch a glimpse of something and stop, and half the time when you get back to it it's not as great as you originally thought.
Last night, visited a caterer we liked and, I think, locked 'em in for the wedding reception party 5/19. Extraordinary salad, with walnuts, mandarin orange, and ah... a bunch of other stuff. Chicken with salsa. Filet Mignon for our carnivorous friends. Will also have vege/vegan stuff, but really, that's like 2% of attendees, so not we're gonna weigh it towards them more than 10%. The perceived quality of the caterers may be more important than the quality of the food...? Well, if you're in Marin/Sonoma, and have a wedding coming up, you might want to check out Forks and Fingers catering. Or you might want to check back here around 5/22 or so; if there are any problems, they'll be documented.
Dinosaur (2000):
Oh man, I don't know. Technology has enabled us to see things on film that would've been impossible like 10 minutes ago, but it's the same old story of an individual's quest for safety, belonging, and freedom, and the (sanitized, bloodless) trials-by-fire he must endure--all reduced to soft, gummable chunks for consumption by toothless two-year-olds. The human parts are played by animated dinosaurs, who in turn are voiced by humans. Especially annoying is how, even in fantasy dinosaur land, there's the stereotypical comic-relief, overweight-and-slow-moving-but-full-of-common-sensical-folksy-wisdom triceratops played by Della Reese (I guess Whoopi was already booked for another comic sidekick voice role - and suggest you miss THAT movie too). C'MON moviemakers, there are more than three types of black people in the world! Tagline: "You have never seen anything like this." Actually, I have. This is the same plot and cast of characters you've seen 500 times (if you've watched 600 movies). The ONLY things this movie has going for it are the background scenery and lack of singing. Really. Go see Toy Story or Chicken Run again instead.
If only the advanced technology of today could somehow be applied to the story line and dialog... sigh. This movie makes me wish that they still had to draw 'em frame by frame.
IMDB fans rate it 6.5 out of 10, but they are high.
Did the extra two miles last night on the King Road route. Great-GrandBoss saw me preparing to leave at 3:30 - hope he understands that I often get here before 7 and often don't do lunch.
TGIF. Have done good work this week.
Newt/salamander in the garage this morning -- maybe he's keeping warmer there than outdoors. Nice sunrise, chilly air. Wanted to stop and take pictures, but only took one. Need a holster or something for the camera. Like in a car, you might catch a glimpse of something and stop, and half the time when you get back to it it's not as great as you originally thought.
Last night, visited a caterer we liked and, I think, locked 'em in for the wedding reception party 5/19. Extraordinary salad, with walnuts, mandarin orange, and ah... a bunch of other stuff. Chicken with salsa. Filet Mignon for our carnivorous friends. Will also have vege/vegan stuff, but really, that's like 2% of attendees, so not we're gonna weigh it towards them more than 10%. The perceived quality of the caterers may be more important than the quality of the food...? Well, if you're in Marin/Sonoma, and have a wedding coming up, you might want to check out Forks and Fingers catering. Or you might want to check back here around 5/22 or so; if there are any problems, they'll be documented.
Dinosaur (2000):
Oh man, I don't know. Technology has enabled us to see things on film that would've been impossible like 10 minutes ago, but it's the same old story of an individual's quest for safety, belonging, and freedom, and the (sanitized, bloodless) trials-by-fire he must endure--all reduced to soft, gummable chunks for consumption by toothless two-year-olds. The human parts are played by animated dinosaurs, who in turn are voiced by humans. Especially annoying is how, even in fantasy dinosaur land, there's the stereotypical comic-relief, overweight-and-slow-moving-but-full-of-common-sensical-folksy-wisdom triceratops played by Della Reese (I guess Whoopi was already booked for another comic sidekick voice role - and suggest you miss THAT movie too). C'MON moviemakers, there are more than three types of black people in the world! Tagline: "You have never seen anything like this." Actually, I have. This is the same plot and cast of characters you've seen 500 times (if you've watched 600 movies). The ONLY things this movie has going for it are the background scenery and lack of singing. Really. Go see Toy Story or Chicken Run again instead.
If only the advanced technology of today could somehow be applied to the story line and dialog... sigh. This movie makes me wish that they still had to draw 'em frame by frame.
IMDB fans rate it 6.5 out of 10, but they are high.
Thursday, March 08, 2001
736.1.
Very foggy; again, why I got lights. Allowed the headlight to burn out over the last couple of weeks so I could give it a full charge. My mechanical ineptitude is well-documented. I don't really understand these batteries, and got somewhat conflicting info in the instructions (how do you drive a technical writer crazy?).
