Bender has left the building.

I have some of this stuff packed up but I've decided not to take a trip with it tonight. Breaking news, I know. I'm getting there. This process doesn't seem to end. Right now I'm going to bed.

Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

The move has begun. I cleaned up the jig-making mess in my living room (I was amazed that the vacuum cleaner got all of the feather cast-offs) and boxed up some stuff for storage. I dropped that stuff off at Lee's and then proceeded to Fall City to pick up my trailer. I think my car battery is getting old because I left my lights on for a short time and that was enough for me to wear it down so that I was unable to get the car started again. I was really weighing my options when a wealthy guy and his boy came into the storage place to retrieve their snowmobile. I asked him for help but his Land Rover is so new that the battery, once found, was too foreign looking to be of help. The guy who lives on the lot came out to give me a jump, after recounting his days racing snowmobiles with the rich guy. I was so glad to see them coming. Hoping and cranking wasn't getting the engine to turn over. From there I took the trailer back to Bellevue to pick up my motorcycle and bicycle, which I then dropped off in Sammamish. There I met Lee's ally Marta and I had a nice welcome, which will help make my stay there be not so isolated.

I have much more packing to do, but the important thing for me is that I've started. I have the trailer so I'll be able to haul a bunch of stuff out of here tomorrow. I can do more car trips next week before resuming the trailer moves next weekend. I have to be out of here by the 31st, so New Year's Eve I'll spend in Sammamish (I always thought it was Issaquah). I've been looking for a house needing roomates on Craig's List and more recently on Windows Live Expo. I want to stay in Bellevue because I'm optimistic about getting accepted to school for next year. Please tell me that you are optimistic for me too.

As for the holidays I've lined up a Christmas Eve party in Mill Creek with some runner friends and I'm treating myself to some steelhead fishing for Christmas Day. I thought that was very nice of myself. Thanks self. I can't feel guilty about not moving on Christmas, so I thought I'd really enjoy the day out on the river, and I will. Depending on what happens up there I may head down to Orting to see Jesse and family. Well, thanks for tuning in. I hope your holidays are very enjoyable and your new year stellar.

This is my If Today Is Your Birthday horoscope:

"December 18, 2006 -- A Sun-Pluto conjunction on your birthday means it is time for a change - and the bigger the change the better. Whatever it is you have been dreaming of doing now is the time to take it to the next level. Don't look back a year from now and wish you had been more adventurous. Your life is here, now."

What I'd like is to find a new apartment. I'm working on the rest of it.

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This was taken on Mercer Island today. I got a few hours of work today, and almost more importantly, some gas. We worked on our big property on Mercer Island, clearing limbs from walks and streets. There are more trees down like this onto buildings there. I saw a few cars wrecked similarly. I'll get more overtime work tomorrow too working at the same place. I guess I can get ready to move when it is dark and I'll make my money during the daylight. I hope all of you fellow denizens of Western Washington are well and warm. I hope you have gasoline too. I hope to fill up in Mukilteo tomorrow. Y'all take care.

This was a typical sight throughout Bellevue today. Yesterday's wind storm knocked out power to most of the eastside and Seattle. I was lucky to have today off so I was spared from most of the driving hell. I did go out to look for an open coffee shop. I didn't find any so I went home with my one purchase from Fred Meyers and then set up my camp stove to heat water for my french press. That really tasted good.

I took my new camera phone with me on my run today and this is one of the pictues I took. The downed trees I saw were on SE 16th St. and 168th Ave SE near Weowna Park in Bellevue. The damage is covered by the Seattle Times here and Komo 4 here.

Well, they've caught up with me. My lease ran out in September and I've been renting month to month since then. I came home last night after our school nursing home clinical to find the note I've been expecting. I have ten days to tell them whether I'll be moving out. There is no way I'll be able to afford what the rent is going up to. Any ideas out there?

I did a little fishing this morning before I went down to Orting to see Jesse and her extended family. I took this picture of the head of this Chum Salmon just before releasing it back to the Snoqualmie River. It was like reeling in a log - that swims.

Yeah, what Dave said. Read the rest.

"When you watch Baker in motion, don't think he's working for you. He's working for the Bush family, and more broadly, the Republican Party, Corporate America and the defense industry."

I have two days off from work but I'll be doing two shifts at the nursing home. For the class we are visiting a nursing home and a hospital. I need white shoes. The rivers are still a mess so there won't be any of that recreation. There wan't enough daylight after work today to run so I'll tomorrow. I've had enough of the wet leaves. Landscaping is sapping almost all I have. This chopped up entry is proof.

This is the first day in a while I've had to fish. The trouble is that the conditions are not optimal. There is a whole lot of rain coming, thus raising the river levels. I put together a few jigs last night and I'm anxious to try them out. I think we've had enough rain.

Hello. Tonight in the nursing assistant class we learned that we will be washing dead people. Dead people.

edit: we won't be practicing on dead people; in the course of doing a nursing assistant's job, the task of washing a dead person will come up.

Enough of the profanity. Some people just suck though. Here is my latest catch. This guy put up a great fight. I headed up to the river after work yesterday and as you can see I was rewarded for it. He cleared the water twice jumping. It took me a few minutes to get him to shore to see whether I could keep him or not. He didn't like the idea of heading toward the rocks so he tried to run a few times. This time I kept the drag loose so he wouldn't break my line, but I also had to be careful he didn't get himself behind any rocks he could rub the jig and line against. I made this jig. You can see it above his head. I measured him at 31 inches. I need a bigger cutting board and sink, and a sharper knife with more like him.

