Another West Marine Update

So, I heard that the Pleasant Hill store will most likely be losing its Store Manager in a month, and it has a different District Manager, who I've been told I will get along great with. The money will be less, but so will the hassle. The Pleasant Hill store is closely analogous to the Burnet store, so I will feel right at home. Another selling point is that we could move anywhere on the North Bay: Richmond, Benecia, Walnut Creek, etc. These are very quaint communities with lots of waterfront and marinas. The Tradewinds base is in Richmond, and we really liked the Brickyard Cove and Marina Bay areas.

At least now I have some options. It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks around here. Keep your fingers crossed. I hope that's not hypocritical...

Lat/Long:
37 58' 52.20" N x 122 04' 01.13" W

Kim's Reality Tour(a.k.a. We're not at U-Flote-Em Anymore, Toto)

So, Kevin & Stella come into town Thursday night from Austin for a long weekend. They're really good friends that we know via Robin Millings and Lisa Chapin, respectively. They ended up getting together about a year ago, through no fault of our own. Kevin was a photographer in Iraq, and Stella is a librarian, so they're interested in seeing a lot of the same stuff we are. Touring "The City" with a photographer gives you a whole new perspective on things.



Thursday night, we went to Quinn's Lighthouse, a favorite spot for dinner, on the Estuary. We serendipitously discovered that they've had a band, Skip Henderson & the Starboard Watch, playing upstairs for over fifteen years. They sing sea chanteys and one of their songs is in one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. What makes them even more interesting is that they arrive via sailboat. We only caught fifteen minutes of their set, but they played a Great Big Sea tune. We're going to be regulars on Thursday night. We also found out about a pirate party at a german restaurant Friday night, so we may get our Octoberfest fix while wearing puffy shirts.



Friday, we went sailing with Lisa Chapin on her first excursion as a fully licensed Captain. We took out a Tradewinds Beneteau 32, which was nice and new. The Bay was pretty calm, as the summer heat-induced gales have dissipated for the most part. We sailed as close to Angel Island as the wind would allow and were very thankful that the fire only burned the western third of the island. We motored though Raccoon Straight and then over to the Ferry Terminal to get lunch in the gourmet shops there and pick up Chaz Bulle' (Chuck Bullet when he's not on a Beneteau), Lisa's "friend". We were quite blown away by the dichotomy between what we were doing and tying up to U-Flotem on Lake Travis to pick up beer and chips. We saw a bunch of beautiful boats tied up to the piers, checked out the Giants' ballpark, then sailed around the south side of Treasure Island. We had to motor through the construction of the new Bay Bridge, but were treated to some excellent sailing from there to Point Richmond, where the wind promptly died. We motored into the marina at sunset through glassy water. We even had to take a small freighter port-to-port in the channel, another huge difference sailing out here. Lisa was spending the night on the boat preparing for her excursion to Half Moon Bay the next morning. Maybe we can get her to blog about that. We opted out of hitting Forbidden Island on the way home a just grilled steaks.



Saturday was a trip into The City. We parked in our usual garage and walked over to the camera shop so Kevin could pick up a charger. We toured China town and got our usual lunch at Potstickers. It was time to walk over to the Go-Car rental place (little yellow go-carts that you see tourists cruising around in), where Kevin had made reservations. After not having enough power to pull away from the curb, the GPS not working, having a mirror pop off and explode, and almost getting killed by various SUV's, we decided to call it quits. Five minutes after leaving, we pulled back into the rental place and Kevin creatively requested a refund while wishing luck to the couple in the process of renting a car. Since we now had some free time, we boarded a cable car and shot over to the waterfront. I had a one-handed deathgrip on the handle going up and down those hills while Kim chatted up the driver. We had the best Irish coffee in the universe at the Buena Vista, then we walked all the way back to the parking garage. All in all, a great way to see The City. We topped off the evening with an excellent dinner at Strizzi's in Livermore (the best Italian I've had since St. Louis).



Sunday, we piled into the car and headed for the coast. We stopped for coffee in Santa Cruz and checked out the beach. Then we went hiking in Point Lobos State Park. Tuckered out, we zipped down to the Bixby Bridge to get a taste of Big Sur and drove over to Monterey. Beer and excellent appetizers finished us off, so after touring a few t-shirt shops, we crammed back into the car and headed home. We will definitely be going back to Monterey Bay. Our table was overlooking the beach and we saw sailboats heading back in through the sunset-gilded fog.




Monday, we decided that Alcatraz would be too much of a time crunch, so we did the Scharffen Berger chocolate factory tour, which was surprisingly interesting. Properly hopped-up on freebies, we ran over to West Marine, thinking we would meet Lisa Chapin at Heinold's First & Last Chance Bar in Jack London Square (the ultimate dive bar, for all of you who survived the Burnet Road Challenge), but it was closed. We settled on Quinn's again, which wasn't too harsh, and also gave us closure. After lunch we dropped the intrepid explorers off at the airport with the requisite hugs and promises of visitation, and raced the traffic home. We were so full from lunch that we skipped dinner that night.



