September saw two more area flights with friends, two concerts, more progress on the shed, and some new toys - thanks to a bonus from Cisco.
September 7
For some late summer fun, Todd and I planned a kayaking trip to Roche Harbor, in the San Juan Islands. We decided to rent a Cessna 172 and fly to the island with our wives in the morning, rent two kayaks, paddle for a couple hours, eat lunch, and fly home. Everything started according to plan. I arrived at the airport early to prepare the flight plan and ensure the fuel load was low enough to compensate for the weight of four adults. Todd & Danielle arrived and we were on our way.
When we arrived over Roche Harbor, I descended and approached the narrow uneven runway. Roche Harbor has a paved runway, but it is short and narrow. As I approached, I realized that I was too high, so I decided to give up on Roche Harbor and fly to nearby Friday Harbor instead.
On the ground and ready to eat, we walked into Friday Harbor and ordered lunch. While waiting to eat, we investigated the local kayak rental scene. We found a place about a mile out of town and decided to walk there after lunch. The walk was pleasant, as it passed one nice house and garden after another. Life on an island seems so incredibly peaceful.
We finally arrived and quickly signed the required paperwork. We found life preservers that fit OK and headed for the beach. Todd & Danielle picked a nice blue kayak and Susan & I went with yellow. The owner advised us where to go and we were on our way. We paddled out into the bay and circled around a small island inhabited by hundreds of sea birds. Then we crossed back towards the main island and cruised along the shoreline of some very nice houses. Along the way we found a cave carved into the bank and we couldn't resist the urge to paddle into it. Our two hour rental was quickly nearing an end so we paddled back to the rental shop.
After walking a mile and paddling for two hours, we were not in the mood for another mile walk back to the airport. Lucky for us, the owner offered to drive us back into town. She dropped us off and we headed for the ice cream shop for a nice treat. As we ate our ice cream the tourist began lining up to catch the ferry back to Anacortes. We finished off our dessert and walked back to the airport for the short flight back to Seattle.
September 10
For our 8'th anniversary, Susan and I went out to dinner at Emory's Lakefront Restaurant on Silver Lake in Everett. Afterwards, we decided to go window shopping at Video Only. The store was lined with TV's of all shapes and sizes -- and price ranges. We decided to start on the row with the tiny kitchen appliance models and work our way up to the huge, wall-mounted, jaw-dropping plasma screens. As we passed the 20" models, which is what we currently own, we were surprised at how small they look compared with all the other TV's nearby. We turned the corner and entered the HDTV (high definition television) row. One look at these flat screened beauties and all of the old curved tube TV's with their low resolution screens looked obsolete.
We continued on until we reached one that was showing the Kentucky Derby in high definition. Susan and I were mesmerized by the quality of the picture. It felt like we were actually in the grandstand, watching the horses being led to the starting gate. I could almost smell the grass and feel the breeze. After 10 minutes, we broke out of our trances and continued past the big screen TV's to the gorgeous plasma models on the wall. Plasma TV's are only four inches thick and are very light, compared to TV's with picture tubes. They can easily be hung on a wall, or even on the ceiling. We were quickly turned off by the price tag, which was in the $10,000 range! If you haven't been to a store that sells the latest TV's, stay away or else be prepared to be impressed. You may end up buying something you can't really afford!
September 13
One 'bonus' of working for a strong networking company, which Cisco Systems is, is having the opportunity to receive bonuses if the company is profitable and meets its customer satisfaction numbers. Luckily for me, that happened and my check was direct deposited into my account. Like it often does, the impatient money found a way to heat up my pocket. With an anniversary present for Susan in mind, Susan and I stopped at Best Buy and started shopping. Susan likes to enter notes and dates into her Compaq iPaq computer, but writing everything by hand and waiting for the recognition is time consuming. I decided to get her a collapsible keyboard to attach to the iPaq.
With the primary mission accomplished, we went our separate ways. My wonderings lead me past the computers to the color printers. I've wanted a photo quality printer for years, but the industry hadn't produced anything that I liked -- or was willing to pay for. Even so, I was hopeful that I might find something nice and affordable. To my delight, I found the Canon line of printers and was impressed with their quality. My overall favorite was the Canon S900. I decided that I couldn't live without it, so I put it in the buggy. A printer is useless without paper and ink cartridges, so I stocked up on those items as well.
Meanwhile, Susan was exploring the telephone aisle and found a nice Panasonic phone/answering machine on sale. Our phone had been misbehaving, so we decided to go ahead and get this one. With our buggy full, we headed for the checkout line and were on our way.
