Beached

I got to the gym, as usual, about 5 minutes before they are scheduled to open. One staff member was outside and said she didn't have a key. Cut to 20 minutes later now we have 3 staff members, no key, and a fairly large crowd of people waiting to get in. And nothing was happening. Finally I went over to the staff and asked when we might get in. They, without any apology or embarrassment said they didn't know. They had called everyone they knew and could not find a key. So no idea. You probably don't want to wait around. And they added sorry with the distinct tone of 'we really, honestly, don't give a flying fuck.'

Saturdays are the one day when there is really no Plan B. The only city pool open early is too far and only open for an hour and doesn't open until 8:30. The other LA Fitnesses all have aqua fit classes at 9 so really crowded at 8 and no way to even get in a good swim anyway.

So... fuck it. No swim for me. But, you know what? It's ok because I have other plans! I do.

Today is the birthday of ljtourist and we are going east to Salish Lodge for brunch! He's picking me up in an hour so without a swim, I have a whole extra hour to just do whatever. My dueling trackers are going to be pissed but I'm ok with it.

Last night's Mariner game was a hoot. I always get there when the doors open 2 hours before the game so I can enjoy my dinner and then still have time to watch the on field pre-game stuff. Usually there are a few people at each gate waiting when I get there. Last night we played the Blue Jays and the entirety of western Canada was jammed against the fence waiting, not very patiently, to get inside. It was hilarious. I mean there were hoards at every gate and they were loaded for PAAARRRRTAAAAY. Vancouver must have been a ghost town last night.

The crowds in the stadium well before the game were bigger than some of the game time games I've seen in Mariners past. And vocal... they really lost their shit when the very impressive choral group sang the Canadian national anthem. It was fun. And they were wild and really fun. And they stayed all hyped up about their lead until we quashed it in the late innings and then beat them. Great game though, and great crowd.

I am getting way better about standing up often which helps the walk home tremendously. The seats are very comfortable, kind of low and pitched back a bit so not easy to stand up out of. The first couple of times last night were tough. But, when there started to be big plays, standing up was happening quite a bit and I got better at it so the walk home was not as bad as it has been.

Next game is a week from Tuesday but it's against Detroit and we don't tend to get bombarded by Detroitians which is probably good cause I don't think they are as much fun as Canadians.

I got skunked by an Ebay deal but it was only for $22. I still feel stupid for falling for the scam. I wanted an additional Google Chromecast. I didn't wan the fanciest but the same kind I have in the living room that came out a couple of years ago.

This is what the receipt says I am getting:



So, you'd think I'd be getting what I wanted, right? Wrong. It looks very much like what I want but is actually a Wecast whatever the fuck that is. Not a Google product that is for sure. The actual listing, when I went back to check says:



I'm sure I'll get my money back eventually. I'm also sure that if I return it, I will NOT see return shipping charges paid. I feel like a cliche - the old lady who got scammed. At least I don't have an urgent need/want for the chromecast and it's only $22.

I gotta go get this swimsuit off and my brunch clothes on.

My tweets

• Fri, 12:10: Yet another thing that it took me 68 years to find out. Wow. Wonder what other details my keen sense of the obvio… https://t.co/vPxPlOjFh9
• Fri, 14:11: My toile of The Saldana cracks me up. Yeah for scraps!! Also yeah for sewsewdefmag can't wait to… https://t.co/CjsfByedet
• Fri, 17:07: Made it but it wasn't easy. All of Canada is outside the stadium waiting for the gates to open… https://t.co/HIDihsnmN8
• Sat, 08:01: Once again @lafitness can't open because the staff on duty does not have a key to unlock the damn door. Ridiculous.
• Sat, 08:35: For those who would otherwise be @LAFitness but can't because it's locked and the staff had 'no idea' when they mig… https://t.co/iwqtawF5qk
• Sat, 11:25: OK UPS has made some major upgrades to their site and I love them. They are clearly… https://t.co/S3BKBhJ5KN

Continued

I stayed with that IT group for about a year and a half and then moved over to a new group charged with running the employee website. It was a fun group. The internal website was relatively new and there was good and interesting stuff going on. But, now I was working in Redmond and the commute sucked donkey balls.

And then one day, I got home from work on a hot August evening. I was tired and sweaty and never wanted to get into a car again and there was a message on my answering machine. It was from a recruiter. I'd been called before about this job or that one. I had friends who were recruiters, heck my Dad was one after he retired, so I was always polite and returned their calls or emails to say nicely that I had a job so thanks but no thanks.

This one left a particularly articulate and smart message so I called her back prepared to leave a thanks but no thanks voicemail since it was after 6 and she answered. We chatted and she begged me to come in for an interview. I told her that I had a long commute and no time and really didn't want a new job and she, very nicely, persisted and then looked at the address on my resume (which she had gotten from my website) and said 'oh but we're just across the street! How about I buy you dinner?'

She could have saved herself the price of dinner. She had me at 'we're just across the street.'

So after much consideration and gnashing of teeth and consulting with friends... (John said, if it doesn't work out, you can always go back to Microsoft - and he was right right right), I quit Microsoft and went to work for a company called EC Direct that was, literally, across the street. They were a fledgling start up and they wanted to change their name. They wanted technical communications help for writing white papers and marking communications for changing their name to Vitessa.

Their deal was that they provided the coding and then, later, the inventory for a 'buy' button on your website. It was a tricky business to even explain. The cocktail napkin drawing that the founder made was the only thing that worked and it worked so well, I had a bunch of cocktail napkins imprinted with the drawing.

As the business struggled, I ended up taking on various jobs. At one point I moved the sales force onto what was then a fledgling organizing tool called Sales Force. They've actually become quite the thing in the intervening years :). And I worked as basically a secretary to one guy who was a Muslim and would steal my tangerines the minute night fell during Ramadan and a female lawyer who wore so much perfume, I needed a gas mask to go into her office.

It was a wild time. And fun and the commute could not have been sweeter. And then the calendar turned to 2001.

To be continued

Creature of habit

I started swimming about 5 years ago. I swam 3 days a week and took water aerobics 2 days a week. Then I quit the aerobics and just swam 5 days a week. Then the LA Fitness opened in West Seattle and I started swimming every single day. I get up, brush my teeth, put on my suit and head to the pool. Every single day. I do not even think about it. I just go. I never think ugh, gotta go to the pool. And I never regret the 2 hours it eats up.

So it feels very weird to skip a day. At least if something happens tomorrow, I can hop in the car and head to another LA Fitness since no one has those classes on Sundays so all the pools are available for laps starting at 8. I'll be happy to get back in the water.

BUT at least I had a very fun distraction. We had a great drive out to the lodge. I hadn't been out that way and several years. Neither Frank nor I had been to Salish Lodge and it turned out to be quite a treat. We were given the most perfect table in the dining room with a killer view across the mountains. The food was really excellent and the service even better. And we took our sweet time enjoying it all. Plus Frank is always such an interesting and fun companion.

I have done very little this afternoon and I'm ok with that. I haven't even turned the TV on. I did make a meatloaf. I needed tomato paste so I went across the street to the little grocery/hipster coffee/wine place to get some. Between here and there is a hamburger sports bar and it was packed to the gills, I mean packed with... you guessed it... CANADIANS!!! I am really going to be sorry to see them go.

I'm glad they are having fun. Apparently a couple of hours ago there was a violent anti-Muslim protest in the park a few blocks over. The police used pepper spray to come everyone the fuck down. Glad I didn't wander over there.

The meatloaf is now ready to go into the oven and I think I'm going to see what TiVo has for me to waste the time with between now and the baseball game.