Overall, a great weekend with good friends from Austin. The best of both worlds.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow" - William Shakespeare

Angel's Afire

Last week, Angel Island caught fire and burned burned burned. We didn't see it, but it was all over the news. We'll for sure see it tomorrow when we go sailing. Anyway, I was forwarded this picture of the island with the Maltese Falcon in the foreground:



The pic taken by George Dapsevicius. Don’t know anything about him although I do know he was in the right place at the right time!

P.S. We dropped a lunch hook off Angel Island when we first got out here.

Lat/Long:
37D 51' 43.29" N x 122D 25' 42.67" W

West Marine Update

So I went into Oakland for my interview today. It went pretty well. I was a little nervous because this means so much to us. I answered the District Manager's questions like a Presidential debate: started answering his question and eventually shifted the subject to my strong points.

Afterwards, he told me that they had narrowed it down to myself, one other WM employee and three outsiders. Now I just have to wait and see. He'll call me either way within two weeks.

I have to take a psych test to determine if I'm management material, but that shouldn't be a problem. Anyhoo, I just thought I'd keep y'all updated. Thanks for all the well wishes. We miss everybody.

Bay Area Traffic!

So, I was getting ready to leave to head into Oakland for my interview for the West Marine Store Manager position when I saw I had a voicemail. The WM District Manager saw that a tanker had caught on fire on 880 (right where I had to exit), it melted the asphalt and they closed the highway. This in turn jacked up the entire Bay Area traffic. He called to reschedule for tomorrow, since he's coming from Santa Cruz. BTW, the job wasn't the slam dunk I was led to believe it was, but I do have a strong endorsement from my boss. They are evidently looking at several applicants. I wrote a new resume specifically for this gig, so wish me luck.

Hands On Experience

So this morning, we went into Oakland (Alameda County Hospital) at 7:15am, and took our place in line with the rest of the cattle. By 1:00pm, I had gotten my x-rays, had three of the four pins in my hand pulled (without any pain-killers - the middle finger still has no bone structure), and setup an appointment for a new doctor/hospital in November because of the insurance situation. The pin removal was as excruciating as I remember from messing up my other drinking hand 4-5 years ago. I just bit the bullet as he twisted and yanked with his little doctor's pliers. There were a few Q&A sessions with the hospital staff like are you in pain? "Yes" When did the pain start? "Ten forty-five on September 19th, when I cut my finger off with my table saw". As you might be able to see in the x-ray, some bone growth has occurred in the middle finger. I thought the Doc was going to break my index finger trying to remove the screws.

Anyhoo, I survived and we tooled on over to West Marine to do our usual meet-and-greet session. While we were there, my Store Manager Dan pulled me aside and offered me the Store Manager position at the Oakland store a few miles away. I was flabbergasted, very much honored, and I told him I'd have to think about for a few days. It's a temporary, interim position, until they find a permanent SM, but it could definitely lead to much more if I wanted it to. Kim and I have already discussed the very real possibility of me having to get a real job, and this might be the ultimate opportunity. I'll have to talk to Peter @ WM-Austin to get his feedback on the whole situation. This might necessitate us having to move to Alameda, but I'm OK with that (closer to the Bay), or commuting from Livermore for a while. Funny how the Lord giveth and taketh away sometimes. Maybe I could sponsor the Hunt this year!

There's Gold in Them Thar Hills!

So, a week ago Sunday, we decided to get out of the house and take a little hand-friendly road trip. We've built a list of things we want to do/see while we're in the Bay area. Checking out Gold Country is on that list. Most of you probably know that James Marshall found a gold nugget downstream from the sawmill on Sutter's creek in January of 1948. This was the start of the California Gold Rush, the reason San Francisco grew into a major US city, and the 49'ers football team.



Well, we decided to check it out for ouselves and see what all the hubub was about. It was a couple hour drive into the hills. Very pretty scenery surrounded us on all sides once we got out of the valley. Sun-dappled roads with "Windy & Steep" signs was the standard. We saw a few quaint small towns that had tried to preserve the "Gold Rush" feel, but the Wells Fargo banks were considerably more modern. We stopped in Columbia, where they just happened to be having a Harvest Festival going on. Everyone was wearing their best "Little House on the Prairie" outfits and we saw some cool stuff. We almost bought some beeswax candles and vanilla lotion, but I was more intrigued by the lumber recycler. He had Eric's shaving horse setup, which caught my eye. We stolled through his booth and saw some gorgeous quartersawn black oak. I will definitely be ordering some from him for dramatically figured picture frames with grain that really pops. We watched the kids panning for gold in a trough, which didn't seem to have a high chance of success.