I had another mower stolen off my work truck today. Fuckers.

Hi all. Not many entries lately, just some pictures of dead fish. I spent all day up on the river yesterday and today I need to get some other things done. The river is low and clear which makes the steelhead shy to bite. I guess the rising rain waters wake them up, preparing them to spawn. Part of that process is that they get aggressive, biting at things that enter their area. This is where the jigs come in. The trick is in the color combinations and presentation. I've landed four so far. One was wild so it had to be released and the other one I let go wasn't quite the size I've been used to. I don't think I'll be fishing today, what with the contusions on my legs from falling all over the rocks and with me losing gear in the river and not catching anything. I need to nail down the upcoming BCC course, get some stuff mailed out, get some domestic stuff done and then maybe run with the group tonight. Later.

Here is today's keeper. It is a 30" female chrome steelhead.

This is a better picture by far. The other pic came from my cameraphone. I like that I can send it directly from the river, but the quality is lacking. I lost the jig and float I got it on after I left that hole. I'm meeting Bob and Eric up there tomorrow and I'm very tempted to go swimming for it. This fish kind of surprised me because up until now all that I had gotten had been snags. This snag moved. And then I was thinking, holy shit - it worked. It had always been the other guy who would pull one out of there. As I was walking out of there I was still a little surprised to have it in tow. Very cool.

It is very good too. Half of it is cooked. I marinated it with basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt & pepper and some store brand red wine vinaigrette. Oh yeah, there is olive oil in there too. Cous cous and some stir fry vegetables rounded out my meal. I could eat like this every day. I guess all that cooking I did stuck some. I need to learn the art if filleting better though. Y'all have a great week.

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I got one! It is a nice 26" steelhead. Finally.

I took this picture of the New York skyline about 20 years ago I think. Being September 11th I thought I would add my 2 cents on this anniversary. At about the same time I used to hang out some with Buddhist monks and nuns at the Nipponzan Myohoji Peace Pagoda and Temple in Leverett, Massachusetts.




Here is the Peace Pagoda,



This order of Buddhism is dedicated to peace. I was idealistic, yes, but I still think that working for peace with peace is a much more rational way to approach that realization rather than the fearmongering and senseless war we find ourselves in right now. 'make sense? Here is a quote I particularly like from Seth and Jane Roberts, in Susan Watkins' "Conversations with Seth, Book one" pp230-232:

"But when all the young men refuse to kill for the sake of peace, and when all the women forbid their men to kill for the sake of peace, and when you realize that no peace will come through killing, and that the end does not justify the means, and when you grow full and light with thoughts of peace, then there will be an end to war! But as long as any men go to war for the sake of peace, there will be war. And as long as any woman teaches her sons how to go to war because of love of peace, there will be war.

"You make your world. When you populate your world with ideas of peace, then peace will grow. When you think thoughts of aggression, you attract aggression and you draw it out from others in daily contact, and on the part of nations.

"When you do not understand yourselves, you project what you do not understand upon others - upon your friends and associates - and then you become afraid of what you do not understand, not understanding that it is your own fear. And you do the same thing as a nation with other nations. There is no way to ensure peace but for every man, every man, to lay down his arms."

...

"And there is no other way to have peace but to believe in peace"

Peace.

I haven't been updating much, but in my stead, read the article about post 9/11, which includes this:

"I remember thinking that one might easily write a book with two very different versions of how the world would respond to this attack on the West.

"One version would describe people coming to their senses about the ravages of war and the need to see the world as an interconnected whole. In this scenario, the endless photos of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers would propel Irish Catholics and Protestants and Central African Hutus and Tutsis and other historical enemies to realize they could live together and resolve their conflicts without slaughtering each other."

Bob and I climbed to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier last week. I wanted to post a bigger picture than this but the next size on Flickr is way too big. This is a few pictures put together. It was cool up there in the 60's, with some wind. I think we were slower getting up there than last year. There is more snow in the Muir Snowfield but hazards still exist. Avoid the blue spots. You can hear water running underneath and the footing is poor. I have more pics to assemble.

I got my CPR certificate yesterday. Tomorrow I'll get stuck with more needles, hopefully finishing off my vaccination routine. The Nursing Assistant Certified course will start the 9th of October. More small steps.

Writing of "small steps," I'm going to try out my leg this afternoon. I am hopeful after last week's climb that I'm ready to start running again. Wish me luck. I need luck with the steelhead too. I might have had some bites yesterday, it's hard to tell. One of the CPR instructors was telling me about his steelhead experiences. He echoed the sentiments of others, that the first steelhead fight will be memorable. Without exception, this is what I've been hearing. 'hope so.

Y'all have a splendid day.

I headed up to the river this morning, but didn't get a bite. I saw two other people land some steelhead though. I must be doing something wrong. After that I went to the ESR picnic at Pine Lake in Sammamish. It was nice to see my them all again, if for no other reason than to show them that I'm not dead. I had to explain a number of times about my injury (I don't know much about it) and my current regimen of beer drinking, donut eating, work and some fishing. I've really made a break with the group, which I'd like to re-establish. What I've found is that I'm not the only one. The cohesiveness of the group ebbs and flows, much like the river.

Tomorrow Bob and I will be climbing Mount Rainier. This is our annual hike to Camp Muir. I don't have to run the day before this time (see "current regimen" above) in order to give myself a handicap. I'm not even packed yet. This should be fun.

