Dichroic Reflections

Debrief. Unpack. Repack.

It's been a while since I did a real update here. Let's see:

Last Friday I went to the gym, went flying, and then got to hang out with Egret and chicks. They were a little shy of me, since we haven't seen each other in a couple of months, but eventually made friends, and we had a good time until I was about to walk out the door. I was saying goodbye to Egret and T2, took a step back to open the door, and tripped over the boy, who had quietly come up and laid down right behind my feet. I didn't fall entirely on him, but stmbled a couple of steps before I could get away and off him. I'm not at all sure I didn't step on a hand or foot. He was screaming, of course, and I still feel bad, though Egret and T2 have assured me they've done the same thing several times when he's snuck up behind - of course he's still got that baby assurance that everyone knows where he is and what he's doing and will always catch him if he dives or avoid stepping on him. On a good note, I told Egret about baby sign a while ago and she's been using it and says it's really helped. She uses Ameslan with a few signs they've adapted themselves because it worked better for them than Baby Sign.

That evening we went out to a local seafood place that's entirely underground. Dinner was nothing spectacular, but afterwards, I decided to try some single-malt Scotch. I've always figured it would be something I'd like, but had never gotten into it. With vague memories of Iain Banks' Raw Spirit (Thanks, Mechaieh!) I decided, instead of trying something more approachable like Glenlivent, to dive straight into the peats of Islay, with a glass of Laphroig. *cough* I'm not good at identifying subtle flavors in wines and liquors (hmmm.... an oaky nose with hints of cedar, vanilla topnotes, with a finish redolent of varnish and elderberries). After my eyes stoped watering, though, I noticed three flavors in each sip: an initial hint of chocolate (and here I'd thought Banks was halucinating when he mentioned chocolate flavors in Scotch), followed by fire down the throat, and finishing with smoky peat. I'll do it again, but I'm fairly sure Rudder won't be ordering Scotch any time soon. Or at least not Laphroig.

Saturday was rowing and food shopping. On Sunday I finally got to fly a short cross-country. However, because the GPS database in the place wasn't up-to-date, we couldn't fly the IFR I'd originally planned and ended up flying a shorter VFR X-C, to an airfield just north of Tucson where a lot of retired commercial planes line both side of the field. It was fun, but I was so disgusted with the plane situation, and even more with the fact that they currently have NO aircraft with updated databases, that we went to breakfast at the next-closest local airport and I signed up with the FBO Rudder flies with. (It's the same one I got my private ticket at, though under new management.) My CFI, whom I like very much, was also infuriated and promised to go head-to-head with the management about the unacceptable situation. I really don't want to fly there at all anymore, but if he does that I may split my time, flying at the closer place on weekdays after work and doing my cross-countries on weekenda at the other FBO.
[Glossary: VFR: visual flying rules, i.e. I get to look out the window. IFR: Instrument flying rules, flying totally by instrument. CFI: certified flight instructor. Private ticket: private pilot VFR rating. FBO: Fixed-base operator, i.e. flying school and airplane rental business.]

After that we went to She-Hulk's for Easter dinner, which was delicious, and had a good time swapping stories with some of her geriatric neighbors. Funny old guys. So I got to row, fly and socialize with friends including babies and old people. A good weekend.

On Monday afternoon, the boss, two other coworkers and I flew out to Seattle. Monday night, I was lucky enough to meet up with two other members of my L.M. Montgomery list - we weren't sure if one could make it because she has a baby and a toddler, but luckily her husband was able to watch the kids and she drove all the way across town to my hotel. The other one was able to make it despite having had her car broken into the day before (and her dog in the back seat objecting to the plastic now coverig a window), and we had an excellent seafood dinner served by a very funny (and good) waitress. After that we went to JoAnn's across the street, because two of us sewed and two knit, though we didn't end up buying much. (The yarn was pretty much the same as at my local Michael's.)

On Tuesday after a day of useful benchmarking meetings, the company we were visiting took us to tour their factory - very cool_ and then for an even better seafood dinner (the SeaStar in Bellevue, WA - yum). One of the memorable parts was a woman at a table near us with a fox stole around her neck, complete with head and paws. Not the thing to wear in front of a tableful of engineers; we're not known for fashion, which makes it easier to notice when it's getting silly. (Also, the guys thought it was funny that she was wearing the stole with jeans, and I thought it was funny that the elegant upsweeping she was attempting to set off the fox was actually just help with a cheap plastic clip instead of being anything requiring actual effort or skill or or even anything prettier.)

After another day of meetings, we got to tour the distribution center, which was far more interesting than you'd expect a warehouse to be. (I kept picturing he whole thing as Santa's warehouse and envisioning all the people riding around on three-wheelers or forklifts in little elf suits.) The flight back was all right, though I was a little tense after hearing the conversation of the couple next to me: "I took Dramamine so I don't think I'll throw up." Thankfully, she didn't. The only bad part was the freeway going home. Three lanes were closed and the fourth was crawling so I had to take surface streets and got home a little later than I'd hoped, so I slept in a little and skipped the gym this morning. Oh well.

Plan for tonight: Unpack. Repack for this weekend's regatta trip.

Posted by dichroic at March 31, 2005 02:02 PM