Both Hands

June 23, 2009

The Best Hair Ever

It's taken me a little while to get this blog entry up, and I hope Patricia will forgive me for it.

If you recall, I had my hair cut, colored, and highlighted at Embellish last January. It was a glorious thing. I reveled in my gorgeous hair.

And then Frinklin and I were both suddenly unemployed. And my hair cut/color/highlight budget became non-existent. I managed to maintain the illusion of presentable hair for a few months but it soon became obvious that my hair was not exactly living in a natural state.

I went through a horrifying year of progressively grown-out roots. I initially tried to cover this by wearing my hair up, but it eventually began to look as though I had a mismatched hair addition clipped to my head. Half of my head was naturally dark brown (with a few gray hairs that simply were NOT there previously) and the other perfectly colored and highlighted. I hated my hair.

Then one day the owner of Embellish, Patricia Lecy-Davis, inquired as to where I had been. She hadn't seen me in the salon in a very long time. I confided to her that I simply could not afford anything extra out of our tight budget. Her quick response was to call and make an appointment, and not to worry about the cost.

I wish I could say I immediately took her up on her offer, but I was truly ashamed of what was happening on my head and procrastinated for another month before setting a time and date.

Thanks to Patricia and Sae, the amazing and awesome woman who cut and colored my terrifying and scraggly mess, I am transformed. My hair is again healthy and shiny. It's a gorgeous dark chocolate brown with burgundy highlights. I can't stop looking at it. Or playing with it. Or accepting compliments. It is officially the BEST HAIRCUT I HAVE EVER HAD.

I cannot thank Patricia, Sae, and Embellish Salon enough for the complimentary cut and color. If you are in the Tacoma area, I highly recommend you check out the team of Daymakers at Embellish.

Posted by Ensie at 05:11 PM | Comments (175) | TrackBack

May 16, 2009

Curb Day

Today is Curb Day! What is Curb Day, you ask? It's the day to place all your unwanted, useable items on the curb for others to take. It's a pretty cool idea, even if Curb Day seems to be everyday in Tacoma.

http://www.curbday.com/

Posted by Ensie at 08:41 AM | Comments (328) | TrackBack

November 10, 2008

Anti-Prop 8 Rally in Seattle this Saturday

I'm inviting all of Tacoma to the Join the Impact Anti-Prop 8 Rally taking place in Seattle this Saturday morning at 10:30 AM. The march starts in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill and will end in Westlake Center downtown around noon.

This is part of a national event that will be taking place to show the country how Americans feel about gay marriage and gay families.

Local information can be found here.

Frinklin and I will likely be going and will have room in our car. Want to carpool? Email me at ensie1@gmail.com.

Posted by Ensie at 05:59 PM | Comments (74) | TrackBack

About to be Blocked by 5 Views?

There have been a few posts on Feed Tacoma about the blog 5 Views and his unpopular opinions on a number of topics. It doesn't surprise me. Republican by Default has an extremely conservative, right-wing viewpoint that just doesn't jive with a number of people who blog about town, including me. And he's entitled to that opinion, just like anyone on the blogosphere.

The thing that gets me is that Mr. 5 Views has comments enabled on his blog. That may not seem so out-of-the-ordinary to you, but for anyone who has gone the distance and left a comment on 5 Views, you may have noticed that most comments receive a decidedly chilly reception. Unless your comment is in total and complete agreement with Republican by Default, you are more than likely going to find yourself threatened with being blocked for one or more of the following reasons:

- Profanity
- Not following the topic of the post
- Abusive behavior

Never mind that Mr. 5 Views doesn't need to follow these rules (and why no comment FAQ to at least clue people in, BTW?). He will repeatedly be rude, refer to anyone he *thinks* might even lean in a liberal direction in a nasty way, and head off on tangents, which, when you attempt to discuss or defend will get you banned becuase you must, "Stick to the topic of the thread."

Most recently I found myself embroiled in a discussion about Barack Obama's executive experience, which eventually gave way to a conversation about abortion. Once it became clear that I wasn't just someone who was just going to spout of generalizations, but actually knew what I was talking about, I was threatened more than once with being banned, as it was not the topic of the original post. However, Mr. 5 Views himself was the one who brought abortion into the discussion:

Republican By Default Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
When Obama votes four times to withhold medical care for babies born in botched abortions, are we supposed to forget that because he says, “that’s above my pay grade”?

