Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

Anyone a fan of The Carpenters? I remember listening to them on AM radio as a kid and loving every song. Belting out the melancholy words of ultimate sadness by the brother/sister duo of the late seventies. Even their happy songs were sad in one way or another. Well today has that feel to it. It's gray. Lots of clouds. Can't decide if it wants to rain or not. Although not a Monday, the clouds have got me down. Just seems there is an infinite amount of sadness in the air today and I'm not sure why. Not anywhere near PMSy. Got plenty of sleep last night. Nothing earth shattering or bad has happened recently. It's just a gray day. And with that sometimes comes feelings of indifference. Living in Northern California, rain is bound to follow wherever one goes so thinking it's going away is not a possibility.

In some ways, I am ready for winter. I like the way everyone goes into hibernation. Things just simply slow down. The nights get longer, days get shorter. Makes for watching season whatever of TV program such and such much more guilt free. Taking the time to go inward. It's a seasonal thing and that time is about to arrive. The rain pouring all afternoon. Washing the car less often because nature takes care of it for us. Playing inside rather than out. Slow, slow, slow without the snow. Really like that! Movie season picks up. The mellowness of it all. I'm ready to move at a turtle's pace for awhile.

I have been interviewing all week for two new potential jobs at the jelly doughnut factory. It's exhausting. One of which I could totally do, the other, completely unqualified but thought to give it a go. Not sure if anyone likes to interview, I sure don't. Hm. Wonder why....people asking difficult questions to poke at inadequacies, bullshit fluff questions, thought provoking "how in the hell am I going to answer this!" kind of questions, and so on. But it's over. Should know within a few weeks what the results are. Not expecting much of anything so won't be all that disappointing if neither pan out.

What is going on, or lack there of, is production of jelly doughnuts. At one time this was a capacity constrained environment. Couldn't make enough of any product and up time needed to be at an all time high. Those days have changed. Since the doughnut facility is old, there is the movement to export the majority of production overseas in bright and shiny new plants or send it to the other plants in California. With that, we have entered the "Strategic Workforce Planning" phase which essentially means decreased headcount. We will need about 1/4 of the workforce that we have today by 2010. It's a change in the business we do today, moving from commercial doughnuts to experimental and clinical doughnuts. A shift which steering through will be difficult and a constant churn of change. Checking the master schedule today it's obvious that change is apparent, if the jelly doughnut workers are ready or not.

Now I really want to go home and pull the covers over my head. Or maybe I need to go listen to "Top of the World" by The Carpenters....

General Hilarity

The rock and roll wedding of the century is coming up and I am struggling figuring out what to wear. First I thought vintage tuxedo. A nice velvety fancy one, that wouldn't blend in with the rest of the wedding party. Not having much luck there. The only place thought to have one in existence was a no-go this weekend. Did go get fitted with the Bear in Training so the specs are in order, now it's just the outfit. This is going to be fancy and my regular Dickies and dress shirt won't cut it. It's onward and upward to find something in less than a month. Off I go. Hopefully something will jump out at me soon.

One thing that happened this weekend which hasn't in forever = lots of sleep! Miss B and I went out for sushi on Friday night early, (Deep Sushi, super yum by the way!) made it home in time to finish up the Ugly Betty DVD #2, and then off to sleepyland. I slept for 10 hours, yes, 10 hours! It was wonderful. There was the return of the rain on Friday night/early Saturday morning which helped as well. I have been so beat. Can't tell you how good it felt to just snooze until I couldn't anymore. Love that!

Did take a trip to The Eagle on Saturday night. Miss B stayed home as somehow she managed to get poison oak on her face, neck, tip of her nose from the croquet match at the Russian River. How that happened? It's still rather unclear. The suprise of the evening was to have bartender Brian there. He moved to Mexico City about a year ago (maybe longer) and comes back to work special events such as Dore Alley or Folsom Street Fair. A few years ago, more like 5 or 6, we used to go see him almost every Saturday and Sunday night. He knew how to bring in the crowd and pour a drink. I would give him the bartender of the century award for sure. He looks great and just is simply loving life, as we all should. Yay for Brian the bartender! The boys were there also (JEthan and the Bear in Training and eventually John). Spent the evening with a few beers, step aerobics, and just being silly. At some point driving home we got the giggles so bad I was crying. Something about Kiss-kissey, I don't know. Love laughing that hard. It's the best feeling ever! And my goodness we did! Now that is the way to spend the weekend.

Interpretive Dancing Queen

Miss B on the guitar with her trusty side kick, the interpretive dance machine. Only for Mistycans would this EVER happen.