I really wish cars would move at least a little bit into the oncoming lane (when no traffic is actually oncoming) to pass me. If nothing else, it shows that they see me. It would be so easy to hit something unexpected on the shoulder and swerve/fall out into the driving lane... When I'm driving (even before I started biking regularly) I consider this when passing peds or cyclists or horses - give at least their full height in lateral room to fall.
Great Egret in one of the fields on Skillman - they're very beautiful birds, and large, yet they have a certain lack of grace that is comical, and when you see one "outstanding in his field," he's usually looking to scare up a meal, with that hunched-over, undertakerish look of a vulture.
Lessee, movies: last night, "The Contender" and "Meet the Parents."
The Contender: Jeff Bridges sleeping through a(nother?) presidential performance, and Gary Oldman typically excellent (and difficult to identify). Joan Allen playing a senator with almost-impossible integrity, nominated for Vice President, when an indiscretion from her past causes problems. Good cast, engaging enough story. It could happen here, but I don't suppose it would play out like this.
Meet the Parents: Funny, the kind of slapstick where you're slightly embarrassed to be laughing out loud at Ben Stiller's misfortune, but Stiller has a face that's just MADE for misfortune, and there are some moments where just the deadpan face shot is enough to make me burst out laughing.
Very foggy; again, why I got lights. Allowed the headlight to burn out over the last couple of weeks so I could give it a full charge. My mechanical ineptitude is well-documented. I don't really understand these batteries, and got somewhat conflicting info in the instructions (how do you drive a technical writer crazy?).
I really wish cars would move at least a little bit into the oncoming lane (when no traffic is actually oncoming) to pass me. If nothing else, it shows that they see me. It would be so easy to hit something unexpected on the shoulder and swerve/fall out into the driving lane... When I'm driving (even before I started biking regularly) I consider this when passing peds or cyclists or horses - give at least their full height in lateral room to fall.
Great Egret in one of the fields on Skillman - they're very beautiful birds, and large, yet they have a certain lack of grace that is comical, and when you see one "outstanding in his field," he's usually looking to scare up a meal, with that hunched-over, undertakerish look of a vulture.
Lessee, movies: last night, "The Contender" and "Meet the Parents."
The Contender: Jeff Bridges sleeping through a(nother?) presidential performance, and Gary Oldman typically excellent (and difficult to identify). Joan Allen playing a senator with almost-impossible integrity, nominated for Vice President, when an indiscretion from her past causes problems. Good cast, engaging enough story. It could happen here, but I don't suppose it would play out like this.
Meet the Parents: Funny, the kind of slapstick where you're slightly embarrassed to be laughing out loud at Ben Stiller's misfortune, but Stiller has a face that's just MADE for misfortune, and there are some moments where just the deadpan face shot is enough to make me burst out laughing.
Wednesday, March 07, 2001
727.1.
Beautiful morning, just perfect. The bike ride does a lot for me.
Those who may read this... may think it's pretty lame to base a blog on bike riding when it's only like 8 miles per day, when "serious" cyclists may do 100 or more miles in a given day. And why it's "Road Rash" when people like Johnny Knoxville do road rash infinitely better than I ever could or would (and indeed, I have yet to take a fall, knock wood). I guess it's more a journal than a bike-riding thing, but the bike-riding definitely drives it. "Road Rash" just came to mind when I created it; I might've come up with something more clever and more germane, but there it is. I've been wanting for some time to catalog some of the movies I watch, so I get to do that too.
Today's ride was about enjoying the view, and about taking out a little bit of anger (on the uphills).
Peach-colored cloud layer above a strip of blue sky above low-lying tule fog, layers of my morning parfait (that's french, and something of a pun). The cattle on Skillman watch me cruise by... Up the Fair Ave hill in 2-5 gear has become my morning sweat-breaker. Right after this hill, there's a pretty deep down-and-up that gives a very brief respite from pedalling before requiring all I've got to power up the other side in 3-8 (sometimes clicking down to 2-8, 2-5, at the very top if I don't get enough momentum). These are the only real hills on my short route. When Fair turns onto Bailey, that's a nice long 20mph downhill to Petaluma Blvd and the traffic.
No 10% loan. I am a bad credit risk, though I have no debts and a relatively large disposable income each month after rent & expenses. I want a fun new truck, with power and payload, but after more thought, I REALLY don't want to pay 33% interest to get there. Granted, if I pay early, that 33% goes down significantly. But it could be that if I save more money while driving for free in the Mustang (and the bike!) for a few months, I can do a lot better and get an '01 model when they're clearing them for the '02s, with a hefty down payment as well, and not find myself beholden for the next 5, 6 years of my life. I'm happier and happier about this decision as I spend more time NOT in debt...