At first, RBD refused to approve my moderated comment, but after I complained he finally approved my second comment on the topic. He continues to argue the point, then insists that I am the one off topic every time I try to defend my point.

RBD has a habit of ignoring the arguments he knows he can't win, or conveniently discounting them as somehow liberally slanted. Take this discussion regarding the history of abortion during colonial times. It is a well documented fact that abortions were legally offered and performed for women before "quickening" (when women felt the baby move within) in both England and the colonies. I offered two books that state this fact and offer information to back up this fact.

ensie Says:
November 8th, 2008 at 2:13 am

The Constitution doesn’t mention abortion. Not even once. If the Supreme Court only interpreted the Constitution literally as it is, they would be an archaic institution irrelevant to our modern day issues. Understanding how the Supreme Court works, as our laws are challenged, the Court hears the cases and comes to a decision. That decision interprets the law, which they have done. Understandable, you are upset that this decision does not agree with your doctrine. However, it does not invalidate the process.

Republican By Default Says:
November 8th, 2008 at 2:41 am

The constitution doesn’t mention abortion because if anyone had brought it up they would have been thrown out of the discussion as being too sick and demented to be part of something so important (or even be part of a civil society). I was referring to the supposed ‘right to privacy’ that was the basis for the Roe vs. Wade decision regarding abortion on demand. It’s not in the constitution. It was dreamed up by political activists who happened to sit on the supreme court.

It’s the constitution that invalidates the process used in that decision. What I think of it doesn’t matter.

ensie Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

On one point you are flat out wrong. Just because the Constitution doesn’t mention abortion doesn’t mean it was because it outlawed the practice. In fact, at the time the Constitution was adopted, abortions before “quickening” were openly advertised and commonly performed (That information can be found in this book, written by a Constitutional Law scholar). The practice of abortion dates back centuries, to ancient times in fact. Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy also notes that abortions were legal under English Common Law until quickening, which extended to “the Colonies”.

Republican By Default Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 10:44 pm

So you think that the historical practice of a procedure makes it acceptable? Should we then resort back to leaches and bleeding to cure disease? Lobotomies to cure insanity? Electroshock? What about medieval torture? Burning people at the stake? How about cutting off the middle finger of all men on the losing side of a battle? Drawing and quartering?

There are a lot of sick practices, whether in the name of medicine and healing or in the name of politics and nations, that should not be continued. Abortion is done in the name of both. And I’m not about to believe you or a politically motivated book about historical practices in medicine, nor about their applicability to the current debate.

Now stick to the topic or I will block you. I’m tired of wasting my time with your prattle.

ensie Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

I also have to say that when a counter argument is brought up that you can’t argue against, you just ignore it and move onto another point. It’s extremely frustrating. I kept it relating to Obama and the Constitution, you took the argument into history, and I corrected you on a historical fact. The books I mentioned are far from politically motivated. As I stated, they are written by those looking at historical fact (one of which written by a Constitutional Law Scholar), something you refuse to acknowledge. These are far from internet rumors or liberal talking points. You are welcome to look up the information yourself to confirm it.

Also, you should note that modern medicine is indeed using leeches again in medical practice and electroshock therapy is still in use. I believe the majority of witch burning and midevial torture was done by religious organizations looking to punish or convert, respectively (or not respectively, depending), yes?

If you head over to 5 Views and read the entire comment thread, you'll get to hear lots more threats and insults. Considering the fact that I have a rather quick temper, I'm pleased to say that not a single one came from me. I've remained polite and friendly throughout our entire exchange, and have really tried to understand the other point of view.

Republican by Default has made it more than clear that what he's really searching for on his blog is an echo chamber, not an intelligent debate about any topic he would like to discuss. His childish and petulent attitude toward anyone with a diffence of opinion, and inability to handle even the slightest joke lead me to believe he is someone without any ability for empathy. It's unfortunate, as RBD could work to bridge the gap between left and right, but it's obvious he will not, or cannot do so.

UPDATE 11:27 PM:

The end of our discussion:

Republican By Default Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 7:22 pm

ensie, I did not ‘threaten’ to block you. They same rules applie to you that I said to maggie except that you are not on your last warning.