I didn't make it out to the river as I had hoped. There is still the after-effects of whatever I had. I also had to make an appointment for a CPR course and some vaccinations/tests and then run back with my college transcript. I finally went to the grocery store, made food for the week and did my laundry. Somewhere in there I pulled Lee away from her Sammamish abode for lunch. It is eight now. Oh yeah, I also went into Seattle and picked up some weighted floats. I just have to darken the bottoms. Maybe I'll go back to one of the rivers tomorrow after work.

Here is another shot of Mount St. Helens, as taken by my sister. We would have had to have paid a fee if we had wanted to get any further. They were happy with what they were seeing. It is really quite a sight.

Jeannie and her two friends left yesterday after their brief visit to Seattle. They are members of the Red Hat Society. They went on an Alaska cruise and then stayed a little longer to visit me. Picture a ship of red hatted women whooping it up. The first day I immediately drove them out to Snoqualmie Pass in order that they get an idea of the local area. On the way back I showed them Snoqualmie Falls, Issaquah, Lake Sammamish, Redmond and then my place in Bellevue. Saturday we drove out to Mount St. Helens to look at the steaming volcano. The weather was perfect (as opposed to how I was feeling), except for the slight haziness in the picture below:



After a school related meeting this morning and then some domestic laundry duties, I'll head back out to the river for some steelhead fishing. This is the hole I'm working on in Index. No bites yet. Y'all have a great week.

After some fishing in Sultan with Eric this morning, I drove down the road to the Wallace River Hatchery. Here are a load of Salmon; Kings I think. Correct me if I'm wrong. I ordered my steelhead pole, reel and line this morning. I figured that all that money spent (uh, credit card) on the car's transmission, without anything other than my freedom of movement to show for it, I would order something for my renewed hobby. Eric landed some small salmon and took one home. I didn't get anything. I think that river will be closed now for a month. My next task will be to get this place cleaned up for the arrivals of Jeannie and Jesse. They won't be staying here but they give me a good incentive straighten this place out. Two relatives in the same week - from all the way across the country. Who'll be next?

I went back to the Wooden Boats Festival a few weeks back. I like the position of these two ships together. I have more pictures of fishing and the festival (different days). Here is a quick update: I have a cold, the transmission in the car is being rebuilt, work is taking all the energy out of me, I'm still not running and it seems that I'm not getting anywhere either. I have new seed beads though. I wish I had more time for that. Lee got the first string. Happy birthday. Y'all have a great rest of the week. Time for bed.

Happy Independence Day. Go here and listen to this reading. Listen to the grievances and think about our present predicament. Remember what Ben Franklin said, "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Don't let tyranny pull up a chair and make itself at home. Throw the bums out.

...and about that "liberal agenda."

We had a crappy, crappy craptastic meeting this morning at work. The knob has gone over to the dark side. He sort of confronted the owner on Friday about the lack of means to get all the jobs done. We don't have enough equipment for all of the crews and he said that as it goes now, he can't do the job. He pretty much resigned too, again. He did this last year at this time also. All these jobs are under-bid too. That is where much of these problems start I think. Well, the owner took this for a very short time before he brought him into the office for a lesson on Monday. So then today, Tuesday, we have the worst meeting I have ever been in. it was totally shitty. It was a my-way or the high-way sort of confrontation with a pretense of dialogue for pc consumption. What happened is that the owner doesn't like to lose so he threw it back at him, like two monkeys throwing poo at each other. What lovely shit! Which describes the writing on the wall. A**holes. G'night.

I took a ride up to the North Cascades yesterday. This picture is from Darrington on Rte. 530. From the map this must be Whitehorse Mtn. It was a long trip, so by the time I got this far my hands were getting cold. I didn't get back in time to have one of Dad's cigars for Father's day.


He's been gone for seven years now. I was in Florida pretty much wasting my time. Some day I'll fugure out the significance of my time there. I learned how to cook, among other skills. I just might have over-extended my stay. I was supposed to be out here in Washington a few years earlier. This may sound like nonsense, but I was to meet an asian woman and have a kid. That didn't happen. That was a probable self. The girl would be about seven or eight now. I dreamt of her once. Beautiful.

If I had gone out west at that time then I might not have gone home to take care of Mom. Wow, Mom followed two years later. Was that five years ago now? I gotta get going myself. Landscaping aint cutting it (um, no pun intended).

I don't expect Dad's cigars to be any good by now, and not that they were in the first place. Dad preferred cheap ones. He doesn't have a cigar or pipe, but here he is with Mom, Jonathan and the three girls, before Chris and I were thought of. Thanks for the picture Scott.



A little slice of time.

Now would you look at my nice work there.

This may not sound like news, but for me getting this done, for some reason, is a sort of breakthrough. I repaired my chaps today. The snaps on the left leg were all broken. For the longest time I had to use duct tape to keep the leather from flapping around and then unzipping as I rode. This was driving me crazy. I was good as long as the duct tape held. I replaced the snaps on the left leg and used some rivets to secure the zippers on both sides. I see a metaphor in here but I don't really want to address it. The chaps are whole again. I went to a craft store in Issaquah and found most of the supplies I needed, and then a few thumps with a hammer and I was back in business. Woo hoo. I'll take my victories where I can get 'em.

Here is my apartment as black and white. It sort of reminds me of the early fifties, when the promotional pictures for books and such looked like this. My apartment complex is undergoing a major face lift. They are changing the name and also doing some serious work on the buildings and landscape. That is why my plants and deck stuff are inside.



