sweetdogk.com
Monday, February 23, 2004
Numbers
- 3,000 - Miles driven
- 7 - Family/Friend Visits
- 12 - Times I thought we were going to get in a car accident
- 10 - Pounds I feel like I gained on the trip
- 19 - Days on vacation
- 40 - Is how many days it felt like we were gone
- 3 - Work calls
- 15 - Would be the number of work calls if I was still working
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Happy Valentine's Day
Bret and I enjoyed Valentine's Day in downtown Victoria. We were originally planning on leaving Victoria today. Due to technical delays with the store set up, we are going to stay a few more days to make sure all of the technical pieces of the store are hooked up and working. It's been so wonderful to be able to help out Bret's parents open this golf store. Like always, there have been road blocks at every turn with the technical components.
Bret's parents are opening up a Virtual Golf Learning Centre (Canadian spelling). The store will have a virtual reality machine that you can come in and improve your golf technique by matching the computer's movements and working with a golf pro. To learn more about the computer technology and Virtually Perfect Golf, click here.
I really admire his parents. They have been doing everything themselves from the Business Plan, to Sales and Marketing to Accounting and all the construction upgrades inside the store.
Bret has done most of the hard work this week. He has helped his Dad lay the flooring, put up barriers in the store so there are private lesson areas and he has done all of the computer set up and software installation.
My role has mostly been hanging out with Bret's mum and keeping her company while she makes millions of phone calls to the bank, the phone company, Quickbooks, etc... I've been referring to myself as her personal reminder. I just keep track of things she needs to remember to buy, pick up from the store or take down to the centre. I've also made some coupons and flyers, which has been most challenging considering my lack of design skills. I've enjoyed bonding with his Mum. We do a few things and then we take a break for tea and talk.
Bret and I got the day off today to celebrate Valentine's Day. We took a walk through Beacon Hill Park and walked around downtown. There were people everywhere. Bret said this is very unusual weather for this time of year. The sun has been out, but it is still cold to me.
I'm looking forward to returning to sunny SLO a week from tomorrow. Next stop is Seattle to go to the Experience Music Project. Then we're off to Tahoe for a day and a half to visit Tizzy and Chi and our last stop is the weekend with Dan and Ginny. I'm hoping to be home in time for the LAST episode of SATC on Sunday night.
Bret and I enjoyed Valentine's Day in downtown Victoria. We were originally planning on leaving Victoria today. Due to technical delays with the store set up, we are going to stay a few more days to make sure all of the technical pieces of the store are hooked up and working. It's been so wonderful to be able to help out Bret's parents open this golf store. Like always, there have been road blocks at every turn with the technical components.
Bret's parents are opening up a Virtual Golf Learning Centre (Canadian spelling). The store will have a virtual reality machine that you can come in and improve your golf technique by matching the computer's movements and working with a golf pro. To learn more about the computer technology and Virtually Perfect Golf, click here.
I really admire his parents. They have been doing everything themselves from the Business Plan, to Sales and Marketing to Accounting and all the construction upgrades inside the store.
Bret has done most of the hard work this week. He has helped his Dad lay the flooring, put up barriers in the store so there are private lesson areas and he has done all of the computer set up and software installation.
My role has mostly been hanging out with Bret's mum and keeping her company while she makes millions of phone calls to the bank, the phone company, Quickbooks, etc... I've been referring to myself as her personal reminder. I just keep track of things she needs to remember to buy, pick up from the store or take down to the centre. I've also made some coupons and flyers, which has been most challenging considering my lack of design skills. I've enjoyed bonding with his Mum. We do a few things and then we take a break for tea and talk.
Bret and I got the day off today to celebrate Valentine's Day. We took a walk through Beacon Hill Park and walked around downtown. There were people everywhere. Bret said this is very unusual weather for this time of year. The sun has been out, but it is still cold to me.