Your comments are often off-topic and so I feel obligated to respond to what you’ve said, which you then respond to taking things further off topic.

In response to your last comment I will say three things:
- You argue for a president and a party that has abortion-on-demand as one of it’s foremost planks, so some of my comments are directed at that rather than directly at what you’ve said;
- You have not been completely cordial or polite, you have been rude on several occasions;
- Nothing in your last comment has anything to do with Obama’s executive experience (or the tremendous lack thereof).

Unless you have something new to add to the appropriate subject, this thread is done.

ensie Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 8:46 pm

This does not qualify as a threat?

Now stick to the topic or I will block you. I’m tired of wasting my time with your prattle.

Please let me know what qualifies in my earlier posts as rude so that I will not make the same mistakes in the future. I do not want to be blocked for being ungracious in the future. I have taken pains to be polite in our discussion, making sure I focused on the arguments, and going out of my way not to make personal attacks. However, I felt on several occasions you made jabs at me personally simply for stating my case.

Examples:

Your attempts to defend him make you look as sick as he is.

But then you’re a liberal so rules don’t matter to you. Those for everyone else.

Maybe you could post a comment FAQ in order to let people know exactly what crosses the line?

Republican By Default Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 11:14 pm

Ok. Take a deep breath. Take a moment and relax.

Then try to explain to me:
a) how any of that last comment relates to the subject of this thread, and
b) how that comment was polite.
[rhetorical question, of course]

Do you need to have some meds adjusted?

This thread is done. So go get a life and quit wasting my time.

I thought I was being polite? The suggestion for a FAQ was real and I wanted to discuss his suggestion that I had been rude during our discussion. Republican by Default's extremely hurtful comment about "have(ing) my meds adjusted" points to the fact that he knows little about the blogging community he is a part of. I have been on anti-depressant medication for years, something he might know if he bothered to read my blog once in a while. So, thanks for that, asshole.

Again, the point of blogging, and especially the point of blogging with comments enabled is to hear the thoughts of others. Those viewpoints may differ from your own, and you should be ready to engage those in a thoughtful and respectful way (although I'll make exceptions from time to time). Being an aggressive dickwad isn't the best way to find or keep readers.

Posted by Ensie at 03:38 PM | Comments (67) | TrackBack

July 31, 2008

Teenage Boys Do Not Know How To Get Jobs

Conversation heard on the way back to my car from the Downtown Farmer's Market:

Teenage Boy #1: Where the fuck are you going?

Teenage Boy #2: [mumble]

Teenage Boy #1 suddenly looks up and notices a man in a suit standing next to him at the street light.

TB #1: Hey, man. Do you know anyplace that is hiring?

Suited Man: Excuse me?

TB #1: Do you know anyplace that has jobs available?

Suited Man: Uh, no.

TB #1: Man...shit! (Jumps around and yells)

Me: [laughter]

What an excellent plan for getting a job. Wander around the city being obnoxious with your friend. Be obscene in front of someone you are going to ask about a job. Get visibly pissed off when that person tells you he can't help you.

You're half way there!

Posted by Ensie at 02:46 PM | Comments (475) | TrackBack

June 14, 2008

My Summer Reading

Squeeee!

I'm totally in the new Tacoma City Arts magazine this month - the July issue with Deborah Ritchie on the cover. It's now monthly, and it's just out. Apparently copies are now available at the Stadium Thriftway, but I haven't seen them anyplace else yet.

Looking through the current issue, it looks like a really good one. The piece on Deborah Ritchie of Deborah Page, the highlight of Frost Park's Chalk Off, the preview of the Tall Ships festival...I'm really looking forward to reading through the entire thing.

And why am I in the mag you may ask? Just a quick question about what I'm reading recently, in which I mention Jenette Faluda's book Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, which you can see a preview of here:

You can also check out her blog Half of Me here, where she goes by the handle "Pasta Queen".

Her book is an interesting look at what it's like to go from over 300 lbs. to half that weight, and the mental and physical adjustments that come with that change. Faluda lost the weight on her own, without the help of diet programs, and continues to maintain her weight loss, holding herself accountable to her own conscience and her blog readers.

