Cool, it worked. I can again post directly from my phone. It looks like my life is all fish. Well I don't get here that often and I didn't think that y'all would want to read about what I should be doing. I still haven't figured out the Portland Marathon logistics yet. If worse comes to worst then I'll drive down at three in the morning on Sunday the 7th. I did my final long run yesterday of about 9 miles on Cougar Mountain with the Saturday morning Eastside Runners group. My leg is ok I think and I won't be doing much for the rest of the week anyways. I feel optimistic about putting in a good performance next week. I want a 3:20 or better. I'd say wish me luck with the run but what I really need is good fortune in finding a ride down and accomodations for Saturday night. It looks as though I'll be missing this year's Salmon Days in Issaquah. Too bad. I'll also be missing the run. I've wanted to run Portland since I started contemplating doing marathons. Here is the Salmon Days print for this year:

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel

This is a test post from my phone. Joe with a fighter on the Green.

I think the days of motorcycle fish are coming to a close.

Bob and I were supposed to have climbed up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier tomorrow but it looks like the weather has nixed that plan. Of course I'll be fishing instead. If the water is rising too much I'll try the Green. I want to return to the Skykomish tomorrow. Somewhere in here or there my room could use a good cleaning too.

Abby ran her first race this morning in Montague. Congratulations! Hopefully you'll be as hooked as I am. Try a 5k next. My leg is still complaining but I was able to put in 15 this morning. Some river hiking tomorrow will do me good. Abby, you should pick up fishing next. You already eat better than I do. You did very well this morning. It is better to run than volunteer, isn't it?

I'm registered for the Portland Marathon for October 7th.

A photographer taking shots at Snoqualmie Falls was nice enough to forward some pictures to me. No bites but I enjoyed the spectacular surroundings. I spent yesterday on the Green but no fish. Seeing this photo I more fully understand how this hobby is both a journey and a destination. Y'all have a great one. Happy fishing and tight lines!

Time for some grocery shopping now. Y'all take care.

I've been wasting so much time on the river as of late that I should at least take some pictures to share here. And in that spirit I found this as my horoscope today:

Pieces of your life that you have actively tried to avoid for some time may come up to the surface, causing you a bit of trouble today, dear Sagittarius. That which is not organized or structured is getting more and more chaotic, just to teach you a lesson. Take care of things now. Put things in order and become more aware of the ticking of the clock. There is a need for you to take care of business!

Not the picture spirit but the moving-on spirit. This isn't just for today though. This has been an issue since November or December. Wish me success. The alternative is unacceptable.

I'm giving the Skykomish another try tomorrow and then it'll be business, my own business, really. The Green River claimed many of my hours for the last few days. I had absolutely no luck there today. Joe will fly back to Massachusetts on Tuesday I think and then I can let the steelhead swim out of my brain. It'll be like a catch and release - making the fish gods smile. You have to keep the fish gods happy, you really do.

My blog archive drop down box has disappeared and I don't have time right now to figure out what happened. I think it happened when I changed over to the new blogger. Oh bother.

I have some entry info for running and cycling but not the time to do it with care. So this is what you get. I'm doing some fishing tomorrow and I'm helping Ram with his yard next week. I'll be house sitting this next week too. Y'all have a great one.

Hey, they don't give away the free one as you get through the door.

I finally got some stuff done today. After a fruitless morning on the Green I returned to Kirkland and got some bills paid, cleaned up my room a bit and then went out off to the Monday Footzone run in Redmond. I had to get that all started so that I can get going on the rest, namely looking for another job and getting certified as a nursing assistant. I also want to get out of where I am living. For some reason it has been hard for me to get going on these things. It has been very hard. I know what direction I want to go though. I need the vision thing before I can go down that path. I hope y'all are having an easier go of it than I am.

This is how I spent this last Monday. It was 35 inches long and 17 inches around. Nice fish.

It is hard for me to post here because I have to leave the house to access the net. This is my Sunday morning out to read the paper and check my email. Yesterday morning we ran on Cougar Mountain and then I drove up to the Skykomish to stalk the elusive steelhead. I figured I needed to get some other things done today. I've found I can easily slip out of my present neighborhood and into the nice environs of Woodinville down near the vineyards and Redhook Brewery. I guess I've found myself a new Tully's. When I get more news I'll post here. I'd like to wish you all a most excellent week.

