The good news is that I got the long awaited notice from US Citizenship and Immigration Services asking me to report on January 14th for my interview and citizenship test. The bad news is that I plan on being on a sailboat in the Caribbean at that time. The instructions said that if I couldn't make the interview, I should send them the notice and a letter explaining why I couldn't make it. The other side of the notice said I should call them, so I tried. After multiple levels of menus, I wasn't able to get through to a warm live body, so I thought that I'd go to the office in person and try and plead my case. But to no avail. I didn't get past the security guard at the entrance, who informed me that I had to send them a letter. So I did. But now that I've lost my place in the queue, I might have to wait until 2010 to get my interview. Oh well. I guess we'll see.
In other news, one of the things I forgot to mention in my last posting was that at Megan's suggestion, we all went to see the Nutcracker on Saturday night. I had never been to a ballet before, and neither had my Mom. It was a lot of fun, and no, I didn't fall asleep. I couldn't. I had Megan on one side, and Caroline on the other making sure I didn't.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Hooray for the Roughriders!!!
No, not Teddy Roosevelt's Roughriders, not the Ottawa Roughriders, but the one and only Saskatchewan Roughriders. And yes, for those of you who don't know, I was born and raised in Saskatchewan, so my pride is that of a native son. The Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup yesterday, beating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19. And also for those of you who don't know, the Grey Cup is Canada's version of the Superbowl.
Speaking of Canada, I just got back from there after delivering Mom and Marian to the Abbotsford airport for their flight back home to Edmonton. We had a very enjoyable weekend of eating, drinking, more eating, socializing, more eating, and catching up with the family. On Friday, we had my world-famous ribs at my place, on Saturday we had turkey at Caroline's, and on Sunday, Megan and Chris hosted us for Thanksgiving tacos. Who knows, maybe they've started a new tradition!
Here's Caroline and Chris enjoying their tacos, and Mom relaxing after the meal.
Megan and Marina and then Chris, Megan and Olive(r), their cross between a rabbit and a squirrel, more commonly known as a chinchilla.
Jenn and Ryan came over with Elise who enjoyed a moment with my Mom. Mom is obviously enjoying herself as well.
I don't have any travel plans until January, so I should be spending most of the next couple of months around here. I haven't decided yet where and with whom I'll spend Christmas. I may end up heading up to Canada to be with the family, but then again I may stick around here. I'm open to offers. Please write your ideas on the back of a $20 bill and send them to me. Multiple entries are encouraged. (My apologies to Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers)
Monday, November 19, 2007
Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig
Mr Incredible had a lot of fun at the Baja Ha-Ha kickoff party.
Here's Bob, Phyllis, and me. The intrepid crew of Gaia.
Here are some of the 178 boats that were supposed to have started the race, and some of the boats at Turtle Bay, our first stop.
I did like the ingenuity of the Mexicans, making a speed bump out of some old rope! Speaking of ingenuity, I earned a big attaboy from Bob (which I think just about wiped out all the awshits) for coming up with a fix for the water leak that sprung from out from a pinhole in his exhaust casting. I suggested drilling out the pinhole and installing a screw to seal the leak. It worked perfectly!
Here is some of the surf at Bahia Santa Maria, our second stop. The surf got big, it got dark, and 78 stragglers from the party (including yours truly) ended up spending the night ashore when the pangas (the local water taxis) quit running.
Fortunately, we had lots of food and beer to help us survive the night.
Here we are, approaching Cabo. Whew, we made it!!
In San Diego, I was amazed by the striking likeness to our Noble Leader keeping watch atop a restaurant. It was reassuring to know he was looking out for us.
The J-School was great! We sailed on a J-80, a light and fast 25' boat. We spent a day on basic sailing skills, one day on upwind techniques, one day on downwind, one day on starts, and one day doing whatever we wanted.
Mom and Marian are coming to visit this weekend, but other than that, nothing special is planned for a while. I may even have a chance to finish blogging on the book of Matthew, or have an occasional political rant. We'll see.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Cabo San Lucas
Well, we cheated death once again! I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Cabo, after having a good night's sleep (on land) and a fabulous shower.
This is just a quick update. I'll post more and add a bunch of pictures once I get to San Diego. Here are the facts:
Leg one- San Diego to Turtle Bay. 381 miles, 51 hours, 23 minutes. Consistent winds to 25 knots, 6'-8' seas. This was certainly a baptism by fire for me. It was the first time I'd sailed in open water, at night, by instrument. My first night watch alone, starting at 3AM was interesting, to say the least. Boat speeds were up to 12.4 knots!