Posted by Ensie at 12:42 AM | Comments (18) | TrackBack

June 13, 2008

Hypothesis This Weekend Only

I fear I'm about to duplicate Tacomamama's review of the Horatio Theatre's new show Hypothesis. This time it's not a play, or even a musical; it's a magic show, which is something a bit unexpected (or maybe not) from Erik Emery Hanberg's theater company.

I'm not a big one for magic shows, and I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive after watching the far too long "preview" on Exit 133. I made it about 2 minutes in. It's not that the idea of watching someone get into a body bag and get out across the street isn't interesting, it's just that watching someone in a body bag for 8 minutes on a relatively minute screen on a computer tends to try even the most patient of tempers.

However, internet previews are one thing, and real-life magicians are another.

Watching Geoff Kanick on stage was an entirely enjoyable experience. He has charisma and (most of the time) doesn't take himself too seriously, which makes for a good combination. Kanick worked the small preview audience of about 15 people well, asking at least half of them to join him on stage during different points of the show.

Combining a mixture of traditional tricks with interesting psychic feats kept the audience on their toes. I could quibble here and there with timing issues, but over all the show is fun and funny with a gasp here and there.

I highly recommend a trip down the rabbit hole with Mr. Kanick!

Definitely worth the low price of $10 a ticket, available at the door or at Brown Paper Tickets.

Hypothesis with magician Geoff Kanick
June 13 7:30 pm, June 14 7:30 pm, June 15 2:00 pm
Live at McAstocker Theater, Bellarmine Preparatory School
2300 S Washington
Tacoma, WA 98405

Posted by Ensie at 12:01 AM | Comments (101) | TrackBack

June 08, 2008

Death of a Washing Machine

It appears that laundry problems are going around.

A little over a week ago my less-than-a-year-old washing machine died what appeared to be a relatively undramatic death. The spin cycle ceased to work, prompting a call to an appliance repairman. I hoped for a belt replacement or the like, but after a relatively short inspection, it was declaired that the machine's computer had died and it would be at least $450 to repair with labor. Considering the fact that I had paid less than that for the entire machine just a short time ago, replacement, rather than repair sounded like the better option.

Frinklin and I hit up the Sears Outlet off of Sixth Ave to find a (hopefully) inexpensive replacement. There was very little to choose from in our price range, and after a pushy salesman pushed a little too hard, we walked out without anything.

What I really wanted was to find the man that sold me my original washing machine three years ago. He refurbishes old washing machines and dryers and when we moved to Washington and needed something cheap and fast we found his number in the paper and bought an old (15 years plus) machine for very little.

While I was on vacation in San Diego over the last week Frinklin spent time doing laundry at a local laundromat. Things went fine until the last day when he took in our 8-year-old feather bed that exploded in a washing machine and left a huge pile of feathers behind - enough to fill an entire laundry basket. The owner of the laundromat was less than happy with him.

It was time for us to find a washing machine - pronto.

Luck was on our side. After a couple of phone calls to numbers in the News Tribune, we found Bill, the gentleman we had bought our original washing machine from years ago. After some assistance moving out our old machine from Mr. Freitas, we picked up a brand new machine in Lakewood, its only problem being a punctured cabinet from a forklift accident that has since been replaced. Bill gave us $50 for our old machine (Yay! No lawn ornament!) and a one year parts, labor, or exchange warranty. Kevin was once again on hand to move the machine upstairs, I connected the water hookups, and everything was a go.

Our new washing machine is fantastic. It's much better balanced than our last and hasn't balked at taking on our king sized comforter or a couple of massive dog beds. If anyone needs a good place to buy a washer or dryer, I highly recommend Bill in Lakewood.

Posted by Ensie at 08:11 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack

May 24, 2008

Walkability Score

Frinklin sent me something ever so fun to play with.

Head over to the Walk Score website and enter in your address. It will map our your home and surroundings and the "walkability" of your neighborhood, taking into consideration the convenience of the nearby destinations. You receive a score from 0 to 100 depending on just how fully walkable things really are. Their scale is broken down like so:

90 - 100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.
50 - 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
25 - 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
0 - 25 = Driving Only: Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!

My score was 57, which is reasonable. We have a lot of restaurants and a few shops as well as a hospital (if one might walk there) well within walking range, but grocery stores are pushing the limits of walkability when you start to talk about carrying a lot of stuff back with you. I would assume that most of Tacoma is fairly walkable.