Happy Monday. I have had a considerably hard week trying to find my way through making decisions about changing my work and housing. I haven't felt like this in fifteen years. What is that saying about indecision being worse than a wrong decision? Well, a lot of that. Indecision contributed to the wrong decision, well actually a few wrong decisions. It has been torturous. I'm not pleased with my living arrangements and I need to change jobs soon. Apperently, these moves should have been made back toward February. Landscaping is over getting old. So when I read this in my horoscope I found it encouraging:

"Sometimes you feel like you're navigating through a thick fog, but the obscurity will finally lift today. The skies ahead are sunny and clear! You can expect an invitation to take a little trip, or an offer to belong to a special group of associates. Don't pass up any opportunities to have fun, dear Sagittarius. You can benefit from a diversion right now!"

I ran with the group on Mercer Island on Saturday and Alicia and I attempted to keep up to the Marathon Maniacs yesterday at Discovery Park in Magnolia. Saturday we went 9 and Sunday almost 12. That was enough. I'll need to put in more miles and drop some weight to keep up with them.

I also need to start writing in my real journal again. This doesn't count really. It is good for keeping y'all back on the east coast up to date with my latest. I'm still mostly up here on the plateau helping Lee get herself out of her condo. I'll get the last of my belongings out of here myself today and this chapter will come to a close. The cat is not happy about the place being broken down and he keeps a close eye on me as if to watch me leave for the last time. I'm not looking forward to that. He has been a good roommate.



So y'all wish me luck, and for Lee and Nicky too.

My move is almost complete. I emptied my temporary storage unit today and parked the stuff in my trailer where it lives in Fall City. The car didn't like hauling the thing up the hill to the plateau and out to Fall City. I'll have to get it looked at when I have a chance. I think it is good enough to drive around without anything in tow. Lee is on her way to packing up her place. I hate all the extras I need to live out here, namely the need to rely on a car and the need to move all my stuff around. What I have I'd like to keep, so I don't have much more I can jettison.

We have had wonderful weather lately and it only looks to get better. That is a good thing too because I'll feel more secure relying on the motorcycle. I have to say that this period has been a trial. What was that saying about you are exactly where you are supposed to be, no matter how things may seem to appear? Take care.

hey, I found a place to live. I'll be in the Kingsgate neighborhood of Kirkland. It seems to be more in Totem Lake to me. It is a room in a house. I hope it is good for me.

Hmmm, so here is my horoscope for today:

Sagittarius
November 22 - December 20
You should use the day ahead to ponder your professional future, dear Sagittarius. Many forces seem to be working together to clarify your ideas on the subject. Rather than rebelling at the slightest provocation, as you have been doing lately, it would be much more reasonable for you to think first of your basic material needs and those of your family.

The thing is that I tried to change my professional future three times already. The clarity came with strike three.

It's funny how music can speak to you so many years later. I was pulling weeds out of sidewalk cracks today on a property in Wallingford and I found myself singing an old Petty tune. It was "Here Comes My Girl" and in it he laments how even though so many things are going wrong, there is still his girl and he describes how she looks as she is walking toward him. That song used to really ring true for me even though I've rarely had that woman in my life. So I'm picking friggin weeds and out of nowhere really here is this song. Right now I'm sitting next to my jig stuff and I'm finishing off a beer and listening to the Big Jangle CD from his box set. It transported me to over 25 years ago. Wow, I'm an old guy. The funny thing is that I'm an old guy in great shape. I can't pass an interview to save my life but if I had to I could finish a marathon tomorrow. I'd be a mess after 20 miles but I think I could finish. Where is this going? Uh, frustration and music. Just as smells are strong triggers frustrations can be music triggers. I was big on Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers back then. He sang, "It just seems so useless to have to work so hard and nothing ever really seems to come from it." So here I am thwarted again in picking a career so late in the game, I still need to find a place to live and to add insult to injury I don't even have the consolation of her look in the eye. I'm hoping that success is the best revenge. I guess I'm still optimistic.

And of course there is some part of me observing my reflective vest wearing, weed pulling crap and saying that this bookmark will be a chapter in a greater story, much yet to be told. This is still sort of hard to take when I'm in the here and now having to wear the vest and pull the weeds and pick up the garbage. And some days I find needles and there are always beer, wine and liquor bottles. Oh, good news! The QFC near The Seattle Center will be closing - meaning no more landscape visits. That place has bottles and needles and always garbage.

Especially in his first four albums, Tom Petty was really effective in communicating his woes. Those four and Wildflowers are the only ones I would go back and listen to now. I've been meaning to make a few compilation Petty disks but I haven't done so. I also want to put together a number of other mixed disks from different parts of my life. I guess I can put this into the category of incomplete projects because I have a general idea what would go on which disk. I need time and motivation. My priority now is housing. Life down here can be so difficult.

Nope. I didn't get into school. I give up.