Monday, April 30, 2001

Last day of April already!?!?  How did that happen?  I am still so jet-lagged.  Dude!  I'm getting old.  I remember flying cross-country for one night.  Now, a week is kicking my ass.

I had to get another basal cell carcinoma burned off today.  Sucks to be me.  I will just turn into a giant (well, figuratively speaking, of course) white girl (no sun for me anymore) with pink polka-dotted burn marks.  Sounds attractive, aye?  If I get enough of them, people will probably think Galahad abuses me by putting out cigarettes on my body.  Good thing he doesn't smoke.  He's so sweet.  He took off from work to drive me to the doctor and listened sympathetically to me whimper about it all.  And, he also paid attention to me whimpering about the dearth of sushi in my diet this past week.  He brought home sushi for dinner.  I love this man so much!

Sunday, April 29, 2001

We stayed in bed all day watching TV.  I kept falling in & out of sleep.  We watched a very cute, funny cartoon called 'Wakko's Wish'.  It had the Animaniacs in it & other assorted characters.

Saturday, April 28, 2001

Finally the day has arrived for me to travel thousands of miles back to my knight in shining armor.  Fortunately for me, I was able to cash in some frequent flyer miles & upgrade to first class.  What a difference that makes!  It's the difference between getting courteously waited on in a nice restaurant and being bashed in the head with a telephone at McDonald's.  Has anyone else heard of this incident from (where else?) Miami?  It's weird how I end up with a warped view of the country by living in a state that has such a totally different lifestyle & different life values.  It's a good thing I travel so I can see how other people live.

I called my honey from the Dallas airport in-between planes.  I had just stuffed my face with a sundae on the airplane.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I was served a grilled chicken barbecue sandwich and a custom-made ice cream sundae for lunch.  Then, as if that weren't enough, I had a very rare, very juicy steak dinner and a blueberry cobbler for dessert on the next flight.  I was sated nicely.

There was my sweetie, waiting for me to walk off the plane, looking as handsome as ever.

Friday, April 27, 2001

Last day of work!  Yippee!  I'm leaving a little early to take my co-worker to the airport.  He was able to find a flight that left this afternoon.  My flights are so long that there weren't any for me to take in the afternoon, unless I wanted to get in at 2am.  So, I decided to stay an extra night (not a big choice) & see my brother & sister-in-law.  While I was waiting for them to finish work, I went shopping at REI.  I love that store, but there aren't any in Florida.  Of course while I was there, I bought more Thorlo socks.

For dinner, my brother & his wife took me to Waterfront restaurant at Pier 70.  We were able to catch up with each while enjoying the sunset & eating lovely food.  And, because they are warm-hearted people, they invited me to stay my last night at their beautiful home instead of at that icky hotel.

Thursday, April 26, 2001

I miss my Galahad so much!

I ran into other people from my company here who I didn't expect to see.  We went out to dinner & caught up a little bit.

Wednesday, April 25, 2001

It was a glorious day outside, so my colleague & I left work two hours early and caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island.  From there, we drove across the island and caught the ferry to Whidbey Island.  We were on a quest to see whales.  We had dinner along the way at a beautiful little place on the water.  I had Dungeness crab since we were so close to Dungeness.  On our last ferry, from Whidbey to the mainland, when I had almost but not quite given up hope of seeing my whales, we saw 4 or 5 baby Orcas right alongside of the ferry.  We theorized that the adults were underneath and did not need to come up for air just then.  I was so cold on the ferry in the wind but it was such a magnificent sight.

Tuesday, April 24, 2001

I am NOT loving going to work in the cold room.  It's a data center that's kept constantly at 55°F.  I have to put more clothes on to sit in there than I need to wear outside.  Actually, today was a beautiful sunny day.  I'm very glad that I brought my gloves, just for the cold room.

For dinner, we wandered down to Tacoma & ate at a little brewpub near the University of Washington.  It was very pleasant except that there were a prolific amount of homeless people hanging around.  Because it was such a nice day, we had opted to sit outside.  This meant that they could walk right up to us & ask for money.  The problem was that the guy used his regular line on us -- that he was hungry.  Well, me being me, knowing that I can never eat everything anyway & hating to hear about someone being hungry, I offered him some of my food.  That took him completely by surprise, I think.  He accepted my offering & then quickly left when he realized we weren't giving out any money.

Monday, April 23, 2001

I popped wide awake at 4am.  I just love changing time zones, she said sarcastically.    I forced myself back to sleep for another two hours & finally got up at 6am.  What a different way to live my life!  Going to sleep early & waking up early.  Amazing.