You can actually get a map to place on your blog. I thought it would be funny to see the walkability of my parent's neighborhood. They live out in the boonies:

They scored a 6. Not so walkable there.

Posted by Ensie at 12:31 AM | Comments (117) | TrackBack

May 20, 2008

Cereal for Dinner

When I was new to the Pacific Northwest and still missing absolutely everything Southern California with an ache that would never end I went on a cereal eating binge. I lived on cereal. And not just any random cereal. For some reason I chose Honey Nut Shredded Wheat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for over three months (apparently I'm not the only one to do this). I went through a box every couple of days, four or five boxes a week. I would supplement occasionally with meals out, but that was essentially what I lived off of.

At the time I was severely depressed and didn't have any friends in my new home to find my behavior odd. Just one husband who gamely kept me supplied and a therapist who told me that as long as the cereal wasn't hurting me she didn't see anything wrong with it. After three or four months I found the right mix of medication, the homesickness began to lift, and the cereal hunger lifted. I still wanted cereal, but just for breakfast, and maybe could I have something different?

Until last night I hadn't touched Honey Nut Shredded Wheat in two years. But last night there was a Cereal Party at the House of Freitai and as a nod to those sad months I brought a box of my OCD food of choice for others to share. I also brought along a box of my current fav - Special K with Strawberries, which I have each morning.

Frinklin brought a couple of his favorites, as did everyone else. We each gave a quick speech about why had brought our specific choices before diving into the selections. Surprisingly with nine different types to choose from, no one had duplicated anything. Sarah brought bananas and there were several options for milk - nonfat, reduced fat, whole, soy, and chocolate.

I didn't grow up in a house where sugary cereals were allowed and because of that sugary cereals taste SO sweet to me. We didn't have anything overly sugary represented last night other than CoCo Puffs, which I didn't eat (other than a bite of Kevin's terrifying chocolate nightmare). I did enjoy small bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (sweet, but not overly so), Rice Krispies (with a bit of honey, the way my Grandma used to make them for me), Apple Jacks (yuck), mix of Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies (OK, but I don't like chocolate cereal).

I'm sure this will become a regular tradition. As you can see, we are serious about our cereal.

Posted by Ensie at 04:00 PM | Comments (30) | TrackBack

May 04, 2008

Trapped in My Backyard

I have a long history of locking myself out of things. I'm really good at locking myself out of various vehicles. I went through a stretch where I did it weekly, sometimes twice a week. Twice I did it while the car was RUNNING. I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment.

I've been locked out of my computer more times that I can tell you. Or various websites that I swear I can remember the password for, but upon my three attempts suddenly find that I need to call customer service because I no longer have any type of access. I finally had to create a hidden secret "cheat sheet" that I use to get to the various portals around the internets.

I thought I'd really done it a couple of years ago when Frinklin and I locked our selves IN our house. Yes you read that correctly. IN the house.

The deadbolt to the front door broke due to shoddy workmanship of the previous owner (a reccurring theme) and since we don't own a key to the back door, and our back gates are padlocked shut (a detail that will become important later in this blog entry) we were trapped. A very kind locksmith came and removed the deadbolt, re-keyed the front door, and fixed the crappy job the last owner had done with the whole thing. I highly recommend Jack at Security Lock, Safe, and Alarm.

I really didn't think it would be possible to top locking myself IN my house. But yesterday I did it.

Yesterday I locked myself in my backyard.

Really, it was all the cats' fault. But lets back up.

Remember how I told you earlier that there is no key to the back door and the gates are padlocked shut? We've been having issues with the back door not shutting all the way unless the deadbolt is thrown. The wind will push it open and 4 of our 5 indoor only cats will sneak outside to frolic on the deck, eventually making their way under the house.

Yesterday I happened to be walking past the back door and noticed it was waving gently in the afternoon breeze. Immediately panicking I jumped into action and ran outside. All four adventurous cats were outside. Making a grab for the one closest (Clyde), I felt fur and threw him in the house, slamming the door behind me. One down and three to go! An orange streak flew past my feet. Percy! I snatched him up and grabbed the door handle, leaning in to open the--ow! Open the--

Oh for fucks sake. I hadn't latched the deadbolt, but the small doorknob lock was thrown and it was good and closed this time. As Percy squirmed in my arms I grabbed for another orange kitty and picked up a clawing mass of Barney. As his talons sank into my body I thought, "this is bad." Turning to the right, I watched as Moby slipped under the house.

