RO spends so much time gazing out into the yard that I joked that we are a threesome now-- RO, the garden and I.

At work, I think we have settled the move debate. Facilities sounds like they are going to quiet the noisy offices. Also, we found an arragment were the bulk of the team gets to have offices close to the people they work with every day.

There was one panicy moment. Early in the afternoon the office move coordinator ran to my office and asked "I really need you right now!" She explained that she had lost one of my offices and desperatly needed me to double check my head count.

After some double checking we found the lost office. It was assigned directly to the other lead, as opposed to me. So no harm, no foul.

An old friend, RB, stayed over last night.

RB has had one of those great lives. We met in University. After we graduated, he volunteered to build schools and start sanitation programs in South America. And that changed everything. he is now the directory for a charity in Central America that builds wells and latrines for small villages. He says that in his area within the past 10 years, 85% of the people now have access to pottable water as a result of thier work.

In the U.S. we take water and sewage for granted. Many goverment officials in Central America are corrput. The money and supplies needed for large public works projects are stolen or diverted. The way around it, the way to get clean water to the people, is to build one well or one latrine at a time, out of view of the governent, controlled and maintianed by the families that use them.

Last night we had dinner at J&J's. They are a local couple. Nice guys. One is an independant contractor in the Tech industry, the other sells kitchen at a hardware store.

Beef-in-Breefs lives with them. He's very quiet now. We used to have dinner with B-I-B at least once a month but then he went through a tumultuous relationship. After that he seams to be much more withdrawn. Almost a hermit. Maybe he has new friends. Maybe not. J&J say he spends most evenings in his room.

At my day job we are moving offices. The move map is constantly changing and the subject of much debate. While we are getting more space, the new space isn't as nice as the old. A dozen of the new offices are loud. Each of the leads is working hard to keep his or people away from the noise.

I see no fair way to solve this debate. If we share the loud offices then all teams will be spread thin and far apart. Everyone loses.

It was a quiet weekend.

Saturday evening, RO Boone and I went to a nice new restaurant that opened up near by.

Sunday RO and I worked on the yard. We pressure washed the deck and most of the side walks. However when RO was using the washer, he coiled the hose around till touched the hot engine. The hose melted there and sprung a leak.

The main problem cooking with stinging nettles is that they, duh, sting.

Last night after RO finished sauteing some nettles, I saw a piece of green sitting on the stove. I picked it up to through it in the garbage and felt a big jolt of pain in my thumb

The sharp pain quickly subsided, but even today there is still a low level prickling in my thumb.

Oh yeah... we ate stinging nettles yesterday. They pop up all over the place in the back yard. RO heard that you could use them as food so we gave them a try.

Stinging nettle tea is nice. It tastes like green tea with a little bit of a sweet after taste.

When you cook a nettle, it gets rid of the sting. When cooked it tastes much like spinach but a little thicker, a little more firm and little more texture.

So RO and I had a fight on Saturday night. We had been drinking, probably a bit too much. He stormed out of the house. We made up by next morning.

Sunday we went to Flower World. After that we worked in the yard, weeding, planting, watering, transplanting. Last winter was more cold then normal. It killed off or damaged a few of our bushes.

The yard is starting to look decent though.

Netflix is getting to know me. It thinks I like...

• Critically Acclaimed Dark Gay & Lesbian movies.
• Feel Good Independent Comedies
• Visually Striking Cerebral Sci-Fi & Fantasy
• Inspiring Dramas Based On Real Life.

At first it bugged me. I thought Netflix was pigeon holing me. Then after I thought about, I realized that it's right. I really do like those kind of movies.

Sniffle.

For weeks a cold has been going around the office. I've managed to avoid it until now. But, last night I came down with it.

Bleah. I have so much to do a work that I can't afford to be sick.

Busy weekend.

Friday night was Andrea's birthday. We went out to a little wine room to celebrate. We had a great time.

Saturday was spent at the store.

RO's sister invited us over for Easter dinner on Sunday. It was good to see every one.

Crasy Busy.

RO is contemplating moving the store. I large mall in a rich neighborhood has a good open space. It will take us some real bucks to move though and if we aren't successful, we will be in deep trouble.

That would be better than our current situation where we are slowly languishing. Not succeeding, not failing, just working way too hard to earn zero money.

The weather was wonderful this past weekend. We worked in the yard a bit, mowing the lawn for the first time, weeding, pruning and picking up the debris left over from the winter.

We also relaxed. Sat in the sun. Enjoyed the scent of the blooming flowers.

Saturday night we went out to CC's for bear night. We ran into a number of people that we hadn't seen in years. We left early, maybe 10:30pm and then ate at the IHOP.

Chain restaurants in Seattle are required to publish the calorie and fat counts on the menu. RO hates this. He regards it as an unnecessary intrusion of government into business. To show his displeasure, he ordered and ate the two most calorie loaded plates that he could find-- a large & fancy breakfast and a crepe dessert.

That upset his stomach. he didn't get sick, but he did regret his act of civil disobedience.

David Sedaris worked again! Last night the audio book that I chose was only 6 hours. We both slept poorly for the last two hours.

RO is so happy. He has had three full nights of sleep in a row.

I'm going to try out different audio books. I'm an audible.com subscriber so I have many in my library. I've spotted about half a dozen books should work. The reader is a gentle speaker. The subject matter is interesting but not exciting. The material is in short self contained segments so even if you become interested you won't have to pay attention for long to see how it ends.

Listening to audio books at night makes sleeping a little more surreal. I briefly woke up last night. I remember listening to the part where Sedaris is in France with a group of people including a Muslim from Morocco who doesn't speak their language. They try to explain Easter the Muslim.

"The son of your father died on two morsels of wood. He went up stairs. Then he went down stairs. Then the rabbit of Easter gave candy to the children."

At that point they debate if it was a rabbit or a bell. Apparently in some parts of the world, an easter bell brings candy.

The poor Moroccan concludes that Easter is an insane holiday.

And then I fell asleep again.

We've made one addition to our "insomnia management" plan.

RO regularly suffers from insomnia. He takes melatonin and Valerian which help. There are still nights where he is still up for 3 or 4 hours.

Now when we go to bed, we start playing a David Sedaris audio book. It's not that his books are boring cures for insomnia. He has a gentle voice and his writing is amusing but not exciting. Plus Sedaris only tells short stories and essays. So you never get so into it that you have to listen for hours. It's a great combination to calm your mind.

We've tried this before with "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. It didn't work. RO become too interested in the story and it kept him up. Never mind that "The Fountainhead" is a 32 hour meditation on egotism, architecture and the evils of communism.