Big work project will be starting soon, and I'm actually pretty excited about it (but farbeit from ME to ever show it!).
Now, your daily IMDB-linked movie. "Damn Yankees!" last night. Not really up my alley, but hoo-ha, that Gwen Verdon , who died last year, is stunning as "Lola." I now understand the popularity of that "Whatever Lola Wants" song, as she sang and danced it in the movie. She was funny, sweet, goofy, and sexy in that sequence, and in the movie as a whole, about the only high point for me. Ray Walston (who died 1/1/ THIS year) is about one spiral-cut away from full-on Shatner ham (but hey, some good quotes at the IMDB link above - I'd better get him into "Born Today"). Tab Hunter (not dead, but going on 70 years old) has a few moments (the heavy-drinking scene is pretty remarkable), and is pretty convincing as a naive, stupid, aw-shucks ballplayer, but overall I can't tell how much of THAT is acting.
Beautiful morning, just perfect. The bike ride does a lot for me.
Those who may read this... may think it's pretty lame to base a blog on bike riding when it's only like 8 miles per day, when "serious" cyclists may do 100 or more miles in a given day. And why it's "Road Rash" when people like Johnny Knoxville do road rash infinitely better than I ever could or would (and indeed, I have yet to take a fall, knock wood). I guess it's more a journal than a bike-riding thing, but the bike-riding definitely drives it. "Road Rash" just came to mind when I created it; I might've come up with something more clever and more germane, but there it is. I've been wanting for some time to catalog some of the movies I watch, so I get to do that too.
Today's ride was about enjoying the view, and about taking out a little bit of anger (on the uphills).
Peach-colored cloud layer above a strip of blue sky above low-lying tule fog, layers of my morning parfait (that's french, and something of a pun). The cattle on Skillman watch me cruise by... Up the Fair Ave hill in 2-5 gear has become my morning sweat-breaker. Right after this hill, there's a pretty deep down-and-up that gives a very brief respite from pedalling before requiring all I've got to power up the other side in 3-8 (sometimes clicking down to 2-8, 2-5, at the very top if I don't get enough momentum). These are the only real hills on my short route. When Fair turns onto Bailey, that's a nice long 20mph downhill to Petaluma Blvd and the traffic.
No 10% loan. I am a bad credit risk, though I have no debts and a relatively large disposable income each month after rent & expenses. I want a fun new truck, with power and payload, but after more thought, I REALLY don't want to pay 33% interest to get there. Granted, if I pay early, that 33% goes down significantly. But it could be that if I save more money while driving for free in the Mustang (and the bike!) for a few months, I can do a lot better and get an '01 model when they're clearing them for the '02s, with a hefty down payment as well, and not find myself beholden for the next 5, 6 years of my life. I'm happier and happier about this decision as I spend more time NOT in debt...
Big work project will be starting soon, and I'm actually pretty excited about it (but farbeit from ME to ever show it!).
Now, your daily IMDB-linked movie. "Damn Yankees!" last night. Not really up my alley, but hoo-ha, that Gwen Verdon , who died last year, is stunning as "Lola." I now understand the popularity of that "Whatever Lola Wants" song, as she sang and danced it in the movie. She was funny, sweet, goofy, and sexy in that sequence, and in the movie as a whole, about the only high point for me. Ray Walston (who died 1/1/ THIS year) is about one spiral-cut away from full-on Shatner ham (but hey, some good quotes at the IMDB link above - I'd better get him into "Born Today"). Tab Hunter (not dead, but going on 70 years old) has a few moments (the heavy-drinking scene is pretty remarkable), and is pretty convincing as a naive, stupid, aw-shucks ballplayer, but overall I can't tell how much of THAT is acting.
Tuesday, March 06, 2001
719.6.
Drove yesterday to do some errands, and it was raining pretty much all day anyway.
I hate these times when I skip the bike ride on a friday or monday (and the weekend between); it seems like I can almost feel the loss of physical strength (not to mention wind).
Nurse Betty. A likeable movie - give it 4 or 5 out of 10. But Renee Zelweiger gives me the creeps. Now I can't remember the name of the other... Waking the Dead. Also a decent enough film, but really a little melodramatic, and the actors (Billy Crudup and the Ali-McGraw-ish Jennifer Connelly) didn't really carry it off. Nothing worse than watching a couple of actors "weeping their eyes out" and being almost entirely unaffected!