As I lost more and more blood from Barney's slashes I realized I was going to have to let the cats go, even if they did go under the house. I was either going to need to try to climb through a window (all locked), climb the fence (six feet high), or find a friendly neighbor with a cell phone to help. Fortunately, a friendly neighbor happened to be standing just on the other side of the fence.

"Excuse me?" I called, trying not to look insane with orange cats dangling from my limbs. "I have locked myself in my backyard and am in need of a phone. May I borrow yours?" Hopefully proper grammar and being the picture of politeness would help my cause.

"Uh, IN your backyard?" replied the kind neighbor.

"Yes. You see, my door is locked from the inside and I lack a key (Ow! Barney stop it!). And my gates are padlocked (Dammit! Ow!)." (Big smile)

"Sure." Kind neighbor tosses cell phone to me over fence. I should explain at this point that Frinklin was out assisting friends with their 72 Hour Films Festival (tickets on sale now!) submission. I called him. And called him. And called him. Angels be praised - on the third try he picked up. I make no apologies for the messages left that sound something like, "Iamtrappedinthegoddamnbackyardandyouarenotpickingupyourcellphonewherethefuck
areyourightnowIreallyneedyoutocomehomeandhelpme!" To his credit as soon as he did pick up the phone Kevin, Joe, and Frinklin did rush home to rescue me. I sulkily entered the house, sans cats.

Ah yes. The cats.

The next three hours of my life were devoted to cajoling two stubborn kitties out from the tiny (non) crawl space of the house. Percy decided he'd had enough of the great outdoors and came quietly, but Barney and Moby found a playground of smells, sights, and a possible doorway to a wonderland of adventure through that little gap in the concrete. I'd like to say that Frinklin and I tempted the cats by calling their names and offering them treats, but that did absolutely nothing for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Also ineffectual; lying on a towel to avoid dirt and other backyard debris while peering under the house with an industrial strength flashlight (although I got a close up look at one of our air vents). The best technique was to stand absolutely silent and still for 10 or 15 minutes, pretending to be a part of the house, then pounce when the cat came out to explore. Good to know for future reference.

I really need to get the back door re-keyed so that we can unlock it normally. And probably need to have the entire thing worked on so that it actually stays closed when the wind is blowing. Hopefully I'm working a good average and I won't lock myself back there again for another three years, minimum.

Bonus trapped in moment! Trapped IN my pants!

Posted by Ensie at 12:50 AM | Comments (43) | TrackBack

May 03, 2008

Goodbye PeaCoat

This morning started off rough.

Frinklin got up early to help out friends with their 72 hour film festival submission only to find that one of our cars was broken into overnight. It was nothing terribly dramatic, and unfortunately (or fortunately, since it meant there was little damage to the car) it was a situation where one of the doors didn't close properly and was jimmied open. Everthing in the vehicle had been rifled through but the person who broke in only stole my expensive and very cool pea coat. Note to self: don't leave expensive and cool stuff in car.

In the grand scheme of things this isn't a huge deal. The car is relatively unscathed, nothing major was taken, and both Frinklin and I are mostly just annoyed. But it's unsettling to have someone violate your privacy and your space. This is the second time that Frinklin and I have been robbed. Both times it has been due to a door left ajar; last time it was in an old apartment we couldn't wait to move out of in 2001.

Before moving to Tacoma I received a lot of half-joking warning about the crime rate here. I, myself, have joked about livng in a city where crime is just considered part of daily life. A few months after moving here Violet came to visit from Chicago (where she was terrified of living in her own haunted house and somewhat crime-ridden neighborhood alone). Her first night in town we told her we lived in "the good part of Tacoma" with a lower crime rate, "less violent crimes."

Frinklin went on to say, "We do tend to have a lot of kidnappers and serial killers though," naming Ted Bundy and a couple of others. We laughed it off (I know I'm going to hell) and got ready for bed.