Here is my apartment as blue:




It really turned the outside red. Pretty cool I think.




Here is a picture of the bike in front of the Wenatchee River just outside of Leavenworth. The rest of the ride was sort of wet so I didn't get many more pictures than this. I got onto 522 and kept going on 2 after I couldn't find the road I was looking for. I figured I was on the bike for about six hours. I went through three mountain passes and realized that I never want to live in Cle Elum; visiting there is just fine. I had a probable me bleed-through during the trip. It was very odd. I liked what my probable self was doing.


A few days ago I took my bicycle down off this hill and across the I90 bridge over to Seattle proper. The tunnel opens to the Philosophical Promenade. Nietzsche is quoted there:



It is kind odd to see Nietzsche and Plato over there. I was disappointed to not find Socrates. He was top shelf. Here is to an examined life. Cheers.

Aum Peace Peace Peace

leavenworth 5-31-06

I took a detour on the way home from work yesterday and I found myself here, along the Wenatchee River just outside of downtown Leavenworth. I got home a little after 9:30. Tired.

Too many.

Here is an example of high art. I know the director's father. Hi Carl! Click away.

Hunter over at Daily Kos says,

"The only error, Nixonites and their broad base of supporters determined, was getting caught. And so the difference between then and now is that this administration is even more secretive, using the War on Terror to claim preemptive legitimacy and secrecy over every action, no matter how absurd the supposed justification seems. They intend to circumvent the mistakes of the past. They don't intend to give any institution -- the Congress, the FISA court, the press -- the slightest hint of sunlight through which the new but familiar, ever-expanding 'programs' can be illuminated."

Read the rest.

I took the bike out for a ride yesterday and headed out towards Mt Rainier. I found out that 410, as it heads into the park, is closed, so I went up to the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort. This is what you see as you turn around to head back down the road. There is still some snow up there.

Today I returned to the Squak Nursery to get some plants for my deck. It proved to be a little expensive but I think will be rewarding once they take off and grow. The bugs should be happy too because I got some of their favorites, petunias and impatiens. I also picked up some plants for my empty bonzai planter. The miniature juniper is the right size now. I don't admit to knowing what to do with it if it survives. We have had beautiful weather here in the Seattle area. New England has been pretty wet. Even my brother up in New Hampshire is affected. Western Massachusetts seems to have been spared the worst of it.

I tried out my leg today and I think I can inch my way back into running, fingers crossed. I don't know what I'll be able to do next weekend though. I may pace some friends for their run.

I just clicked over to The Seattle Times and found this picture on their webcam. Pretty cool. Here is the link if you want to see what it looks like in your time-frame. You can go to this page and click on the picture. The javascript will pop it up for you.







I have to write this way down here so that it won't crowd the picture below.

Maybe this is where the motorcycle thing started. I remember wanting one for graduation. My mother laughed. I didn't really think about motorcycles after that until about 2000. Before that I identified more with bicycles even more than cars. If I could get by without a car right now I'd do it. This is a picture of me in front of my brother and his BSA. I'm told that my other brother and I used to run around saying, "BSA, BSA, BSA!" when Jonathan would show up with his motorcycle. If this picture was indeed taken in '66 or so then this was before he left for the service. Do I look 3 years old there? I don't remember much of the bike other than that. It was sacrificed to pay my parents' bills while he was in VietNam. One other thing I remember is my father thinking he could give me a ride on it or another, and of both of us falling. Any family members out there who remember better can correct me on this. I think I'm on my way to the city on my motorcyle right now in search of a book. Ciao.

Even though I knew there was a threat of rain, I took the bike out for a ride today. I looked on the radar and I thought it was clear a bit north because the rain seemed to be more to the south of I90. It turned out that there was a convergence zone up into Lake Stevens and Granite Falls. I got wet. This is a picture of the main drag through Granite Falls. I still haven't seen the falls there. I'm told they are very close to town. The wind was somethin' wicked today. It was no fun on the faster, less sheltered roadways.

These aren't the best pictures. I think they show the limitations of my relatively old camera. I went to the arboretum today after I cleaned up the motorcycle. The bike is shiny now and the arboretum is close to being in full bloom. The fruit trees are mostly past, the rhodies are colorful and the azaleas are getting ready. I also cleaned up the pots and plants on my deck this afternoon. I had to do something with myself since my leg won't let me run. This bites. I hope y'all had a great weekend. Mine ends tonight.

I've ressurected Failure's Fantastic Planet on my computer (my computer acts as my cd player/news reader/email and communication tool). This cd is 10 years old and it still lives up to the hype. I got it for "Stuck on You", a short lived radio hit. What I found was that there was depth to this piece. The songs fit into a larger, strange sound. I guess I'm looking for the word theme. It has heavy guitars that can take off to the upper atmosphere. They have been called space rock. It was a pleasant surprise.

I have been listening to this album lately. When I bought it I hardly played it. I guess I dated myself there. It is actually a CD. Do people "play" CDs, or do they rip the songs and then load them onto a portable ipod-type players? Holy crap, it is 12 years old. Where does the time go, while I toil away until I eventualy die? Two people lately have tried to convince me to leave the landscaping grind for better pastures. My sister wants me to seek out a lumber yard and a few running friends think I'd do well at a rental car place. The boss says he's putting in for a dollar raise. El cheapo won't go for that. Same old shit about me not running a larger crew, la la la... I worked for two today. I even sacrificed two of my own properties so that I could pick up an old folks apartment place for another crew. Randy couldn't get to it yesterday. It is a constant game of catch-up. There is never enough time and the pay bites. "Are you ready?"