September 14
One of my all-time favorite rock bands -- RUSH -- was in town to promote their new Vapor Trails album and we had tickets. The concert was at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington - about 150 miles east of Seattle. Even though the distance is long, many people from Seattle make the journey because the amphitheater is situated in such a stunning location, on the edge of the gorge overlooking the Columbia River.
On the way we stopped and bought two dozen assorted Krispy Kreme doughnuts to munch on after the concert and share with our friends in Moses Lake. We also took a brief side trip through Ellensburg to check out the airport and Central Washington University. They have a flight program and I was curious to see how the campus looked. We then continued on, past George, to Moses Lake to find a hotel to spend the night.
Susan suggested we stop at the Best Western, since she had stayed there during a seminar in the past. We were given the key to our lake front room, where we dropped off our luggage and headed back to George to meet Todd & Danielle. We met outside the amphitheater and drove in together. We parked, had a doughnut, and headed for the entrance. As I walked over the knoll, I caught my first glimpse of the stage below, backed by the vast open desert gorge with the mighty Columbia River - small from this distance - flowing peacefully in the distance.
The concert started as the sun set behind the Cascade Mountains. The show was excellent and made up for several below-my-expectactions shows from the recent past. The band came on stage and played for two hours while three commercial laundry drying machines with glass doors tumbled clothes behind them. At some point, we hoped for an explanation of the dryers, but it never came. After the encore, each band member reached into a dryer and pulled out T-shirts and threw them into the crowd.
After the show, we returned to our cars and ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts. After about an hour, the majority of the crowd had left. We got in the Honda and headed back to Moses Lake, while Todd & Danielle left for Ellensburg.
September 15
Since we were already in eastern Washington, we made plans to visit the Weeda family. Susan arranged for us to meet at the Presbyterian church in Moses Lake. After church, we went to Perkins for brunch. Then we followed them back to their house in Ephrata for a little socializing. Eric showed me his amazing landscaping project and we got to meet the newest member of their family; a very cute little mongrel puppy (I can't remember his name). Have I mentioned lately that I want a puppy, too?
September 21
Dana Carvey, an old favorite of mine from Saturday Night Live, came to Seattle to do a show at the Paramount Theater. He had been out of the spotlight for several years due to a heart problem, but was back on tour with a new movie playing at the theaters. We bought tickets and had high expectations for an amazing show. Unfortunately, his show was mostly rehashed material from his HBO special several years back. He seemed uncomfortable on stage and even his hilarious old stuff wasn't quite as funny this time around. I wouldn't recommend this tour to anyone.
September 22
With winter approaching quickly, the shed painting project looms larger in my view. Making progress, the back of the shed now has two coats of paint.
September 25
Part of the fun of being a pilot is taking other aviation enthusiasts for short scenic flights. Suman, the co-worker I went with to see the Blue Angels with in August, was interested in going for a flight. I scheduled a plane for after work and we met at the Boeing Field. I flew him up to Paine Field to see the Boeing 747/777 factory and to do a practice landing, then we flew along the Snohomish River valley, where we saw two hot air balloon preparing to land in a small field below us.
My normal payment request for taking someone flying is for that person to pick up the bill for lunch or dinner. Suman and I decided to go to the new Cheesecake Factory at the Bellevue mall. I called Susan to see if she could meet us for dinner. We all met in the parking garage and had a nice dinner. If you haven't been to the Cheesecake Factory yet, you probably won't believe me when I say there at least 50 varieties of cheesecake on the dessert menu! Choosing one was the hardest decision I had to make in a long time.
September 26
Met Tom & Lanna at South Hill mall in Puyallup.
September 27
Due to all of my hard work resolving problems on the Unity system in New York City, I was presented another CAP award.
September 28
Back in August, Tom and I picked up some landscaping blocks to build a wall around the shed. Now was the time to build the wall. Tom & the kids came up and we started building the wall. The construction went well, with the first row being the most difficult. Once that row was level and straight, the other rows fell quickly into place. In fact, the other rows went up so quickly that we soon discovered that we were out of blocks. So, we drove down to The Home Depot and bought 60 more blocks. Back at the shed, we continued the wall down the south side and around the corner to the east side. We could have kept going, but I knew that I'd need to tear it apart later to put the downspout drains through.
September 29
With the exterior of the shed in great shape, it was time to spend some energy and money on the inside. To maximize the space, I decided to go with an adjustable shelf system. Each stud has a metal rail with slots for shelf hangars attached. In the rails I've inserted metal shelf brackets. The brackets hold white metal shelves. The shelves run the length of both sides of the shed, with the back wall still unshelved for future installation of a work bench and peg board.
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