I'm looking forward to returning to sunny SLO a week from tomorrow. Next stop is Seattle to go to the Experience Music Project. Then we're off to Tahoe for a day and a half to visit Tizzy and Chi and our last stop is the weekend with Dan and Ginny. I'm hoping to be home in time for the LAST episode of SATC on Sunday night.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
The twisty roads and the windshield wipers
In several emails I've received on the trip, friends have asked me how Bret and I are getting along. Bret and I rarely fight and we just recently went on a 6 week vacation without any arguements, so I don't see why this trip would be different.
There is one main difference though between this trip and our 6 week New Zealand and Australia adventure. The car! We have spent 24 hours in the car so far. We've driven 1,400 miles - that's only one way! That many miles in the car lends itself to arguments. However, there has really only been one argument.
On Friday, we drove from Arcata to some town near Mt. St. Helens. We were in the car from 3:00 to 11:30. The road leaving Arcata was a narrow twisting highway, so Bret drove most of the way. I took over in Grant's Pass, Oregon just as it was getting dark.
The highway from Grant's Pass is similar to Cuesta Grade, the road from San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles. I hate Cuesta Grade. It scares me so much I try to avoid driving it at all costs. The main reason I hate Cuesta Grade is because it is a twisy road with a cement divider and there are often trucks that you have to pass. I hate passing the trucks and having the cement divider on my left and a huge truck on my right while trying to go around a turn. Well, after this drive in Oregon, Cuesta Grade will be a drive in the park.
The highway was like a continous Cuesta Grade. Windy, twisty and millions of trucks. Plus it was dark and raining. To add more near death factors - the reflectors on the road weren't working very well so I could barely see the lines. There were also tons of construction zones with a single lane and two cement dividers. The most irritating part was that on top of all of this, the DAMN windshield wipers weren't working very well so they would leave this horrible streak right in my line of vision. To make matters even worse, the cars coming down the road were shining their lights right into this streak and into my eyes.
Basically, it was the worst hour and a half of my life. I was gripping the steering wheel as if the harder I gripped, the more control I had over the car. Every time I passed a truck I noticed I didn't breathe. I kept cursing at the windshield wipers and craning my neck around the streaky spots to try to see the road better. I kept telling myself to calm down and just go slowly, but there were so many people on the road trying to get somewhere. Bret was trying to sleep because he had just driven several hours, but finally I gave up. I just couldn't do it anymore.
I couldn't even watch while Bret was driving because it brought me back to how frightened I was. We finally made it to whatever little town we stayed in and bought windshield wipers and rain guard the next day. Of course, we haven't encounted much rain since then.
The little argument occured when we bought the new windshield wipers the next day. I've noticed when traveling that I like to have all items in the car organized for easy retrieval. So when Bret put the old windshield wipers back in the cab of the truck, I started giving him shit about it. Not to mention the fact that there are another pair of wipers in the cab that he bought a while ago that don't fit. So now, we were traveling with four extra containers of windshield wipers taking up precious room in the cab. I didn't want to look at them.
They are still in the truck, but we keep joking around with them. He keeps grabbing them when we stop somewhere and taps me with them. It's become a funny little joke with us.
However, they are not crossing the border with us. They will stay here in the Canadian trash dump.
In several emails I've received on the trip, friends have asked me how Bret and I are getting along. Bret and I rarely fight and we just recently went on a 6 week vacation without any arguements, so I don't see why this trip would be different.
There is one main difference though between this trip and our 6 week New Zealand and Australia adventure. The car! We have spent 24 hours in the car so far. We've driven 1,400 miles - that's only one way! That many miles in the car lends itself to arguments. However, there has really only been one argument.
On Friday, we drove from Arcata to some town near Mt. St. Helens. We were in the car from 3:00 to 11:30. The road leaving Arcata was a narrow twisting highway, so Bret drove most of the way. I took over in Grant's Pass, Oregon just as it was getting dark.
The highway from Grant's Pass is similar to Cuesta Grade, the road from San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles. I hate Cuesta Grade. It scares me so much I try to avoid driving it at all costs. The main reason I hate Cuesta Grade is because it is a twisy road with a cement divider and there are often trucks that you have to pass. I hate passing the trucks and having the cement divider on my left and a huge truck on my right while trying to go around a turn. Well, after this drive in Oregon, Cuesta Grade will be a drive in the park.