Working my Inner Jerry Out

So this was part of the antics at the Misty's Gettin' Hitched Weekend at the Russian River. First of all, the house was HUGE. Very close to the river. Absolutely beautiful location and the weather, perfect. The picture above was from costume crochet which Natalie won, and she claims to never be good at lawn sports. This of course took place after many mimosas and whatnot on Saturday afternoon. Jerry Garcia got third place, Sally Ride taking second. Sally could have taken it all but had trouble hitting the last post to get out. Miss B's costume was an automatic hit! She can blast off into space any old time. Of course Misty hated Jerry and throughout the game the popular phrases were "Hippies Cheat" or "Who invited the dirty hippy?!". I loved every second of it. Wigs all weekend. Yes indeed. The best part took place later on in the afternoon when Miss B, myself, and Natalie walked to Monte Rio in fully costume. This was no short jaunt. It involved crossing a bridge, walking down the main road to Guerneville. Lots of horn honking and questions about what party we were going to and if they could come. Of course the alcohol and green bud helped the walk but it all felt so surreal. No one was really all that shocked and they certainly didn't stare. It was more of a celebration of inner freak and welcomed with open arms. I am sure they get things like this all the time up there but still, it felt good. Sally Ride drew the most attention. Like they don't see hippies around...right? A walk to town in costume. Who would have thought it to be so liberating!

I gotta say I am completely exhausted today. Friday night we were up until the wee hours of the night. Second night, more of the same but later. Eventually those of us who needed/wanted sleep snuck off to tuck ourselves away to la la land. Although once there, with that much energy in the house sleeping wasn't all that possible but at some point the karaoke machine was turned off and wine put down and things settled a bit. Relaxation was not the pinnacle of the weekend, and rightly so, it was bachlorette madness after all. Miss B and I got up early on Sunday to drive to town and retrieve supplies for quiche. Of course the recipe was at home but we did a great job of putting it all together from the combination of our two brains and it turned out yummy. One that I didn't try but looked really good was the sausage and cheddar. There were leftover brats from cooking so we chopped those up and hello, yum. At least it looked yum. Oh, and let's not forget I had my first bacon in three years. It was tasty but did pay for it a bit later on in the day. Worth it? YES!

One of the other highlights of the weekend was the "Sharing is Caring" circle for Misty. Everyone was to bring something which resembles Misty in their lives, a special moment, event, symbol, etc. The things people discussed were great. It was basically a Misty roast. So much better than riding around on a ferry car in San Francisco with penis Popsicles and pin the penis on the man games. Miss B struggled a bit with what to do and came up with something perfect....an acoustic performance of ABBA's Dancing Queen. She was practicing last week while I was in the shower and the next thing you know, I worked out an entire interpretive dance routine. So of course, we had to work that in as well. Miss B received a t-shirt with "Allow me to explain through interpretive dance" on it so of course, that was my prop. I'm not much of a performer but it sure was fun! Made me get out of my comfort zone, that is for sure. Miss B played it flawlessly and Misty laughed so hard she cried. Did it work out? Once again, YES!

It was great to have JEthan and the Bear in Training along side too. They added a layer of hilarity which can't be duplicated. We had fun at several moments just getting to hang out with them without the other gals around. Love those fellas.

Upon our return from the land of wigs and mimosas, it was time to get to work. Our house has been slipping on the cleaning schedule. Since Miss B has returned to work and I haven't quite gotten back into the swing of being Martha, it's been messy. So yesterday was the day. Floor to ceiling madness. It looks so wonderful today! So glad we got that accomplished on top of all the fun of the weekend. Fun and productive. See, it can happen!

Cruising the Bay

Every year for the past 7 years, the Jelly Doughnut Factory takes us on a cruise around the bay during the annual shutdown of the plant. A few folks are left behind to make sure the frosting machine doesn't blow up or no one is lost in a deep fry vat but other than that, most whom work in manufacturing end up on the boat. What is astounding each and every time is that they forget this is a work function. Lots of drunkeness and inappropriate behavior. Not very attractive. Don't get me wrong, the first two cruise years I was right there with them. Not anymore. I simply don't need to be wasted in front of co-workers. Or wasted really ever. It hurts the next day and isn't worth it. But to each their own. Not too many stories from post cruise activities but people do in fact look green and beaten down from the festivities. Not me. I am bright and shiny!

The Bear in Training and I hung out on the deck of the boat in the sunshine watching the sharks and jelly fish pass us by. People we wanted to see came over to us. No need to mix in with the karaoke or dancing crowds. Didn't get accosted by too many drunks. Probably the best cruise yet. I would cruise with the BiT any ol' day! We did almost miss the boat but unfortunately it had not taken off just yet and were able to board. Next year we will meet our goal of being late! This is an excellent picture of us taking turns being from the cast of Titanic.