Just as we were readying the pull-out couch Violet looked outside and asked, "Are those police lights?" We all rushed to the window to see cops blocking off our street and officers with German Shepherds marching up and down our block. A helicopter began circling overhead and spotlights swept the ground. Frinklin called the non-emergency police number and was told in a stern voice to, "Stay inside. Lock the doors. Do not exit the house unless instructed to by a uniformed police officer." Oh. Great.

Violet told us the next morning she slept better that night than she had in months.

"The police were everywhere! I felt so safe!" she smiled.

The TPD is no longer hovering around my house and even when I call them to report a prowler they don't bother to stop by. I've had my car egged twice, my mail stolen, the guy trying to get into the backyard, and now the car, all in three year. But I feel relatively safe due to the 90 lb. German Shepherd/Pit Bull (who's my puppy?) that doesn't like strangers sleeping next to me at night.

It's just emotionally draining to have someone violate your space and have to put your stuff back together again. And there's the enevitable "what if" thoughts that haunt you. What if they come back? What if they took something I didn't notice? What if they try to break into my house next? What if they hurt my animals? What if they hurt my husband or me?

I'm tired of thinking these thoughts. What I'd really like to do is leave a big 'ol sign on my car that says, "Hi. This message is for the person who broke into my car and stole my coat. I've lived in Tacoma long enough to know that a video camera is the best way to keep your property safe. Bring back the coat - put it on the front porch. I've got you on tape breaking into the car. If you don't return the coat within 48 hours, I'm turning in the tape to the Tacoma Police Department. Thanks."

Posted by Ensie at 12:14 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

April 24, 2008

Kunstler Impressions

Tacomamama invited me to attend the James Howard Kunstler event this evening with her and I happily accepted. However, unlike some who have bathed in the words of Kunstler recently, I have avoided all books, YouTube videos, blogs and podcasts, preferring to go to the event with virgin ears. This paid off, as he apparently reused a lot of his jokes this evening.

I found Kunstler to be interesting, especially when speaking about architecture. The second part of his presentation was better than the first part. I really wish he had spoken more in specifics about Tacoma since he had spent the day in the city. At times he came off more like a grumpy old man with a, says Tacomamama, "very us-against-them" mentality. He appears very confrontational and not someone very approachable or adaptable to change.

Mr. Kunstler started off his speaking engagement this evening by addressing the energy crisis, or what he calls "The Long Emergency". Focusing on the depletion and hoarding of oil in various world sites, he notes that a day of reckoning is coming where we will no longer have the resources available to fuel the systems we currently have in place (tonight he specifically focused on our transportation systems, especially cars and planes).

When confronted with the argument that technology may provide us with alternate energy sources (or "save" us), Kunstler is very adamant that TECHNOLOGY DOES NOT EQUAL ENERGY. One cannot fill a gas tank with technology; which is a completely illogical argument, but who is going to jump up and argue with the man while he's on stage? At this point he told an anecdote about speaking at Google's headquarters. Harping on their "kindergarten like" atmosphere and making fun of their executives stating that they dressed like "skate rats", he laughed off the fact that these "children" told him, "but we have technology!" I would have liked to ask him if would conceed the fact that technology can lead to innovations that may provide alternate energy sources that we have not discovered yet...

I believe at this point Kunstler began the second half of his presentation, focusing on where and how we live. He had several points:

- The age of suburbia is over. Going forward we will have only urban and rural. Cities will be more compact and rural areas will begin to be used for agriculture again out of necessity.

- We must get out of our cars and choose public transportation. Trains are the most logical choice (but we are not ready for anything more plain old regular rail transport - nothing fancy).

- Architecture should be purposeful, functional, and interesting. Use historical buildings as a guide and you won't need to hide ugly buildings in strip malls, in spaces that have been "greened up" and the like.

- Parks should be away from freeways, busy intersections, etc. People want to get AWAY from these things when they are in parks.

- In order to get people to use outdoor spaces, the space must be clearly defined. Building create walls, businesses create services (edges) and a reason for being.

Many of these are so obvious, you wouldn't think these would be wild and outrageous suggestions, but they are! Looking at his slides of the hideous schools (prison-like), public space (perpetually empty Boston amphetheater bearing a striking resemblance to Tollefson Plaza), and blank walls (I believe it was Boston City Hall with a block's length of blank wall) you start to despair of good design.