Kim then took me to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Yes, there were frogs everywhere around town, and a lot of Mark Twain references. They still do the races every year. Anyway, the park was truly majestic. You think you're seeing a bunch of really big trees, then you tun a corner and see a tree whose trunk is the size of a two car garage. A bunch of idiots in the 1850's cut one down. The stump is 24 feet in diameter and has 1200 growth rings (I didn't count them, the Park Ranger told us). For those of you keeping score at home, that means that tree sprouted when the Holy Roman Empire was founded, Charlemagne was running around, and King Arthur was supposedly commissioning a round table. It was pretty chilly at that time of the afternoon, at that elevation, and surrounded by all that vegetation, but we hiked one of the trails anyway. Once agian, the sun beaming through the trees was like a 3D Serenity Prayer. The air was fresh and brisk with a touch of pine. The wind in the heights made a white-noise soughing that sounded like we were approaching a waterfall. A wonderful experience, but really chilly camping. I know it sounds trite, but pics can't do the size of these trees justice. They're so much larger than we're used to, they look like props for an amusement park.



We headed back to civilization by driving into the sunset. Kim showed me her aunt & uncle's place in Copperopolis, a really small town. When we crested the last ridge and started down into the valley, we could see Woodward Reservoir reflecting the sun down below. I always get a kick about having been places I see from afar or on TV. That's one of the best things about travelling with Kim. We've been told firsthand that there is still gold in them thar hills, but it's probably on someone else's property.

You Know You’re from TEXAS if...

1. You measure distance in hours. (like Lubbock is 8 hours from Houston- who knows how many miles it is)
2. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
3. Stores don't have bags; they have sacks.
4. Stores don't have shopping carts; they have buggies.
5. You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it, no matter what time of the year.
6. You use "fix" as a verb. Example: I am fixing to go to the store.
7. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, or animal.
8. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
9. You carry jumper cables in your car ..for your OWN car.
10. You know what "cow tipping" and "snipe hunting" are.
11. You only own four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco.
12. You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
13. You think sexy lingerie is a tee shirt and boxer shorts.
14. The local paper covers national and international news on one page but requires 6 pages for sports.(high school football is of utmost importance)
15. You think that the first day of deer, duck, dove, or quail season are State holidays.
16. You know which leaves make good toilet paper.
17. You find 90 degrees F "a little warm."
18. You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas.
19. You know whether another Texan is from southern, middle, or northern Texas as soon as they open their mouth.
20. There is a Dairy Queen in every town with a population of 1000 or more.
21. Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite past-time known as "goin wal-martin" or off to "Wally World."
22. You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good chili weather.
23. A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola, or pop ... it's a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor.
24. You understood and laughed at these jokes.

(Thanks to the Doolage for sending these along... made my day in frozen-ass California!)

Frankenfinger

Well, I guess it's about time for an update. The hand is mending. It hurts all day, especially at night, when I'm trying to get to sleep. I'm taking the bare minimum dosage of Percocet, just to get by. I've been having only one cocktail a day, in the late afternoon/early evening. I think I'll stick with this pattern instead of my former habit. I even got to be designated driver last night after going out for sushi with Teri.

Kim got a Garmin chip and a GPS antenna from Cathi for her new phone. It's pretty cool, and we can even use it while walking around the city. We joined Tradewinds under Lisa Chapin, so we'll be sailing Beneteaus, Ericsons, Dufours, etc. in the thirty-plus foot range for a while. My boat is safely in storage. Lisa might be making a daysail run down to Half Moon Bay (at the south end of the peninsula) with some Tradewinds friends, so once she's checked out, we'll be able to go out the Gate. She knows of some others that are sailing out to the Farallone Islands, which would be a great daysail, with lots of whale-watching potential. It looks like we'll be starting to get that blue water experience we moved out here for. Lisa has been the great catalyst we knew she would be. We can always launch the Twins on one of the free public ramps on Alameda too. It's not any colder in the winter on the Bay, because the wind dies down considerably during the winter because the valleys don't heat up as much. Sailing over to Treasure Island is high on our list since we missed the Hobie Around TI race a few months ago. I'll be interested in seeing how my hand performs.



As you might be able to tell from the pics, they shortened my middle finger about an inch because of the missing bone structure. It will most likely be permanently straight, with some flexibility at the hand knuckle. This means that a large percentage of my grip strength will be gone. We might have to check out electric winches.


I've been too bummed on a daily basis to work on the captain's license much over the last few weeks. I've been mainly escaping into sailing books. Kim's been busy all day, every day working on the insurance and financial ramifications of all this. I couldn't do this without her. It's too personal for me, and she's being very professional about the whole thing. I've been doing some coding for her, but my days are pretty open. We ran over to Woodcraft the other day to get a new finish to try that I found online. I went out into the shop and did a test piece, which may be the finish I use on some Morris chairs or the dinette set. Beemer's food stand will be the first piece I try it on, and it's been half-way done for three weeks. I'm anxious to get back into the shop, but first I'll be installing some safety equipment. Kim's Dad Joe, and Eric have been really helpfull with research and sending links for safety options.



I've got a doctor's appointment on the 16th where they'll be removing most of the pins and stitches. I think I'll try to find some Vicodin for that trip. As you can see from the x-ray from last week (see dark spot under middle finger pin), I've got a lot of bone to grow back ("That's what she said"), even with the shortened finger.

As you can tell, not much blogworthy going on out here. We're resisting the urge to say screw it and move back to Austin. Lisa's at the Annapolis Boat Show, looking at boats nobody can afford. Maybe we can get her to guest-blog when she gets back. I guess that's all for now. Later.