Something must be wrong with work. I read this and thought that. This goes for romance too.

I'm thinking now that it is the sartorius muscle, which runs from the hip, goes around the front of the leg and inserts at the inside of the knee. What I really know about it is that I'm not running on it until it is better.

I think I've found the name of the latest injured portion of myself. It is called the inguinal ligament. It goes from the anterior superior iliac spine (front-top of hip) to the pubic tubercle (groin) across the upper thigh. For a good while I thought it was a tender muscle. This explains why it has taken so long to (sort of) heal. It started bothering me about three weeks ago after a long (19 mi.) run and has dogged me since. I thought that since it was supposedly muscle, that it would heal relatively fast. I just hope it is good to go for Olympia.

My track workout this evening was fast. We were supposed to do mile repeats at a little slower than our 10k pace, but I wanted to run faster, so I picked a few guys who are a little faster than I am and then tried to stay with them. I did it. I even came through the last lap faster than the fast guy. I was very pleased that my body came through for me; a very nice sign. Our team did well at the Mt. Si Relay. We placed second in the Men's Masters division. It is the only time I have seen a second.

I'm having the fat kitty as a roomate next week. Lee will be down in California and I'm hoping little Nicky will be on his best behavior. I'm back on the motorcycle for the commute. I need to get myself started out the door a little earlier though since everything about riding a bike takes more time than simply getting in a car and going. How about not needing to go to work? I'll have to work on that project. May you all not have to go to work either.

Not that you would notice this by reading these entries, but today's horoscope may help me put my latest setback into some context, or at least give me an alternative to more thoroughly ponder. Those who know me have heard me mention this. Oh yeah, for the second year I didn't get into the program at school. This bites again.

Here is today's horoscope:

"Sagittarius
November 22 - December 20
You are likely aware of your writing abilities, dear Sagittarius, but you may not realize just how talented you are. It would be worthwhile for you to consider devoting more time to honing your craft. You can't expect to improve much when your writing time is scattered in between other obligations. You need large blocks of uninterrupted time in order to really produce something of value. Why not give it a try, even if just for a week or so, to see what you are capable of."

I just learned a new trick over at Joshua's site. It doesn't have anything to do with the content of his post but more the presentation of it. I don't have any stories which approach this one. Free up your rations for the beast. Fear much and we will protect you. Keep moving along, nothing to see here. You are helpless. It would kind of work in a dis-utopian sort of way. This blinking can get OLD. I should write like this all the time. I don't think anyone comes by here anyways. This is amusingly obnoxious.

I guess this doesn't work in internet explorer. The colored stuff is supposed to blink.

Having a friend of mine running in the Boston Marathon today inspired me to get in some miles of my own. I ran 22.5 this morning on three loops through Bellevue. As far as I can tell I didn't hurt anything. That's good. My friend did very well for herself. She finished with a time of 3:23. I think she took 3 minutes off her previous best, and this was only her third marathon. Very well done! I've got some catching up to do. Hey, the sun is out. I think it is time to get on the motorcycle. Bye.

Many years ago I was involved, as these people still are, in the active resistance to the deployment of the Trident nuclear submarines. It is heartening to see these people still at work. I was arrested twice (three times?) in Groton and New London CT. in the late 80s. On one side of the river the submarines are built, and on the other they are commissioned into the Navy. I still believe these systems are bad, wrong - however you want to put it. The warheads are MIRV'ed (multiple independent re-entry vehicles), which are then multiplied by the number of missiles, making the amount of damage done by one Trident submarine apocalyptic. To plan the deaths of so many sentient beings is just wrong. That was one of the arguments back in the 80s when there still was a Soviet Union. Today it just seems stupid.

I'm starting to understand now that this is a symptom of our fear. I'd like to get behind that and shed some light on this phenomenon. I've read that the human species is now on the brink of deciding whether we will continue to exist. I hope we will. I found this excerpt at the end of Susan Watkins' book, Conversations with Seth book one, particularly instructive:

"...when all the young men refuse to kill for the sake of peace, and when all the women forbid their men to kill for the sake of peace, and when you realize that no peace will come through killing, and that the end does not justify the means, and when you grow full and light with thoughts of peace, then there will be an end to war! But as long as any men go to war for the sake of peace, there will be war. And as long as any woman teaches her sons how to go to war because of love of peace, there will be war.

"You make your world. When you populate your world with ideas of peace, then peace will grow. When you think thoughts of aggression, you attract aggression and you draw it out from others in daily contact, and on the part of nations.

"When you do not understand yourselves you project what you do not understand upon others-upon your friends and associates-and then you become afraid of what you do not understand, not understanding it is your own fear. And you do the same thing as a nation with other nations. There is no way to ensure peace but for every man, every man, to lay down his arms."

-pp. 230-231

Amen, lay down your arms. I'd say if we can imagine our way out of this then we are indeed capable of doing just that. As self explanatory and as obvious as it seems, this needs to be looked at singularly. Imagine a world where we aren't at continual war, where instead of fear we greet our neighbors with compassion and support. This isn't pie in the sky, hippy-dippy nonsense. This is what amounts to the continued existence of our species. Y'all have a great week.

OK, the taxes are done, and this year I owe. I need to straighten out how many dependents I have claimed. There is only me, so it should say "1." Us single people are pulling the weight for you procreators. And don't give me that marriage tax shit.

Happy belated birthday Abby.

OK, update time. Running, swimming and a little bit of school.