Sunday, April 22, 2001

Happy Earth Day!  I got lucky on both segments of my trip.  I was in an exit row to Dallas and in a bulkhead seat from there to Seattle.  Thank goodness because that is an even longer flight than the first.  I watched 'Proof of Life' with Meg Ryan & Russell Crowe.  Fascinating movie but probably very bad for the South American tourist & business trades.  It scared the bejeezus out of me.

I got a page in Dallas that one of my colleagues' flight from Denver had been canceled because of the snow storm there.  He would be arriving on Monday instead.  When I got into Seattle, I found out that the other colleague had just canceled his trip altogether.  I was pretty bummed about that.  So, I rented a car & drove all by myself to our hotel, which sucked.  The back of it looked like a seedy motel.  I was about to cancel my hotel reservations altogether & find a different one.  But, I was kind of tired & cold & hungry and thought I'd check out my room first.  It turned out not to be too bad, so I ended up staying.  Then, the next day, I realized that I had come in the back way and saw that the front was fairly nice.  I think I scared Galahad a little by telling him that I was staying at the 'Shining' hotel.

Saturday, April 21, 2001

Today is Tropical Fruit Tree Sale Day.  My brother was supposed to go with us, but somehow he couldn't wake up in time.  So, Galahad & I went and bought a lovely Lychee tree.  I can't wait until that starts fruiting properly.  While I was there, I developed a massive migraine.  I'm not sure if it was the pollen in the air, the miracle fruit that I ate, the front that moved in, or just all of the forces of nature conspiring against me.  Anyway, I ended up having to take a triple dose to squash it just a little.  Of course, that made me nervous because I hate traveling like that.  And, tomorrow is a LONG travel day.

Friday, April 20, 2001

I have the day off today so that I can catch up with personal errands & laundry & such.

Isn't this an odd little site?

Thursday, April 19, 2001

I had a great time at my client today.  She was certainly a character.  I took her out for lunch & laughed my ass off.  Then, I hurried over to the airport and caught an earlier flight.  I had to sit in a middle seat though on the way home.  Somehow, I got claustrophobic or something right at the end.  As people were de-planing, a man got in front of me and started to take his sweet time, putting on his coat & collecting his belongings, so I kind of pushed past him.  I feel really bad about that.  I suppose I could have waited the extra minute, especially since I had to wait for my luggage anyway.  They made me check it --- since the flight was packed, there was no more overhead room anymore.  So, mister, if you're reading this, forgive me for being an impatient bitch.  And, if this wasn't you, forgive me anyway, because if it had been you, I would have pushed past you, too.

I was so ecstatic to see my Galahad!

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

It was freezing here last night.  I had the heat cranked way up & an extra blanket on my bed.  The overnight low was in the low 40's, with up to 40mph wind gusts since yesterday.  I guess that's why my plane landing was so rough.  I'm really nervous about today's flight.  I'll be flying on a little puddle jumper.  My stomach gets edgy on those on a good day.  First thing, check to make sure I have my barf bag.

Smart me didn't learn my lesson.  I went & ate a McDonald's cheeseburger & fries for lunch before getting on the puddle jumper in high gusts.  I had a really rough landing in Tampa.  Whew!

I met a friend for dinner, and we went out for sushi in Ybor city.  Mmmmm!

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

Flew up to Jax for the afternoon.  Very rough landing.  I almost tossed my cookies when I heard some little kid sound like he was going to.  I ate two bags of greasy Southwest Airlines peanuts, which weren't doing my stomach many favors.

The client was very happy to see me.  I worked with them for about four hours and then went for sushi.  Got back to my hotel room just in time to see Dark Angel.  My hotel room, BTW, has a very LARGE conference table in it.  This is very odd, but incredibly convenient.  I have all of my work stuff laid out on it as well as my suitcase & various sundries.

This is an odd little web page of the world's largest roadside attractions.

Monday, April 16, 2001

Tying up loose ends before I go out of town.  I just found out that I'll be going out to Seattle next week, also.  I can't believe it's still cold there.

Sunday, April 15, 2001

Happy Easter.  Here is an article explaining that the holiday got its name from pagans and why the Easter bunny gives out eggs.

Saturday, April 14, 2001

Got up early to water.  Now, on to cartoons.....

Remember Peeps?  Tomorrow is Peep day.  Actually, I'm not sure what I ever liked about them.  I loved them as a kid and tried them a few years ago & almost got sick.  Way too sweet!

We started driving around looking for water garden shells.  Boy are they overpriced!  Anyway, we ended up driving around & eventually west to the Everglades.  There is a fabulous park there --- the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.  Right before we turned into the park, we saw a panther.  That was the first time I have ever seen one in the wild.  How exciting!  In the park, we saw alligators, of course, and a zillion birds.  There were plenty of turtles, too.  One of them came up onto land and was digging a place to lay her eggs.  The worst part was all of the grasshoppers.  They were huge & jumping everywhere.  At one point, I started to panic.  Lucky for me Galahad doesn't have these weird phobias like me.  He chased all of the bad grasshoppers away for me.

