Sitting on the front porch editing some photos from the weekend, enjoying the sunshine and my day off. Vince is still crashed out on the sofa - he came down from Van for a Nissan meet yesterday and Patrick and i kept him up late eating bottemless riblets and playing billards. I don't know how he’s still sleeping, it’s far from quiet around here. Between Christian and i creaking around the house this morning (this house is *so* noisy), the neighbors pounding and sawing and sanding something in their front yard, garbage trucks rolling by more often than should be neccessary, and my infernal typing in the room next door, well… he must be a really sound sleeper. So i've moved out to the front porch (wireless internet is so neato).

We actually had two Nissan meetups yesterday, one down in southcenter (that i have pics from here) arranged by the Maxima guys, and then later in the evening we rolled to lynnwood to cross paths with the 240sx-heavy crew from NWN. I didn't get to wash my car beforehand, as i spent the morning changing the oil and checking out the Sentra for Justin - he’s going to pick it up today. Actually, i'm going to head up to Stanwood to put tires on the truck at the shop where he works, and then bring him home with me to pick up the car. Anyway, both meets were good, pretty laid back, but it’s nearing the end of the season. It was also an unexpected sunny day after a couple weeks of dreary ones, so i don't think anyone expected it would be a nice enough day to come out for a meet.

Jason stopped by yesterday to pick up a key, drop off a few things, and then is headed to an outdoor concert festival in nevada for the rest of the week. He will get back monday, Christian flies to Munich on sunday, Mom and Dad get here for a week sunday… the b&b is booked solid this month! ;) I'm going to miss having Chrisitan around - he wasn't here very long, and i've been working so much that i haven't really seen him during these four short months other than in passing. I'm pretty bummed that i went to so much work to help him move here and then didn't really get any quality time with him, and now it’s too late. And he'll be a hemisphere away again for who knows how long. At least i have someone to stay with in europe again - but it’s going to be awhile, as i still haven't paid for the last trip…

On a family note, everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with my Grama Polly today as she heads to the hospital for examination, to determine if she needs another heart surgery. I hope her news is good today.

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The sentra is sold! And i was able to hook up my friend Justin with a good deal. And get some nice tires for the truck. Excellent.

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Seven emails about the sentra already, and one cash offer sight unseen!

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Craigslist is amazing. I posted my Sentra for sale a couple hours ago, and already i have three emails from people interesting in seeing it. I figured it'd take a week or so to sell it… what a surprise! Maybe i should be asking more… It'd be very cool to sell it, as i really need the money to shop for truck tires - those things are freakin bald and it’s a little scary in all this rain we've been having lately. I've got two cars that don't drive in the rain and i live in, uh, … Seattle. Yeah.

Work is quiet so far today, a nice break. And it’s almost time to go pull a box out of the freezer and transfer it to the microwave for 6 minutes of modern miracle food preparation.

They've got Adam West (the original tv batman) advertising some MLM scam on tv now. It’s pretty bad. The worst part is he makes a batman joke at the end… terrible. Makes me feel bad for him…

Okay, that’s the fourth email about the car. Craigslist rules.

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Stopped at Danielle’s apt to check on her cat, Ferris. He’s always so happy to see me. It’s nice to be needed… and even nicer to be appreciated.

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Here i am again, waiting for someone in front of starbucks. I think this is the fifth time in the last week i've met someone this way…

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Hangin at starbucks (something new) waiting for MichelleT so we can run up to Eric’s garage and check out her brakes. Matt asked me to look them over, as they've been giving her trouble, and he’s off in virginia learning stuff for the army reserves that he already knew from the marines. Big thanx to Eric for use of the garage!

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Full and happy after lunch, things are quiet - nothing is beeping or flashing - leaving me to ponder what’s happening on Fark today and shop for nerd-gear at NTKmart. That and watch this creepy feature on CNN about all these people who dress up as lady liberty (blue face and all) and pose with tourists in NYC. Apparently it’s all the rage in the big apple right now. That, and iPods.

In the interest of amusing yourself today, check out toothpastefordinner.com. Danielle, this one is for you.