Overdressed for biking today - cloudy out, but I don't think it's actually going to rain. So I could've packed the rainjacket in, and probably will pack it out. Lots of wind in the weekend storms - lots of debris on the road, especially on the shoulder where I ride...
Test drove three very different cars Saturday: Dodge Dakota 4x4, Nissan XTerra, and Toyota RAV4. All three were suitable to a particular niche, I suppose.
Liked the Dodge quite a bit, except that the bench seat was not very comfortable for a long ride (which is what I hope to do most with this vehicle). Low front of roof had us leaning forward to peer out - definitely want a sunroof (and don't really need the overhead console). It feels really solid. Part-time 4WD seems like a good idea. 4.7L V-8 very nice, and "4WD-Lo" gave a really powerful feeling.
The XTerra was pretty cool, but the salesman who took us out seemed to get nervous suddenly and claimed to need to get back to the showroom because they were short-handed. Excuse me, but if I'm going to spend 20k on a vehicle, a 20-minute drive ain't gonna sell it to me. There was a clunk when we came to a stop sometimes - may be something normal with full-time 4WD.
Toyota dealer claimed there were no 5-speed RAV4s available (there's one in the parking lot here at work, bought nearby in San Rafael), and we ended up driving a 4-cylinder 2WD automatic - a car we had no interest in buying. With rear window down, HUGE amount of wind-buffeting noise on that car. The XTerra is cool, but I got a lot better feeling from the Dakota.
Dodge dealer from Oakland calling me last night. All I want is a freakin' quote, and I specifically note "please no calls" on every internet form where I have the choice, and I have spent time selecting the options I want on a web page, and still these guys call. His quote was over 25k, with the SLT package.
And we have the "Sport" package and the "XL" and the "SE" and the "SOB" with wildly-varying prices for each, and different stories about what the package actually contains... Makes it (intentionally) difficult to compare two similar cars.
Oh well. Waiting on a potential better (like, 4% better!) APR loan offer from the local credit union, but do have preapproved loan in hand at 14%.
Drove yesterday to do some errands, and it was raining pretty much all day anyway.
I hate these times when I skip the bike ride on a friday or monday (and the weekend between); it seems like I can almost feel the loss of physical strength (not to mention wind).
Nurse Betty. A likeable movie - give it 4 or 5 out of 10. But Renee Zelweiger gives me the creeps. Now I can't remember the name of the other... Waking the Dead. Also a decent enough film, but really a little melodramatic, and the actors (Billy Crudup and the Ali-McGraw-ish Jennifer Connelly) didn't really carry it off. Nothing worse than watching a couple of actors "weeping their eyes out" and being almost entirely unaffected!
Overdressed for biking today - cloudy out, but I don't think it's actually going to rain. So I could've packed the rainjacket in, and probably will pack it out. Lots of wind in the weekend storms - lots of debris on the road, especially on the shoulder where I ride...
Test drove three very different cars Saturday: Dodge Dakota 4x4, Nissan XTerra, and Toyota RAV4. All three were suitable to a particular niche, I suppose.
Liked the Dodge quite a bit, except that the bench seat was not very comfortable for a long ride (which is what I hope to do most with this vehicle). Low front of roof had us leaning forward to peer out - definitely want a sunroof (and don't really need the overhead console). It feels really solid. Part-time 4WD seems like a good idea. 4.7L V-8 very nice, and "4WD-Lo" gave a really powerful feeling.
The XTerra was pretty cool, but the salesman who took us out seemed to get nervous suddenly and claimed to need to get back to the showroom because they were short-handed. Excuse me, but if I'm going to spend 20k on a vehicle, a 20-minute drive ain't gonna sell it to me. There was a clunk when we came to a stop sometimes - may be something normal with full-time 4WD.
Toyota dealer claimed there were no 5-speed RAV4s available (there's one in the parking lot here at work, bought nearby in San Rafael), and we ended up driving a 4-cylinder 2WD automatic - a car we had no interest in buying. With rear window down, HUGE amount of wind-buffeting noise on that car. The XTerra is cool, but I got a lot better feeling from the Dakota.
Dodge dealer from Oakland calling me last night. All I want is a freakin' quote, and I specifically note "please no calls" on every internet form where I have the choice, and I have spent time selecting the options I want on a web page, and still these guys call. His quote was over 25k, with the SLT package.
And we have the "Sport" package and the "XL" and the "SE" and the "SOB" with wildly-varying prices for each, and different stories about what the package actually contains... Makes it (intentionally) difficult to compare two similar cars.
Oh well. Waiting on a potential better (like, 4% better!) APR loan offer from the local credit union, but do have preapproved loan in hand at 14%.
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