Friday, April 13, 2001

Last night, Galahad & I went to California Cafe for dinner.  Yummy!  Then, we took a tour of all the expensive yachts & sailboats that we could never afford in 5 lifetimes.

I found out that I have to go to Jacksonville next week.  I had already planned a Tampa trip, so now I have both.

Thursday, April 12, 2001

We had such a great time last night!  The concert pianist was unable to attend, so a substitute one was procured.  He was just phenomenal and incredibly animated.  Since we were in the fifth row center, we were able to see every dramatic gesture, which maybe wasn't such a good thing.  Several times, Galahad & I used every self-restraint we could think of to stop laughing.  I got that silent, shoulder-shaking laughter which set him off, which made me laugh even harder somehow.  At one point, I was afraid that I was going to embarrass a whole lot of people, most especially myself.  The pianist was really into his music & had amazing facial expressions & body language.  During parts of the symphony (which was Haydn's London - No.104, in case anyone is interested) when he wasn't playing, he would just slump there with his arms swinging freely & his face up to the ceiling.  It was truly a fascinating experience.  I can't wait to thank my father.  Maybe I'll call him in California.

What a busy day today!  One of my clients kept me running all day.  I did manage to sneak out for a few minutes to buy a new headset telephone.  Yay!  My arms, my ears, & my neck will be so happy from now on.  I know, I know, " You talk too much, homegirl you never shut up!"  Believe me it's for work, mostly.  Mostly.

Wednesday, April 11, 2001

I'm very excited!  Tonight, Galahad & I have tickets to the symphony.  My Pops gave them to us since he & his wife are out of town.

I just happened across another weblogger who suffers from headaches.  Poor guy!  I emailed him the advice of taking Excedrin over Advil, even though I have not undergone any kind of medical training [disclaimer].  He had to contend with bongo-drummers outside his window while enduring a particularly excruciating episode.  I remember spending Christmas in Trinidad one year and listening to the very LOUD music at the Savannah until 5 in the morning, while lying awake in bed & wishing my meds would work faster & better.  And, also keeping the light on (despite my photophobia) to watch out for the large roaches who would carry me off in the middle of the night.  Actually, now that I think about it, I might have been better off that night if they had taken me away.

Tuesday, April 10, 2001

A different Wendy sent me an odd website that lists all kinds of phobias.  That's something to look at whenever I feel my problems overwhelming me.  Imagine having an irrational fear of going to bed (clinophobia)?!!?  My bed is supposed to be the best place in the world when I freak out & need to feel better.  Who can deal with that kind of stress?

A friend of mine sent me a link to a spudgun page.  Yeah, you read that correctly, a potato launcher.  Dude!!!!

Monday, April 9, 2001

A grackle was just splashing around in our mini-fountain.  I can't wait to see what shows up when we put our mini-pond in.

Galahad brought home sushi for dinner, and we enjoyed a delightful evening on our back deck.

Sunday, April 8, 2001

I got a burst of energy from the Excedrin I had taken (still fighting this migraine), so Galahad suggested we take a hike in our backyard down the canal & over to the park.  I always forget how amazing it is back there.  We saw gorgeous birds and possibly our friend, Gronk.  He's a bright orange iguana who's over six feet long.  The reason I say possibly is that he was only partially orange, possibly due to molting and possibly due to him not being Gronk. 

An anhinga was fishing in the canal, swimming underneath the surface with his snaky-neck gliding along the top.  He went underwater for long periods of time in between.  He finally speared a fish and then gulped it down.  We watched it drying his wings when he was done eating his lunch.  Galahad had his binoculars, so we were able to have quite a view.  He sat up on a rock, spread out his wings, and hung out there for quite a while.  Just then, a GIANT blue heron came swooping down the canal, its wings missing the water by millimeters.  He landed near us and then stepped quite elegantly down the shore towards the anhinga, who got a little protective of his rock but calmed down when he was left alone.

A green heron was doing some preening in his hideout along the shore.  And, then there was the requisite death that follows along with life.  A very large bloated carcass was floating in the canal.  It appeared to be a raccoon or maybe a badger (do we have those here?), but it was hard to identify since it had most likely been there a few days.

Saturday, April 7, 2001

Woke up with another migraine.  Bummer!  I took a pill, but then I couldn't wait the requisite two hours, so I did a shot after one hour.  I figured the combined effect could only help knock it out all at once.  Feeling a little bit better now after mixing in an Excedrin, too.

I just read a fascinating article about the early Everglades history.  Hopefully, I'll feel better soon because we were trying to go to a palm & cycad sale today.