The highway was like a continous Cuesta Grade. Windy, twisty and millions of trucks. Plus it was dark and raining. To add more near death factors - the reflectors on the road weren't working very well so I could barely see the lines. There were also tons of construction zones with a single lane and two cement dividers. The most irritating part was that on top of all of this, the DAMN windshield wipers weren't working very well so they would leave this horrible streak right in my line of vision. To make matters even worse, the cars coming down the road were shining their lights right into this streak and into my eyes.
Basically, it was the worst hour and a half of my life. I was gripping the steering wheel as if the harder I gripped, the more control I had over the car. Every time I passed a truck I noticed I didn't breathe. I kept cursing at the windshield wipers and craning my neck around the streaky spots to try to see the road better. I kept telling myself to calm down and just go slowly, but there were so many people on the road trying to get somewhere. Bret was trying to sleep because he had just driven several hours, but finally I gave up. I just couldn't do it anymore.
I couldn't even watch while Bret was driving because it brought me back to how frightened I was. We finally made it to whatever little town we stayed in and bought windshield wipers and rain guard the next day. Of course, we haven't encounted much rain since then.
The little argument occured when we bought the new windshield wipers the next day. I've noticed when traveling that I like to have all items in the car organized for easy retrieval. So when Bret put the old windshield wipers back in the cab of the truck, I started giving him shit about it. Not to mention the fact that there are another pair of wipers in the cab that he bought a while ago that don't fit. So now, we were traveling with four extra containers of windshield wipers taking up precious room in the cab. I didn't want to look at them.
They are still in the truck, but we keep joking around with them. He keeps grabbing them when we stop somewhere and taps me with them. It's become a funny little joke with us.
However, they are not crossing the border with us. They will stay here in the Canadian trash dump.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
List of things to Blog
At the end of the last post, as I was getting ready to provide an update to all that has been going on, Bret's dad walked in on me and started laughing at me typing in my ski jacket. He turned on the fireplace and we worked on an invitation for a while. Now, I'm getting ready to go to bed. So, I thought I would write a quick list of things to come (this list may be more of a reminder to me, but oh well):
1. Unemployment Life Thoughts - so far
2. Visit with Bret's cousins
3. The windy roads and the windshield wipers
4. Update on the work we've been doing for the store
At the end of the last post, as I was getting ready to provide an update to all that has been going on, Bret's dad walked in on me and started laughing at me typing in my ski jacket. He turned on the fireplace and we worked on an invitation for a while. Now, I'm getting ready to go to bed. So, I thought I would write a quick list of things to come (this list may be more of a reminder to me, but oh well):
1. Unemployment Life Thoughts - so far
2. Visit with Bret's cousins
3. The windy roads and the windshield wipers
4. Update on the work we've been doing for the store
Brrrrrrr
I'm such a wimp in cold weather. I'm writing this post with my ski jacket on in Bret's parents house. At night when we watch TV I have two blankets piled on top of me. The family has been laughing at me. It's not my fault, I grew up in San Diego.
The trip is going great. So much to write. The boys (Bret and his Dad) are taking naps at the moment because they are actually doing physical labor - putting in the floors at the golf center. I'm not tired because, although I am helping, it's not manual labor like Bret. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything in that I want to say, but most likely not.
I'm such a wimp in cold weather. I'm writing this post with my ski jacket on in Bret's parents house. At night when we watch TV I have two blankets piled on top of me. The family has been laughing at me. It's not my fault, I grew up in San Diego.
The trip is going great. So much to write. The boys (Bret and his Dad) are taking naps at the moment because they are actually doing physical labor - putting in the floors at the golf center. I'm not tired because, although I am helping, it's not manual labor like Bret. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything in that I want to say, but most likely not.