I guess it's the school first. I think the interview last Wednesday went well. It had to go better than last year's. I asked friends and family for help in the interview world and used their knowledge to answer the questions correctly, as opposed to me being perfectly shoot-myself-in-the-foot honest. I have to qualify that statement because what I know now will influence how I will act in those situations they inquired about. So, in a way I'm being honest. I've adapted. I knew not to show my worst side - the side which won't get me hired. Alternately, what they got to see is my best side. I emphasized my strengths. So, I think it went well. Am I in the running? I sure hope so. My grades are good and the only part I think I might have been lacking in was the math portion. I could have spent some more time studying that. The whole learn, adjust, adapt, qualify, correlate and execute process I liken to what I call verbal alchemy. "Who goes there?" Kind of prescient since I am already in (or near) the Emerald City.

I returned to the water yesterday. For 4.75 American I put in an hour workout at the Bellevue Aquatic Center not a mile from my place. I did surprisingly well for not being in the water for a while. With swimming, you really have to put a lot of time in the water, consistently, and you have to work hard. I found myself actually in control of my stroke and swim at times. Cool.

As for running I joined the ESR marathon folks for a 12 miler between the U Village and the Ballard locks and back Saturday, and then for today's fun I ran up Tiger Mountain. What a bitch. That thing is never easy. I took a minute off from the same run of May's from last year. My time now is 38:47. I started from the main parking lot and ascended up West Tiger 3. With some more long runs I think I'll be ready for this year's Capital City Marathon. I want Boston.

We've started out four-tens now so I have Mondays off again. I really like this. I have to make four lunches, commute four times and I also have more time to get things done. I have a couple of new places on Capital Hill and they will need some attention. Everything is growing so it will be flat out go! go! go! until I get rescued from this green treadmill. Look what I found on Capital Hill last week. Pretty damn funny. I didn't do this. Someone is walking around and posting these in appropriate spots. I just took the picture. Ha ha ha.

Y'all have a great week. I think I'll find out about school in a week and a half. My hopes are not up as they were last year. I'm much more level headed about this this time around. Imagine that. Cheers.

Ha ha ha. Salesmonkey. Ha ha.

Here is a non running entry. Today is the interview day for the radiation therapy program. I've gotten some ideas this time around from friends and family. I went through this last year so I know what to expect. I wasn't even going to apply this year because I haven't done anything concrete in school or work toward this goal, and I felt this would not reflect well on me as a returning applicant. I think it is more important though to show my continued interest by applying once again. So I hope to do considerably better this time around. Thanks for tuning in.

I ran a 1:31:45 Sunday. That is my fastest. I thought it pretty good since I was coming off the flu, I did a track workout that week and I ran the day before. I was still hitting sevens at mile 10, so I thought I had a chance at setting a personal best. What I should be doing is formulating answers to the interview questions I'll be asked next Wednesday. Wouldn't that be cool if I pulled that off well? G'night. Aum Sat Nam.

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Yesterday.

There is another race this morning. I'm coming off the flu, so I'll have to see how I fare. In motorcycle news, Willie helped me get it out of my trailer in Fall City. We are going to change the oil today and tighten the chain. The skies look clear right now and the radar shows rain in the Cascades and down near Olympia and Tacoma. It was really nice to be able to ride some yesterday. Motorcycles are good.

They were wrong.

My day now includes coffee in the morning and cough stuff at night. 'Night peeps.

I guess it is time to return to work tomorrow. The flu kept me out for three days. My chest is still messy, my head hurts and I'm generally not feeling up to speed. This thing really walloped me. Wednesday was the worst. What I'm concerned about now though is the Mercer Island Half Marathon next weekend. I'll just have to run it to run it, rather than trying to get a good time. I missed some key workouts this past week. I hope this doesn't limit my miles when I get myself back on the roads and trails.

I used some of that time yesterday to sift through and shred unnecessary receipts and credit card offers. This is a major coup. All that crap had been sitting on my counter for as long as I have been here. I even found a rebate sort of check in there. I think it is still good. Nicky was interested in the shredding, maybe because he is good at it himself. I gave him back to Lee this morning after breakfast at Ihop. I think he enjoyed his stay here. But don't take this to mean that I want to be given a cat or kitten. No no. This place is too small and those monsters wake you up at 2:30 in the morning. This one also enjoyed drinking from my water cup and knocking down my ficus tree.

If you can believe it, I was too ill to write a post here yesterday. I've have the flu. Yesterday really sucked. I can't remember the last time I spent most of the day in bed. So no work for me yesterday and today. Nicky has been keeping me company. Lee is back in town on Saturday and the chubby cat will return to his own place. I'll be able to run some errands today. I couldn't think of that yesterday. I hope y'all are feeling better than this. It shouldn't be hard.

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

"unbalanced"

I need to beat 22:41 this morning at the St. Patrick's Day Dash in Seattle. It is a 3.4 mile run from Key Arena, along the viaduct and ends at Safeco field. I'm not sure how I'll do because we ran about 17 miles yesterday at the Redmond Watershed. Two years ago they served twinkies, bratwurst and beer at the end. I was told about the running group there too. This should be fun.


Update: I ran a 20:14 (my time) 20:24 (gun time). I was that close to breaking 20 minutes. They had potato chips, sausage and, of course, beer at the end. I didn't go to the track workout on Wednesday, so this passed as that.

"You each possess in miniature all properties of the universe as you concieve of it at this present time . . . so what seems to you or to your scientists [to occur] outside of you, occurs within you, and now."