Leg two- Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria. 240 miles, 41 hours, 24 minutes. Again we had strong winds, but only up to around 20 knots. We sailed wing-on-wing most of the way. It was less stressful than the first night, but exhilirating nonetheless. We had a huge beach party the second night there, but the pangas quit running due to darkness and dangerous surf. As a result, I and 71 other brave souls spent the night on the beach. We were about to start drawing straws to see who would be eaten first when the sun came up and the surf went down. We all survived.
Leg three- Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo. 184 miles, 28 hours, 36 minutes. This was the least eventful of the legs. The winds died down in the middle of the night, so we ended up motoring for the last six hours.
More to follow from San Diego. My battery is dying!
This is just a quick update. I'll post more and add a bunch of pictures once I get to San Diego. Here are the facts:
Leg one- San Diego to Turtle Bay. 381 miles, 51 hours, 23 minutes. Consistent winds to 25 knots, 6'-8' seas. This was certainly a baptism by fire for me. It was the first time I'd sailed in open water, at night, by instrument. My first night watch alone, starting at 3AM was interesting, to say the least. Boat speeds were up to 12.4 knots!
Leg two- Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria. 240 miles, 41 hours, 24 minutes. Again we had strong winds, but only up to around 20 knots. We sailed wing-on-wing most of the way. It was less stressful than the first night, but exhilirating nonetheless. We had a huge beach party the second night there, but the pangas quit running due to darkness and dangerous surf. As a result, I and 71 other brave souls spent the night on the beach. We were about to start drawing straws to see who would be eaten first when the sun came up and the surf went down. We all survived.
Leg three- Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo. 184 miles, 28 hours, 36 minutes. This was the least eventful of the legs. The winds died down in the middle of the night, so we ended up motoring for the last six hours.
More to follow from San Diego. My battery is dying!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Mr. Incredible
I'm off to San Diego in a couple of days. I hope that the smoke has mostly cleared by then, but in any case, from the news reports I've seen, the downtown and waterfront areas weren't too badly affected by all the fires. I get there late Saturday night, with lots of time to get ready for the Baja Ha-Ha kickoff costume party on Sunday night. Due to popular demand, I'm 
resurrecting Mr. Incredible. For those of you who've forgotten about him, are still trying to forget, or never had the pleasure, here he is in all his glory!
The Baja Ha-Ha race starts on Monday. Here's a link if you want to check out what the Baja Ha-Ha is all about. http://www.baja-haha.com/ The 'Can't Believe We Cheated Death Again' party in Cabo is on November 8th, and assuming that I actually did cheat death once again, I'll be flying back to San Diego on the 9th for a week of sailing classes with Bonnie at the local J-School. We'll be back in Seattle November 17th.
With all the plane flights and airport down time, I should be able to catch up on some reading. I plan on taking Atonement, by Ian McEwan, and 1491 by Charles C. Mann. I started the year off reading like crazy, but for whatever reason, I haven't read a whole lot for the last few months. One book I did read in the last couple of weeks is On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan. It's a short book, more of a novella really, but what a delicious read! The story is centers on the painful wedding night of an English couple in the bygone era of the early sixties, a few years before the "sexual revolution" of the late 60's and 70's. It's a story of love, lost love and lost innocence. It certainly isn't a happily-ever-after story, but it is remarkedly well-told, and one I'd heartily recommend.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Musical Weekend
One of the many things I liked about Bonnie when we started hanging out together was the fact that she loved the same artists that I did, even though she'd never heard them or heard of them before she met me. She absolutely loved Greg Brown, Fred Eaglesmith (especially the train songs), Paul Kelly, Chris Smither, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Terry Allen, and almost any other male artist I played. For some reason, she wasn't so impressed with my taste in female artists, but I guess there have to be some disagreements just to mix things up. In any case, we managed to see two of our favorites just a few days apart. Last Thursday, Fred was playing at my favorite Seattle musical venue, the Tractor Tavern. Actually it was more like Fred "lite." He appeared with a drummer, a bass player, a guitar player, and himself. In spite of the fact he had no mandolins, no fiddles, no Washboard Hank, and only played a couple of train songs, he put on a pretty good show. He was in fine humor, and unlike the last couple of times I saw him, didn't insult his fans too badly. He kept up a patter of dumb jokes and stories between songs that sometimes made me think he really wants to do stand-up, but all-in-all, a good time was had by all.