Galahad, my brother, and I went to the palm & cycad sale at about 3PM, sponsored by the Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society.  What beautiful trees they had!  And, the prices were very reasonable.  We bought a Bismarckia nobilis, which I named Marky-Mark, and a Latania loddigesii, which I named Lucy after the Lusitania.  All right, so that one was a stretch, but our trees need names. Marky-Mark is purple-hued currently, but I'm told that he will fade to a silver.  We also bought special palm & cycad fertilizer.  Do we have sucker tattooed on our faces?  Just kidding.  My brother assured us that it was a very good deal.  He's extremely knowledgeable in these matters, so I trusted him.  Afterwards, we stopped at Doc's outdoor cafe for a bite to eat.

Friday, April 6, 2001

Last night our alarm system went off at 1:46am.  Not a nice way to wake up!  Neither one of us was able to go right back to sleep, so we lost a few essential hours.  We made plans to meet up with the local chapter of Mensa for happy hour.  I was nervous since meeting new people does that to me.  Plus, if I hated it, I'm not the type to just walk out.  I usually grin & bear it.  It turns out that they were very nice, if a little odd.  But, what did I expect?  I'm a little odd myself.

Thursday, April 5, 2001

Today is my company's golf tournament.  And, BONUS, my migraine is gone!  Yippee!  I was a little anxious at first since I had to ride around with the new GM of Florida all day in a golf cart, entertaining our clients.  I had met him only once previously for about a minute.  I had decided to bite the bullet and volunteer for his cart since I would probably be working with him eventually.  This would give me a chance to get to know him outside of his management style.  It turns out that I had a lot of fun.  First of all, it was a gorgeous day, no clouds, a slight breeze, and about 75°F.  Also, he wasn't a control freak; he let me drive first even though I volunteered the fact that I have been known to drive in a reckless manner at times.  I guess reckless is relative.  While he was driving, he managed to dump the entire cooler full of drinks & ice all over while taking a fast uphill corner.  Then, he had the good graces to find it just as funny as I did. 

He had already been told by another employee from another city that I am somewhat of a tree-hugger.  He started to goof on me for it; but it seems he's not that far away himself.  (This other employee is Rush Limbaugh in a younger man's body.)  I saw all kinds of birds enjoying the last vestiges of nature in the area.  There were egrets, great herons, gallinules, anhingas, mourning doves, and a kestrel!  I was so excited to see the kestrel; it was the first one I had seen in the wild.  I kept that little discovery to myself since I was already coming across as a major tree-hugger.

Wednesday, April 4, 2001

Still fighting previous day's migraine.  Kept my hair appointment even though I didn't feel like it.  Part of it felt wonderful while she was shampooing & massaging.  And part of it was hell, while she was combing & ripping through knots.  Stopped by my sister-in-law's home afterwards.  Visited with her & my nephew for an hour.  I finally left because my pager was going crazy.  And, my cell phone stopped working, perhaps because of the unusually high sunspot activity.

Wasn't real confident about how my hair looks, but Galahad loves it, so that's all that's important to me.  I don't have to see it nearly as much as he does.  My sister-in-law didn't comment -- is that bad or good?

Tuesday, April 3, 2001

Woke up with a Migraine.  Galahad brought me Imitrex before I ever even attempted to get out of bed.  I had just been congratulating myself Sunday on being migraine-free for quite a while.  I figured it was the drought we're having.  I guess that's at least good for my head.  Today is another gorgeous day, with nary a cloud in the sky.  Maybe it was something I ate last night, but I doubt it.  Yet another migraine with no probable cause.

Monday, April 2, 2001

I went into the office today.  Worked harder & accomplished less.

Argued again with Best Buy.  They wrote me up a rain check on 3/18/01 for a telephone headset, which apparently they have no intention of ever ordering again.  I called their corporate office to complain.  The representative I spoke with also called the store while I held the line.  They treated him badly also.  Nice.  I registered a complaint although I doubt that will do any good.

Sunday, April 1, 2001

Had a very bizarre dream last night.  I looked it up at Swoon.com, and it seemed to have favorable intent.  I remember raspberries & vivid blue shower gel.  My dreams sure entertain me, but somehow I didn't get enough sleep last night.  The daylight saving time change (ridiculous as it is) and the late night chatting coupled with my busy night of dreams conspired against my eight hours of sleep.

60 Minutes had a great episode on tonight.  It was their 1500th, BTW.  One segment was about human research subjects and how poorly (& dangerously) they can be treated.  I was a human guinea pig for quite a few years and quite a few experimental medications.  I guess I was very fortunate most of the time considering other people's stories.  Although, now that I know how much these doctors' offices are paid by the pharmaceutical companies, I don't believe I'll ever do that again for less than a few hundred dollars.  In fact, since there are already some pretty good migraine medications around, I don't think I'll ever guinea pig myself again.  Fortunately, I have not needed any in quite a while.