-Jane Roberts as Seth in Conversations with Seth, by Susan Watkins, pg.69

Here is my new roommate. Nicky will be here for a week. Not much going on if I'm writing about a cat. No running today. All the moving parts are moving and well, thank you very much. I don't feel anything untoward from my knee. Yay! I spent all day behind a 21. That, and the 38 miles in the last three days is enough to merit a break. Speed work tomorrow. Cheers.

Hey, I got a cat for a week. Lee is out of town and the (as I call him) racoon needs to be kept away from Mr. Captain. I just hope that, ahem, little Nicky doesn't howl while I'm away. He is getting used to the apartment right now, and he seems content. I've already said that he is smart, so maybe he'll believe me when I try to tell him that this arrangement is only for a week. Now it is time to get the ice off the back of my knee and then get to bed. G'night.

I don't have much news. I completed the radiation therapy application again and dropped it off at the school last Monday. While running with the maniacs this morning in West Seattle I was encouraged to keep trying by a family doctor. The marathon maniacs are an impressive group of runners. The other doc in the group is a neurologist. We ran about twenty miles. As I'm typing, there is a bag of ice strapped to the back of my knee. I hope it wards off any further injury. I've only recently started doing this. I'm very pleased with the results. I usually get back and after a shower I would go straight to bed for a nice nap. In sleep the body would try to fix itself and then the inflammation would complicate the recuperation. That area would get so full that the blood would have a tough time bringing nutrients in and carrying stuff out. At least that is how I think the process works.

Yesterday some of us from the ESR group did about eleven miles at the Mercer Slough. I hope my knee lets me run tomorrow. If it does, then it'll only be for a relatively short distance. I entered the Mercer Island Rotary Half Marathon and the St. Patrick's Day Dash for the month of March. You'd think I'd be losing weight with all of these miles, but think again. I'd love to lose just five pounds. I think it'd make a significant difference. I'm gonna try to get some sleep now. Y'all enjoy your week.

I was listening to NPR this morning and I was struck by the optimism of this young man's belief. It comes from a series called, "This I Believe." Listen to or read this piece. It illustrates the dictum that we create our own reality. The right is all over this, and the left, to their detriment, doesn't understand its significance. I don't want to say that we can wash our hands of helping out our brothers and sisters, but there is a time when creating a new reality from a failed situation is the only good course of action.

It was cold and a little windy up there yesterday. I finished with a 42:14, a couple of minutes off my best. I don't think anyone I ran with did their best. The course is flat as it does an out and back through the skagit farmland. La Conner is always nice to visit. Have a great day.

I'm headed for La Conner with a friend this morning for the Smelt Run. They have a festival up there about Smelt (with running and selling stuff I'm sure, and beer). Needless to say it is an old, quaint fishing village. I don't go to these planning on doing badly, but I think I might do well.

I was going to put in an entry this evening but I've run out of time...later kids.

From Kos:

"The King's henchman have sounded the death knell for Presidential accountability. Just a few weeks ago, Republicans from Specter to Hagel to Snowe were calling for a congressional inquiry into the domestic spying program. On the eve of a Senate Intelligence Committee vote to determine whether such an inquiry should take place, the Washington Post reports that a "full court press" by the administration has swayed many Republicans against such an investigation:
...
Republican Senate DeWine says he will introduce a bill sanctioning the program, explicitly exempting it from the requirements of FISA. Both Hagel and Snowe are said to be in favor of the bill. So suddenly, Republicans are comfortable with the President breaking the law? Where was the bill in the 90s condoning Oval Office blow jobs and Presidential perjury? Oh, that's right. The lawlessness of a President is exempted only when that President wears a 10-gallon hat and calls himself a "conservative."

Good lord, our Founding Fathers must be shaking their heads in shame at the mindfuck that is about to occur in Congress."

I've been trying to find something which approximates Sonya's textbook reference in this post. What I've found so far is this. It is pretty close:

"At cellular levels the world exists with a kind of social interchange, in which the birth and death of cells are known to all others, and in which the death of a frog and a star gain equal weight. But at your level of activity your thoughts, feelings, and intents, however private, form part of the inner environment of communication. This inner environment is as pertinent and vital to the species' well-being as is the physical one. It represents the psychic, mass bank of potential, even as the planet provides a physical bank of potential. When there is an earthquake in another area of the world, the land mass in your own country is in one way or another affected. When there are psychic earthquakes in other areas of the world, then you are also affected, and usually to the same degree."

Jane Roberts, The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events. pg.38

Anyways. We are all connected, and to a degree you can't imagine. That's why we are supposed to be good to one another. It sounds cliche, but we are all One; an ever expanding, spiraling, and changing being. Can you feel the pull of those distant planets and stars? How about the cries from those in Pakistan or India or Sumatra? Y'all have a great day.

I did more today. After that stupid football game yesterday and then feeling this morning that I had enough energy, I invited a new runner to join me in an early loop prior to the regular 6:00 run in Redmond. She was looking a bit pekid at the end. We ran the powerline trail up and up and up. Peter said there are never enough hills. Then we ran the 5 mile route with the group. So we did almost 12 miles this evening. That makes my total from Saturday until this evening about 35 or so miles. I'll take tomorrow off from this endeavor in order to get some other priorities addressed and to give myself a break. Peace.

Some of us from the Eastside Runners ran with the Maniacs this morning in West Seattle. We started at the statue of liberty on Alki and then ran a 12 mile loop in the area. Half of the group continued on with another 8. We'd had enough. I don't want to get injured, though I think I could have done more.