On the home front, looks like JasonT will be moving in as roomie #3 sometime in the next couple of weeks, as Christian leaves for Germany (yes, again. no, i don't know either. you're going to have to ask him). I think this will be a great arrangment as Kim and i already know and like Jason, he needs a place right when we have one available (very fortuitous), all his furniture is already moved in (we've been using/storing/saving his stuff while he was in NYC) and it saves Kim and i from having to interview strangers who might have been drug addicts, vampires, mormons, or worse. As far as we know, Jason is none of these things. Plus, it will be cool to have a good professional colleague such as him around - i really enjoyed that about JoshH as a roommate. We were able to collaborate on contract projects and whatnot as well as motivate each other, and i think Jason and i will have that same opportunity, which i'm excited about. Also, i'll have somebody to play TimeSplitters2 with again… :)

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Egad. My neighborhood is on fire. Traffic report says a brush fire is in progress across the block from my house!

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Watching this week’s StrongBad Email with Ian, while he expresses his frustration with his home computer - he’s trying to log into it from work, but he broke it over the weekend and now it just constantly reboots, leaving it (obviously) inaccessible. My Powerbook never does that. ;)

This is my seventh day of work in a row - i'm very much looking forward to having tomorrow off, mostly cause i have a lot of stuff to get done! And also cause i'd like to sleep in past 5am (at least just a little!). I found a steal of a deal on a parking lot just 3 blocks from work that'll only cost me $25 a month (the company pays the rest) and is available 24/7 to accomodate my non-traditional shift hours, even during baseball games and stuff. Very good deal. Not that i hate riding the bus… okay, that’s not entirely true. Some days i really hate it. ;) In the mornings on weekdays i don't really mind it, although as there’s only a few routes to this part of the city i have to catch the one-and-only bus that will get me to work on time, as the next one will put me here like half an hour late. Driving is much more forgiving in that regard. But the real pain is in the evenings, as i'm headed home after the regular commuting hours, and on weekends, when the routes are limited and i find myself chasing buses all over downtown. What could be a 10 minute drive turns into more than an hour of walking, waiting and riding when all i really wanna do is just get home. With such long days and short evenings, that really makes a dent in my free time. So for $25 a month plus a little gas in the truck, why wouldn't i drive? See how easily i justify that? ;) And let’s not even get into the environmental impact of driving my SUV into downtown every day instead of taking the bus… they're going to name a hole in the ozone after me.

It’s not my fault that this city’s public transit is lackluster. It’s great for some people, if you work 8-5 in downtown and live in one of the city’s boroughs. But the problem with Metro’s bus system is that it basically goes to 50% operation at 6pm, and down to 25% at 10pm. And forget the weekends. So you can't count on it to get you home if you, say, work a little late, or meet friends for dinner after work, or need to run an evening errand, or - like me - work hours other than 9-5. And this city wonders why we have a traffic problem… cause there really aren't alternatives for most people! And then we all finally agree on a monorail plan (which would run all nite, btw, on the same predictable route 7 days a week) and these losers want to recall the monorail plan because the route changed by a couple of blocks from the proposal to the building plan! Morons. Firstly, big deal. As long as it’s still going thru all the same neighborhoods. Secondly, a proposal is not set in stone - that’s what proposal means! When landowners won't sell, or construction costs change, or whatever, you have to be ready to adapt your plans, which is exactly what happens hundreds of times during a 10+ year project. Thirdly, although they try to pass off this recall thing as a “grassroots" movement (the website is even tacky and low budget to aid in the ruse) everyone with more than split pea soup sloshing between their ears knows that the recall movement is being primarily funded by a group of wealthy property owners along the proposed route who either 1) wanted it to stop on their dirt and it’s not, 2) wanted it to stay away and their dirt’s on the route, or 3) have a vested interest in other transportation methods or overpriced parking lots. So basically, a bunch of special interests with much less than the city’s general good in mind. I'll refer them to John Stuart Mill’s apportionment of the relative needs of the many vs. the needs of the few. And i'll be sure and spit my gum out the window of the monorail right as i go by their buildings…

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