On Friday, we went to Portland to see Greg Brown at The Aladdin, an aging neighborhood theater that couldn't survive the competition from the mega-mall cinemas. He too put on a pretty good show, even though I thought the sound was a bit muddled, making it hard to follow his lyrics. He didn't play much that I was familiar with, but he's such a prolific writer that it's not surprising he's got lots of songs I never heard before.
While in Portland, we visited two old friends I hadn't seen in years, and a good friend of Bonnie's whom she's known forever. We had a couple of great meals at interesting restaurants. One was at Andina in the Pearl District. They advertised their food as Nuevo Peruvian, but no matter how it's labelled, the lamb shank I had was one of the best restaurant meals I've ever had. The other memorable meal was at Toro Bravo, a Spanish place that had interesting tapas, paellas, and other good food. I'm sure there are out-of-the-ordinary places to eat in Seattle too, and I don't eat out a whole lot, but I haven't been anywhere in Seattle that compares with those two establishments in Portland.
Portland is a great city that in many ways is more liveable than Seattle. It's more affordable, it has light rail transit, the scenery is great, the traffic isn't nearly as bad as Seattle's, and there's nothing in Seattle that compares to the Pearl District. But it's also 100 miles from salt water, so I'd have a lot harder time satisfying my boating addiction. When I find the perfect place to live, I'll be sure to let you know.
On Friday, we went to Portland to see Greg Brown at The Aladdin, an aging neighborhood theater that couldn't survive the competition from the mega-mall cinemas. He too put on a pretty good show, even though I thought the sound was a bit muddled, making it hard to follow his lyrics. He didn't play much that I was familiar with, but he's such a prolific writer that it's not surprising he's got lots of songs I never heard before.
While in Portland, we visited two old friends I hadn't seen in years, and a good friend of Bonnie's whom she's known forever. We had a couple of great meals at interesting restaurants. One was at Andina in the Pearl District. They advertised their food as Nuevo Peruvian, but no matter how it's labelled, the lamb shank I had was one of the best restaurant meals I've ever had. The other memorable meal was at Toro Bravo, a Spanish place that had interesting tapas, paellas, and other good food. I'm sure there are out-of-the-ordinary places to eat in Seattle too, and I don't eat out a whole lot, but I haven't been anywhere in Seattle that compares with those two establishments in Portland.
Portland is a great city that in many ways is more liveable than Seattle. It's more affordable, it has light rail transit, the scenery is great, the traffic isn't nearly as bad as Seattle's, and there's nothing in Seattle that compares to the Pearl District. But it's also 100 miles from salt water, so I'd have a lot harder time satisfying my boating addiction. When I find the perfect place to live, I'll be sure to let you know.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Home for a while
For a change, I'm home for more than a few days. It's kinda nice to have extended morning net-surfs; to watch the talking heads on cable TV; to catch up on reading; to have the occasional nap, and to see my kids and friends.
The news of the world isn't particularly good. Iraq, Burma and Sudan don't look good. North Korea looks a bit better. The US dollar continues its slide. There was even a brief blub on NPR this morning saying that the dollar had affected the illegal drug trade, making Canadian pot more expensive than its Mexican counterpart to American consumers. I'm surprised that the dollar isn't even lower, given the budget deficit, the trade deficit (not to mention the Bush brain cell deficit), the price of oil, and the never-ending war in Iraq.
Global warming continues with record setting-shrinkage of the Arctic ice pack, and on the other side of the world, an early start to the brush fire season in Australia. Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing, releasing methane into the atmoshpere as the biomass in the previously frozen muck melts. I fear that the tipping point has already been reached and that there's not much that can be done to stop global warming from accelerating beyond what most scientists predict. I used to think that my generation would be spared most of the effects of climate change, but I'm not so sure anymore. It's easy to be a pessimist at times like this. A pessimist is right most of the time, and he's happy when he's wrong.
On the US front, Obama can't seem to get any traction against Hillary. I'd take Obama, Edwards, or Richardson ahead of Clinton any day, but I have to admit that inspite of my visceral dislike of Hillary, she's better than anything the Republicans have to offer. Maybe the polls are wrong. I've read a couple of articles on the polling errors caused by reliance of pollsters on land-line telephones, and I'd like to think that Obama's support comes from the younger crowd who often don't even have land-line telephones. Both Megan and Caroline have only mobile phones, so they and people like them will never be polled. But I also have to admit that Obama hasn't fulfilled his early promise of a different sort of politician. I just hope that next year when I get to vote for the first time (unless I end up in Guantanamo, I should be a US citizen sometime this fall), I'll get to vote for someone I believe in. I'd hate to have to make the choice between the lesser of two evils, or some wag once said, the lesser of two weasels.