On the way back I snapped some pictures of the city,



and of the home of the Seahawks who are to play in the Superbowl in a little over an hour from now.



Here is a neighborhood cat. I think it is very happy, as are the rest of us, that the sun has finally come out. I think it has been raining, until yesterday, since mid December. Enough is enough.



The 520 bridge was closed yesterday due to high winds and water going over the floating bridge. All of our properties should be a mess this coming week. In another attempt to leave the landscaping behind, I picked up this year's applications for school. I don't have much to show between last year and this, but I've been told all around that I should apply anyways. I plan on making concrete moves toward this direction this year.

I'm on my way to a friend's to see the game now. Go Hawks!

Here is another boring post about running. I met a few people in Redmond after work today for a run on the almost completed Eastlake Sammamish Trail (I'm not sure if that will be the name). We went out for about an hour and a half, east along the trail toward Issaquah. The county is doing a really nice job on the project. A few of the runners had head lamps, but even then there weren't many obstacles to worry about. The grading was even and the trail sits up far from the water. and that is a good thing, because of all the rain we have received this past month. I can see why the homeowners on the lake wanted to keep their piece of paradise to their selves. It is very nice down there on the water. Looking at the nice cars and homes and multiple garages, I surmised that within those walls were full fridges and cupboards. Maybe I'm reading this wrong since I don't know any of these people, but if they can afford a home like that then I expect that their food choices are wide open.

Physically the running is catching up to my legs. I'll take tomorrow off from exercise and I'll get some laundry done. Wednesday will be the track workout and I'd like to get back into a pool on Friday. The Saturday run is at Bothell Landing and then the maniacs run on Sunday. Maybe this week I can ramp up the miles. I've got to do some better listening too. You know, that still, small voice. Peace.

I did 14 miles with the marathon maniacs this morning. Eric was nice enough to stash sports drinks part way through the run. We went from the Mercer lid, across the floating bridge, out to Seward park and back. Here at home I was able to pick up the apartment a bit and cook for the week. I'm glad we ran when we did because it really started to come down this afternoon and evening. I still have a lot to do on the homefront but at least I put a dent in it today. I don't have much else to say other than I got a little bit of inspiration and and a reminder of an expanded potential from doing the simple thing as watching (listening really to) Tom Petty's DVD about his Last DJ tour, recorded at The Olympic. Maybe it has something to do with creativity.

I spent the good portion of this evening looking at pictures from exploding dog. If you haven't already seen his work, you really should take a gander. This has been the last month or so.

So, what have I been doing lately? I'm presently not worrying about school/no school. I hope that my gut is right on this one. In the end that is what I have to go on.

Saturday I went to Benaroya Hall, almost at the last minute, and watched Bob Newhart do a standup comedy act. He did a few of his signature talking on the phone routines and he insulted the Germans, the Irish and the Japanese, if I remember right. What I found amusing on top of his jokes, was that I got the distinct impression he was up there firstly making himself laugh. We were of a secondary importance. He let us in on what he finds amusing. You can tell this because right before he started telling his jokes, he would start to laugh to himself. I think going was worth the money.

Work is going well. I'm doing my properties every other week, so that leaves more time to get something done on every visit. This means I only have about from two to five stops a day. Not bad.

I'm running again. The IT-band is still sort of there, but it isn't bad enough to stop me. I'm also stretching it. I think the next race will be either the Mercer Island Half Marathon or the St. Patrick's Day Dash down on the waterfront (literally on the viaduct). I hope to be in marathon shape for The Capital City Marathon in May.

I can feel things going on behind the scenes. As usual there is nothing solid. But there is hope. Only if I need to know. This may make sense at some time.

I have more pictures to post. They are already at Flickr. As I linked to before, here is a slideshow. Y'all have a great rest of the week. Go Seahawks!

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Give 'em hell Ed. Ed Schultz on Air America. Listen to this piece. It has some common sense that the left needs to hear, unless they enjoy losing all the time.

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Good morning.

We saw a little of the Seahawks game at the Skagit River Brewery after the Nookachamps Winter Runs yesterday. I wasn't aware that the Patriots were also playing yesterday. I watched them lose on a field graph on my computer screen. I guess I'll be rooting for the 'Hawks now.

I ran a little better yesterday than I had on the second of January. I brought my 10k time down to 44:30 or so; still a bit slow. It barely rained on us. The trip back to the Eastside area park and rides was a wet drive. Almost unbelievably the sun is now out. Right outside my window I have a lot of evergreen type trees, so from here it looks almost warm out there. My screen says it is 40 degrees though. It isn't spring yet.

Many of us went up in a rental van. It made for an easy trip, for me anyways. Two of our runners brought their half marathon times down to 2:08 personal records. Many others were not so successful. All in all a good time was had by all. I even got to meet the woman who told me two years ago to join Eastside Runners. She lives on Bainbridge and hasn't been running because of a car accident and injury and a car break-in. So, she really does exist! I never saw her after that initial meeting and I thought to wonder if she was real. She is. Thanks Holly.

I have posts about more animals from home, how I surprised the family, how I won't be taking a course this quarter, and maybe some metaphysical stuff that seems to be just out of reach right now. I just won't be writing them down now. I got my tent back. I found out it seems much bigger when it is set up in my living room. I'm also in the process of paring down some of my bills. Always a work in progress. There are more pictures at my flickr account. Here is a slideshow.

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Mmmm.