Too Fast! Ahhhhh!

Best motorcycle helmet art ever. It's 5 time world champion superbike racer Valentino Rossi's own picture--of himself screaming. Makes perfect sense, when you take corners at 100 mph for a living. It's great to see professional sports figures with a sense of humor.

Sun Anyone? Anyone?

I'm sick of the Seattle gray. I'm usually very tolerant, but summer hasn't been able to poke it's head out and the winter hangover is still in the air. Hear that Texas family? It's 59 degrees right now. So to tempt the summer in I went and looked at motorcycles today. Left a few drool spots on a Ducati Monster that I think I'd prefer to look at rather than ride thanks to an uncomfortable seat, and the Ducati ST4 always looks like a winner on paper, it just doesn't fit me so it'll stay at the dealer too. None of that really helped though. The sun still isn't out. Someone do something. Call someone, this is getting old. The pic is from The Long Way Down, which I'm trying to avoid for fear of getting the jealous of their Africa weather and BMW funding.

Yo, Nerd

Yes, that's my eye in the picture. I'm blinking a lot right now. I'm trying to get used to the contacts I got today. It's only been a few hours, so I'm hesitant to make a ruling, but aside from the novelty of seeing well without glasses I'm not as impressed as I thought I'd be. I wanted a panacea, but because my Rx is mostly astigmatism I'm using toric lenses that feel out of focus more often than not. Of course that also could be the new prescription. When I've gotten a new pair of glasses in the past it's taken a week or two to get used to the change. Again, it's only been two hours, so we'll see what the vibe is on it next week. In the mean time I'll try and stop staring at stuff and blinking as I'm sure it's unnerving to anyone around. Best part so far? Watching TV laying sideways on the pillow - can't do that with glasses on. If it rains, and it will, I'm excited about walking in it with out the dirty windshield effect that glasses have. That alone might make it worth it in Seattle.

Fence Me In

One portion of the fence is done. I'll cut the tips of the posts off later, when the rest of the fence (that'll be on the left side in this pic) is up. It went much faster thanks to Ben loaning me his framing nailer. I'm happy with the looks, and ready to get some landscaping in. This winter we'll transplant that Japanese Maple (left side) to the right side of the yard, next to the last fence post on the right, put in some new grass and call it good.

Gettin Dirty

I climbed the ladder into the attic about 30 times today. I'm installing can lights, 4 of them on 2 circuits (there's one in my hand in the pic) running all new wiring, and installing a new 3 switch dimmer plate in the living room. With a waffle fueled burst of energy I tore apart the living room ceiling and made a serious mess of everything. Lindsay once again proved how amazing she is by just letting me go about my demolition with a smile and a "that's nice honey" here and there. The big hurdle is tomorrow when I run the new wires through the walls - wish me luck. Loo took this awesome picture of me in full handy mode. I love it.

Memorial Day

The cemetery near us, here in West Seattle, is getting ready to plant hundreds of crosses on the graves of those that have served. I stopped to take this (camera phone) picture of a pile of crosses and remind myself (There for the grace of God go I) to pause for a moment and appreciate what Memorial Day is about.

Keep the Rubber Side Down

While we were out driving between the garage sales here in West Seattle on Saturday we happened upon this scene. We drove up just seconds after the collision apparently, when I got out of the car the Vespa rider was still on his side on the ground. I took a pic after checking him out and helping unstick the bike from the minivan, and gave them my card in case they needed to get any follow up, but it was pretty clear what happened (Hint: following distance is important). The good news is that he wasn't hurt that bad, just scraped up a bit, but his scooter was trashed and I'm sure he's going to be sore for a long time. ATGATT, my scooter friend: All The Gear All The Time.

Fence Building: Step 2

I got crazy last night and just before dark mustered the energy to dig 5 post holes, and even get in a trip to Home Depot for treated posts and concrete to set myself up to finish the eastern section of the back yard fence. Not sure how tall it'll be yet, just tall enough to block the view of the neighbor's garage. If the sun stays out I'll be able to concrete the holes in and possibly plan for adding boards by the end of the week. Little steps.

They Call Her Mellow Yellow

It's not like big bird, or like a lemon. At first it was like a sunflower, but with the second coat applied (after an emergency run to Home Depot) our kitchen is now what's called "campground" yellow. I call it Santa Fe yellow, but most importantly we call it done. It's one more thing crossed off our long things to do list.

Pole Position Effort

I've been trying to build a fence for, um about 5 months. I'll get to it soon. Ok, I'm intimidated by it, as it sits on a concrete wall and it was under a jungle of overgrown plants. So, this weekend I took one step in the journey of 1,000 miles and went to war with a section of the wall and finally got a post in. No concrete yet, but it's in there. Can you see the fence taking shape? Me neither, but it's a start.

Tom Wants to Be Your Friend