Bush vetoed an extension of S-Chip, a government financed health care program for children. It's only the second or third veto he's ever used, so it's hard to believe that fiscal responsiblity is his prime motivator. There is enough support in the Senate to override the veto, but support is weaker in the House. I hope the veto is overturned, but I do have some problems with the bill. The extension of benefits will suppposedly be financed by a federal tax on cigarettes. Even though smoking is a filthy disgusting habit with no redeeming social value, as a former smoker I have a lot of sympathy for those who do. Smokers are disproportionally working class (OK, white and black trash) who don't have much of a political constituency. As a result, the ever-increasing taxes on cigarettes are extremely regressive, hitting the people hardest who can least afford it. If healthcare is going to be financed by sin taxes, at least jack up the price of booze too. That way, chardonnay and cabernet aficionados will pay their fair share too.
My schedule for the next few months is starting to fill in. Next week is music week, with Fred Eaglesmith appearing in Seattle at the Tractor and Greg Brown at The Aladdin in Portland. At the end of the month, I'll be in a sailboat, racing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Following the race, Bonnie and I be taking a week of instruction in sailboat racing (yeah, I know it's ass-backwards) in San Diego.
In the meantime, it's good to be home for a while. I may even find the time to finish my blog on Matthew. (I know you're all thrilled about that)
The news of the world isn't particularly good. Iraq, Burma and Sudan don't look good. North Korea looks a bit better. The US dollar continues its slide. There was even a brief blub on NPR this morning saying that the dollar had affected the illegal drug trade, making Canadian pot more expensive than its Mexican counterpart to American consumers. I'm surprised that the dollar isn't even lower, given the budget deficit, the trade deficit (not to mention the Bush brain cell deficit), the price of oil, and the never-ending war in Iraq.
Global warming continues with record setting-shrinkage of the Arctic ice pack, and on the other side of the world, an early start to the brush fire season in Australia. Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing, releasing methane into the atmoshpere as the biomass in the previously frozen muck melts. I fear that the tipping point has already been reached and that there's not much that can be done to stop global warming from accelerating beyond what most scientists predict. I used to think that my generation would be spared most of the effects of climate change, but I'm not so sure anymore. It's easy to be a pessimist at times like this. A pessimist is right most of the time, and he's happy when he's wrong.
On the US front, Obama can't seem to get any traction against Hillary. I'd take Obama, Edwards, or Richardson ahead of Clinton any day, but I have to admit that inspite of my visceral dislike of Hillary, she's better than anything the Republicans have to offer. Maybe the polls are wrong. I've read a couple of articles on the polling errors caused by reliance of pollsters on land-line telephones, and I'd like to think that Obama's support comes from the younger crowd who often don't even have land-line telephones. Both Megan and Caroline have only mobile phones, so they and people like them will never be polled. But I also have to admit that Obama hasn't fulfilled his early promise of a different sort of politician. I just hope that next year when I get to vote for the first time (unless I end up in Guantanamo, I should be a US citizen sometime this fall), I'll get to vote for someone I believe in. I'd hate to have to make the choice between the lesser of two evils, or some wag once said, the lesser of two weasels.
Bush vetoed an extension of S-Chip, a government financed health care program for children. It's only the second or third veto he's ever used, so it's hard to believe that fiscal responsiblity is his prime motivator. There is enough support in the Senate to override the veto, but support is weaker in the House. I hope the veto is overturned, but I do have some problems with the bill. The extension of benefits will suppposedly be financed by a federal tax on cigarettes. Even though smoking is a filthy disgusting habit with no redeeming social value, as a former smoker I have a lot of sympathy for those who do. Smokers are disproportionally working class (OK, white and black trash) who don't have much of a political constituency. As a result, the ever-increasing taxes on cigarettes are extremely regressive, hitting the people hardest who can least afford it. If healthcare is going to be financed by sin taxes, at least jack up the price of booze too. That way, chardonnay and cabernet aficionados will pay their fair share too.
My schedule for the next few months is starting to fill in. Next week is music week, with Fred Eaglesmith appearing in Seattle at the Tractor and Greg Brown at The Aladdin in Portland. At the end of the month, I'll be in a sailboat, racing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Following the race, Bonnie and I be taking a week of instruction in sailboat racing (yeah, I know it's ass-backwards) in San Diego.
In the meantime, it's good to be home for a while. I may even find the time to finish my blog on Matthew. (I know you're all thrilled about that)
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