Friday, February 06, 2004
Humblog
I'm writing from Nor Cal/Humboldt County/Arcata. This has been quite a week. Bret and I worked our last day EVER at the dub "bleep" on Tuesday and got in the car first thing Wednesday morning (after breakfast and kitty time with Marya and TS). We drove 12 hours and arrived in Arcata around 11:30 Wednesday night. It's hard to believe we are still in California after driving that far.
Bret and I are headed up to Victoria, BC to help Bret's parents open their golf store. We decided it would be fun to drive up and see the sites and see my cousin Tyler here in Arcata on our way up. We drove through the Redwood highway between Santa Rosa and Arcata and it looked like it was probably breathtaking but we could barely see anything due to the dark foggy night.
It's been so great to finally experience Humboldt and be here with my cousin. It's so beautiful up here. It's amazing how different the coast of California can be. The forests here are filled with ferns and Poplar trees. We went for a hike in Fern Canyon yesterday. We were lucky to get a day without any rain. Today is a typical day with lots of rain and no sunshine. Bret and Tyler are paying some guitar.
We got to meet Tyler's fiance, Arwen. She is not named after the Lord of the Rings by the way. I'm the first in the family, besides his mother, to get to meet her. She's really great. We hit it off. She really wants to meet the rest of the family, but I told her I would report back that I approved and she's great. They are having a baby in July. The first great grand child in our family. It will definately change our family get togethers. My cousin 5 years younger than me so I keep teasing him that I was supposed to bring the first great grand child to our family. That's ok though, I don't think I'm quite ready. I'm getting my baby fix by enjoying all the other babies that keep springing up around us.
Speaking of babies. The kittens finally arrived on Tuesday night. I've been so sad that they arrived the day before we left on our vacation. Marya is posting detailed reports of their behavior and taking pictures especially for me so I don't feel too sad about missing any important or even not so important details. I love her so much. What a wonderful friend.
I'm writing from Nor Cal/Humboldt County/Arcata. This has been quite a week. Bret and I worked our last day EVER at the dub "bleep" on Tuesday and got in the car first thing Wednesday morning (after breakfast and kitty time with Marya and TS). We drove 12 hours and arrived in Arcata around 11:30 Wednesday night. It's hard to believe we are still in California after driving that far.
Bret and I are headed up to Victoria, BC to help Bret's parents open their golf store. We decided it would be fun to drive up and see the sites and see my cousin Tyler here in Arcata on our way up. We drove through the Redwood highway between Santa Rosa and Arcata and it looked like it was probably breathtaking but we could barely see anything due to the dark foggy night.
It's been so great to finally experience Humboldt and be here with my cousin. It's so beautiful up here. It's amazing how different the coast of California can be. The forests here are filled with ferns and Poplar trees. We went for a hike in Fern Canyon yesterday. We were lucky to get a day without any rain. Today is a typical day with lots of rain and no sunshine. Bret and Tyler are paying some guitar.
We got to meet Tyler's fiance, Arwen. She is not named after the Lord of the Rings by the way. I'm the first in the family, besides his mother, to get to meet her. She's really great. We hit it off. She really wants to meet the rest of the family, but I told her I would report back that I approved and she's great. They are having a baby in July. The first great grand child in our family. It will definately change our family get togethers. My cousin 5 years younger than me so I keep teasing him that I was supposed to bring the first great grand child to our family. That's ok though, I don't think I'm quite ready. I'm getting my baby fix by enjoying all the other babies that keep springing up around us.
Speaking of babies. The kittens finally arrived on Tuesday night. I've been so sad that they arrived the day before we left on our vacation. Marya is posting detailed reports of their behavior and taking pictures especially for me so I don't feel too sad about missing any important or even not so important details. I love her so much. What a wonderful friend.
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
It's time to move on...
It's time to move on, it's time to get goin. What lies ahead I have no way of knowing. Under my feet baby, the grass is growing. It's time to move on, it's time to get goin.
-- Tom Petty
It's time to move on, it's time to get goin. What lies ahead I have no way of knowing. Under my feet baby, the grass is growing. It's time to move on, it's time to get goin.
-- Tom Petty
Sunday, February 01, 2004
