Clamming on the Hood Canal 

Lake Cushman 

New Truck 

The gang went camping at Lake Cushman. The weather was perfect-- sunny and warm.

Friday RO and I hiked along the staircase rapids.

Saturday we went clamming. I've never clammed before. It's a lot of work. We were looking for certain types of clams (the tender ones) so we let many go. Mac was a good guide.

Clams are filter feeders so their digest tracts are full of sand. To get the sand out you soak the clams in salt water and corn meal for a day or so. The clams eat the corn meal an expel the sand.

Sunday we want kayaking on Lake Cushman.

In the evening we had clam appetizer and clam luinguini. Yum!

Good work news today. I got a big bonus for my work on a special project. The bonus hit my at the right time-- a week after I bought the new truck.

So I had a rather full weekend.

Friday night I had a surprize birthday party. A few of us were going to go to Siams, but just before we left, all these people showed up. It was fun.

Saturday... Sigh. Saturday I got into an accident. I was t-boned at an intersection. No one was hurt, but my truck will probably be written off.

Saturday evening RO and I went to see the Rat City Roller Girls. We had a blast. The place was packed. They need to work on the timing a little-- the half time was more than an hour long.

Sunday I bought a new truck. I did some research and consumer reports, I test drove an Avalanche, an F-150 and a Tundra. I didn't like the F-150, which is odd condsidering I've been driving one for the past 8 years. I think it didn't feel new. If I'm going to drive a new truck, I'd like it to feel new.

I really liked the Avalanche. It looked nice and was practicle for me.

At the end of the day I tried a Tundra. The only reason I tried Toyota was their great maintenance record. The Tundra I tried was fully loaded. What was odd is that a Fully loaded F-150 is about $50,000.00 while a fully loaded Tundra was $14,000.00 less. The seats were very comfortable, it drove well, and you could see and feel the quality. All the knobs and levers felt solid and moved smooth and precisely.

So I got one. It's silver, king cab, 4x4, leather with heated captain's seats.

I am 35 today. I am officially middle aged. I'm not old yet, but I can't pretend that I'm young either.

I got old gifts. Steven got me a nice new set of dishes. RO got me new sheets for the bed.

RO also got me three guppies to join the beta in the fish tank. RO doesn't really know about mixing fish. One of the guppies is already dead. Another is missing. The beta enjoys hunting them.

Friday night Vic came down from Vancouver Island, Steven, Vic, RO and I had dinner at a new restaurant in old Renton- the Red House. It was a great find. I'll go back again. I'm starting to figure out why old Renton has so many great restaurants. One man, Gino, will open up a new restaurant and manage and be its chef for a few years-- until it develops a name. Then he'll sell the restaurant and do the samething over again. Gino is responsible for three of the five great restaurants in old Renton. The Red House is his latest venture.

Saturday morning we ran errands. Saturday afternoon we went for a short walk on Cougar Mountain. After that we we drove over to Andrew's Bay and spent to spend the night with Mac and Joe on their boat.

It was a good evening. The weather was perfect. RO and I slept on the upper deck under a canvas roof. That was fine for most of the night. It started to rain at about 3 in the morning-- just a gentle shower. Mac came out, pulled out a tarp and threw it over our sleeping bag.

It was very peacful until about six in the morning. Then the wind picked up. The rain started comming in from the side. At about seven I felt a few drops around my feet. I got up to see where the water was coming from. As I sat up RO said "Don't Move!" He got up and carefully gathered the tarp, pulled it over to the side and dumped gallons of rain water off the tarp and back into the lake. He said about 3 gallons of water had pooled on the tarp between us.

We were all up by 8am. We hung around, drank coffee ate a little and the left for land.

Sunday afternoon RO and I helped Jen move a washer and dryer-- at first it sounded like a simple favor. Jen recently seperated from her boyfriend and she needed a washer and dryer for her condo. She bought a used one and needed help moving it. We picked the washer and dryer up and drove to her place down town. It was a little awkward manouvering the washer in her appartment but we managed. Then we tried to hook the washer up-- the washer had a 3 prong plug. Her condo had a 4 prong outlet. Sigh. We headed over to Home Depot to get a new plug. Bad timing; a Mariners game got out at the same time. (Mariners won 5-4 over Boston) The Mariers traffic made our little 2 mile trip take over an hour.

Fortunatly the conversion from 3 prong to 4 prong was easy. Everything was colour coded. The washer/dryer worked fine after we plugged it in.

To return the favor, Jen gave RO and I two tickets to see the Rat City Roller Girls!

Sunday evening was the Survivor Potluck final. Matt, Sandy and Potsy came over. Steven hung around a bit, but he was feeling sick.

About a week ago Steven gave me four tylonol with codeine pill. (Available over the counter in Canada) I used one for a headache I was having, and put the other three on a plate in the center of the dining room table.

About Thursday of last week, someone took one of the pills. Now today, another pill is missing.

I wonder who is going to take the last pill. Or is that like taking the last candy from the bowl? I don't know my pill stealing etiquette.

I'm trying to get tickets to see the Rat City Roller Girls. Jen is on the team.

They have a huge fan base. And tickets go fast. To prevent scalping they are selling the tickets in small batches (about 100 at a go) at venues around the city. On Saturday, they put 100 up for sale at s store in Ballard. RO and I got there an hour after they started-- all the tickets were gone.

They are about to put 100 tickets for sale on line. I'm frequently clicking the refresh button to try and get two.

Sniff. The online ticket site now says "The May bout is now SOLD OUT! The good news is that we're very close to getting into a larger venue, hopefully for the June bout! So keep watching the website for details."

C2 said that it was Tullil was just hazy. no wind. lite dust. He's also been checking up on his possessions. He told is old roommate that if his cat dies, he's supposed to get another cat that looks the same and keep the death a secret.

He said the same to me about the cedar tree he gifted me.

Haze in Tullil 

Haze in Tullil 

Haze in Tullil 

So I...
hmmmm

Steven's eyes will roll when he reads this.

Short story. I flew down to Lousiana to meet Tommy. I ended up feeling so guilty, becuase RO and I have started datating, that, the very next morning, I left Tommy and flew back to Seattle.

Bleah.

Long Story.

I've known Tommy for years. He's a great man and I've always wanted to meet him in person. We seam to click. I like chatting with him. I like talking on the phone with him. I like reading his blog.

Months ago I decided to fly down to Lousiana and meet Tommy. I was looking forward to it. I bought the tickets so that I wouldn't get cold feet. I booked the time off work.

Then, weeks later, I started to date RO.

I didn't want to back out of meeting Tommy so I told RO I was going away on a work trip.

Well, I did fly down and meet Tommy. Tommy is excatly the man I always thought he was. More handsome in person. He has a big barrel chest that feels great when he hugs you. He's intersting and well spoken.

But, I felt guilty. Really, really guilty for lying to RO.

I was amazed how guilty I felt. I slept very badly that night.

In the morning, I came clean with Tommy. I told him I wanted to fly back. It was the only option that made sense. Yeah, I looked stupid, but that was better than hurting/ignoring RO.

Sigh.

I did enjoy my short stay. And, I will return one day for a longer visit.