Today Miss B and I are headed up to the Misty's Gettin' Hitched weekend at the Russian River. Should be fun and relaxing. I could use that right now. Details to follow.

Fancy is as fancy does

Fancy pants was the theme for this weekend. Mistycans had a cocktails and cupcakes birthday party which required us to dress up. As most of you know, (all 2 people who read this thing) dressing up is not something I like to do. I blame it on years of being forced into nylons and horrible fat girl clothing from JCPenny and Sears to attend church. One must be in their Sunday best. Reason number 863 as to why Christianity, Jesus, and macaroni art for the church just didn't work out on my list of things to do as an adult. Fancy clothing has always represented being uncomfortable and feeling like a football player in a ballerina outfit. Even now as an adult I have a hard time finding things which fit and are fashionable. Or what I think is fashionable. The whole thing = unbearable. However, I pulled it together and got fancy, just for Misty. Essentially it was a throwing together of all my past Procrastinator's New Year's Eve party outfits which is rather ironic seeing as that is the same party Misty throws every year. So I got fancy with fishnets and a skirt. There is photo documentation of the event as well. What was nice is that Miss B got a new dress and she looked H-O-T hot! How in the world did I get so lucky? The dress was found at her new fancy clothing store called Weston Wear. My goodness she is cute! Anyway, back on topic, fancy. There were fancy cupcakes, drinks, kittens, friends, and pretty much everything you can imagine. Happy Birthday Misty! 38 will be the rocking-est year yet!

Friday night I did get to meet up with my long lost pal JEthan. Well he wasn't so lost but he was in a land far, far away, the land of the morning calm. It's been great to hear him tell Ethan Teacher stories and of all his traveling adventures. I can certainly tell the three years away have caused him to grow in ways he never could have here. It was the best thing for him and it is great to have him back. It's amazing what living outside of our little bubble of San Francisco can do for you. There's a big huge world out there, no reason not to get out and see it! What a wonderful opportunity for JEthan! So glad to have you back here JEthan and can't wait to hear more about it! We went to Zeitgeist which is always interesting. The crowd is generally tattooed, beer drinking, and bikers with pretty much everything else mixed up in there. I had myself a Stella or two and it was yummy. Eventually went out for burritos and called it a night. Fun.

Sunday was a day of lots of work and a 5 mile run. We went to Golden Gate Park this week and it was lovely. We even shaved off a little time on our usual run and neither of us felt as though we were running that much faster. I have no idea how that happened. There was Opera in the Park that morning too and it drew quite the crowd. All the way from Hippie Hill to the new playground, it was covered with event attenders. A large spread. We could hear the singers from way out too. Not every day you get opera in the park, right?!?! I want to go watch it next year. Somehow need to pay more attention to the free park events.

I did try a new medicine shop this week. Of the three which I have been a consumer at, this one is right in the middle. The list with ratings go like this:

1. Vapor Room = 5 of 5 stars. Excellent customer service. Great selection of goods. Easy in, easy out. Friendly guys working the door. Can stay and sample if needed. Not a bad product in the place. Can buy in any increment, $5 and up!
2. Mr. Nice Guy = 3 of 5 stars. Odd set up. Dispensary attendant behind bullet proof glass. Had to perform transactions in a strange way. Was not allowed to see the merchandise until you purchased it. Pricing was decent but not as liberal as the Vapor Room. The merch is tasty and works well.
3. Bernal Heights Dispensary = 1 of 5 stars. Nice guys working there. Do have a room in the back to try stuff out but it's janky and gross. Not well kept. Very fixed pricing. Staff not so knowledgeable as to what's in stock and what's good. I was in a rush and purchased some not so hot-so stuff.

Next on the list to check out = The Love Shack as suggested by the Bear in Training. Report to follow! Three spliffs up.

Speaking of spliffs, I am just about finished with the Bob Marely biography, Catch a Fire. It's good. I have learned so much more about him and love his music even more than I ever thought possible! After reading this I get what he was trying to say, his social justice message. Never knew much about Jamaica and found out so many things that once again make me shake my head finding out where the U.S. government has their fingers and they simply shouldn't. Bob Marley was so much more than a Rastafarian. He was a civil rights and social justice icon. And no, it isn't because I have been smoking the good weed telling me so.... I have also purchased two new CD's. One of his stuff all mixed up that I got off of KCRW and another one called "Gold" which has most everything you can imagine on it. Both rock my world. I will need to stop playing them in the car though because Miss B has grown a bit tired of it. Don't blame her, I can over do it sometimes!