Home Before Midnight

A week ago, I was in Minnesota for a day.

Here are a few photos from the four hours I was at the Minneapolis airport Friday evening.



"Four hours?" you say. "Why were you at the airport so early?"

Well, we arrived an hour before our scheduled flight, but then it was delayed. We actually had a hard time convincing the United employees to give us boarding passes at the terminal. They mentioned transfering us to a flight through Los Angeles.



I managed to convince the United employee that we'd be able to make a five-minute connection in Denver because the gates were right beside each other and the other plane would probably be delayed too. He gave us the boarding passes.

But we still had an hour before boarding, so I wandered the shops a bit before heading to the gate. The plan was to meet up with my coworkers and get dinner. Instead, they wave me over to the podium and tell me that United is revoking our tickets.



The United employee doesn't say much of anything till she hands us the new boarding passes. They're for a Northwest flight, non-stop back to Seattle, arriving only a half-hour after our originally scheduled flight.

We hiked over to the new gate, got our new boarding passes from Northwest (with only minor difficulty -- for good service, go to a gate without people swarming around it), ate dinner, and then I went shopping again.

Back home before midnight!

This Month's Photo of Chunlin

So, I'm finally back from my business trip (Birmingham via Charlotte, then drive to Atlanta, direct flight back). (By the way, it's really hot on a roof in the early afternoon in the Deep South in June. I'm glad we didn't go in August. . . )

Back at my desk at work, I turn the page from May to June and get this photo from our wedding (one year ago June 30!):


Chunlin has this photo on her calendar at work, this month:


Which do you prefer?

Lost and Found

While I was in the Minneapolis airport, I realized my prescription sunglasses were missing. I hadn't used them the whole trip, so I couldn't pinpoint when I lost them. It was possible they fell out going through security since the bag was on its side, but I've never had a problem with my sunglasses falling out when the bag even flips completely over.

So I was stumped.

I filled out a lost-item form online for Sea-Tac. I called my coworker who had driven me to the airport and back. I searched high and low at my house and my office.

And then a little voice in the back of my head told me to check my other jacket.

Lo and behold, my sunglasses had spent my entire trip in the coat closet at home, safely tucked away in the inside pocket of the jacket I didn't take with me.

Airborne Poetry

On the first part of the flight, I wrote a poem:

Here we go to Míníhotı
Flying over Kràơz
Deep inside a great white dragon
Far above the clouds

The Kràơz below will never see us
Or else they'd force a fight
Once we get to Míníhotı
Things will be all right

After Kràơz are the rebels of Hu
Kinder than you'd think
About the same as the Míníhotese
They'd smile as soon as blink

Míníhépamí was struck down by the gods
Thunder, wind, and hail
Our dragon is going to help them out
From nose to tip of tail

When we get to Míníhotı
Temple bells will all ring
Fresh-cut flowers fall from the sky
After all, I am a king

A few hours later, things changed a bit:

Míníhotı is wracked by storms
Our dragon cannot land
Which is really too bad
Because I need to get out of here

Lightning flashes off the wing
Huro shows his might
Please, Sozho, let our dragon land safe
I'm ready for bed tonight

Thank Sozho, we did land safe and the guy sitting beside me didn't puke in the vomit bag he had open and ready.

A bit of a bumpy ride.

Copalis Beach

So, last Sunday, we went for a hike on the beach.



Don't worry. At least one of us had a backpack. . .

We went to a stretch of beach north of Ocean Shores, north of the city of Copalis Beach, just there at the Roosevelt Beach Access Road, and then south to Copalis Rock and Copalis Airport.

Yes, I said airport.



Nothing more than a windsock and a few signs.

Copalis Rock was more photogenic.






We had to cross Boone Creek along the way.



On the way there, we hopped over the delta channels.



But on the way back, the tide had come in, so we had to wade.



The water wasn't cold. Nah.

And shortly we're back at the "trailhead."



Many more photos on flickr. . .

Subdivision, part 7

Things are moving quickly now. First the sign last week, and now a corrections notice via email.

It's a zoning-review corrections notice, which implies I'll receive others, from different departments. But I guess that's a question for the planner.

The zoning reviewer's only comment is:

Please identify how parking requirements for Parcel A will be met. It appears that the existing 3 bay garage on Parcel B previously provided the required parking for the house on Parcel A. If so, parking for Parcel A will need to be re-established, as parking for single family residences is required to be provided on-site per SMC 23.44.016.

You may re-establish parking with a "Subject to Field Inspection" (STFI) permit. Please refer to Client Assistance Memo 316 (available online at http://web1.seattle.gov/DPD/CAMs/CamList.aspx) for additional STFI information.

Those of you who have seen the house (or at least photos of it) will realize that the house on Parcel A has a basement garage. There is no parking to be re-established, with a STFI permit or without. The house has parking!

So how am I supposed to make the correction?

Business Traveling

In the next seven days, I will visit the follow states, in order:

Minnesota
Colorado
North Carolina
Alabama
Georgia

I'll be coming home sometime in the middle. There are no repeats. Guess which states are destinations and which are layovers.

Rough Draft

The last sentence I wrote yesterday for my novel was the start of a new scene:

Vata’s heart raced as she swatted the cow’s rump.

I think I'll rewrite it. . .

Coffee Can Taste Good Sometimes

With a bit of cocoa mixed in, coffee actually tastes all right.

Subdivision, part 6

They posted the sign already! At my last meeting with DPD, it seemed like it would take longer, or that I would at least get notification before they posted it.





Instead, I didn't find out until our renter called me up and said he came home to find some guy sticking a sign in his front yard. Very odd, I'm sure.

I explained about the subdivision process and selling the yard or building a house. He was originally afraid bulldozers would arrive tomorrow, but I told him any construction wouldn't be till next summer. Since they're using the yard for parking their cars, we probably can't take it away from them until after their lease is up next spring. If only they had a small car that fit in the garage. . .

Crop Circle Photos

Here are photos of our backyard crop circle.


Note the garden hose and the path cutting left to right across the formation. Those are my traces. I tried to use the hose to create similar crop circles, but the grass sprang back up.


The formation was created a couple nights ago and is still quite evident.


Right beside the planter below the deck, the formation begins without warning. No plants in the planter are knocked aside at all.

So what caused it? Did a mini-UFO drop from the sky, roll around a bit, and then regain its flying capability?

Plan Ahead!

There's only eighteen more weekends before the end of summer!

Hurry! Plan now before all the good times are gone!

Backyard Crop Circle

We have a crop circle in our back yard. A path of beaten-down grass, three feet wide, starts suddenly near our porch, angles to the left, then makes a ten-foot diameter circle. And then it stops just as suddenly as it started.

I haven't mowed the lawn so far this year, so the grass is about three feet tall. The path I've walked to the back garden to water the new irises doesn't stay beat down anything nearly like this crop circle. It's been a couple days. The grass stalks are lying flat on the ground, like someone (or something) rolled a heavy object over them.

But where did the heavy object come from? Where did it go?

Maybe it was a giant snowball and it melted. . .