I know there has been discussion locally regarding the Proctor Safeway redesign. Currently Tacoma requires that any buildings along Proctor have windows along the street, however Safeway has requested a variance allowing them to have a solid wall along the West side of the building, among other things. I'm not sure what the progress of their request is at this point in time.

There were examples of beautiful and intricate architecture this evening as well. In addition to historical examples Kunstler had shots of windows and rooflines from his hometown, and he talked quite a bit about The Congress for the New Urbanism. The CNU appears to be working to create a new type of infrastrustructure that encompases neighborhoods, wildlife habitat, and farmland. You can check out their work on their website.

I'm sure there are plenty of things I'm forgetting from tonight, but these are the things that stuck this evening.

Posted by Ensie at 12:30 AM | Comments (58) | TrackBack

April 21, 2008

Princess Sadie Thumbs

Today I received an e-mail direct from Sadie, our former kitty who it appears now has her own e-mail address (!) at Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital. Princess Sadie Thumbs (as she is known for her attitude and extra toes) is now living at the vet's office while she waits for a new home. They graciously offered to house her there as they do for a certain number of Tacoma Humane Society kitties that are up for adoption.

Dear Ensie, Frinklin & the crew,

Life is good here at Met Vet. My food bowl is right next to my bed -- I don't even have to stand up to eat. My litter box is two steps away, so I use it always. I feel like a princess here.

Sometimes the staff makes me walk around for exercise, but I discovered if I try to eat their plants, they let me go right back to napping in my room.

I could live like this forever!

Love,
Princess Sadie Thumbs

As you can see, Sadie has happily taken over their office.

You can e-mail Sadie at Sadie(at)metvetpets(dot)com, especially if you're interested in adopting her.

Posted by Ensie at 11:49 AM | Comments (145) | TrackBack

April 17, 2008

Hub's Head Chef, Bar Manager Quit

Tonight I had my first bad experience at The Hub. Which is really unfortunate, considering the fact that I've had really great experiences there previously. I wouldn't normally write about one bad time at a restaurant, except that not only was the food not good, but the service was bad too.

First - let me say that I was there the week The Hub opened in a group of 8 people and our waiter was fantastic and the food was delicious. Then was back last week and the waiter was almost oppressive he was so attentive. Kevin declared his steak "possibly the best in Tacoma" which is saying a lot considering what quality steaks there are to be had. I had pizzas both time and both were good.

So tonight I sat in the bar side of The Hub for the first time with Frinklin, Cassioposa, and Angela. Cassioposa got there first and ordered a glass of wine, only to be told five minutes after ordering that her chosen red was not available. After choosing another the waitress returned again and told her, again, that they were out. Cassie finally asked, "What is available?" and was told, "Oh, pretty much everything..." Not helpful. Fortunately her third choice actually was in stock.

Once we were all seated and ordered drinks it took a good 15 minutes to flag down our server. Granted, the restaurant was busy, but not frantic. We placed an order of fries as an appetizer and proceeded to order our entrees. A ceasar sald for Cassie, a pizza for Frinklin, chicken picatta for Angela, and the flat-iron steak for myself, asking that the fries be substituted with mashed potatoes. I sensed trouble as our waitress didn't bother to ask how I preferred my steak.

Our fries never came. When our food showed and I asked I was told it was a side order. I love it when servers tell you what you ordered. It's not that there can't be a misunderstanding - it's just that I know what I wanted, so I'm not the one that's wrong. The order for fries finally went in at that point.

My steak came, as did Angela's chicken picatta - with fries. When I stated that I wanted mashed potatoes my steak was sent back, only to be returned shortly with word from the kitchen that the restaurant was out of regular potatoes. It was just that no one had informed the wait staff. There was no opportunity for them to warn any patrons that their meal may need substitutions or the like.

At this point we were all starving. I ate my steak (tasty, but cooked more than I would like) with sweet potato frites and three of the saddest asperagus you have ever seen. As Angela said, "I would have been embarrased to plate those!" She half-heartedly picked through her over-peppered, tomato covered, so-so chicken picatta. Frinklin's pizza and Cassie's salad were pretty good, although Frinklin noted his pizza was a good couple inches smaller in diameter than it had been in the past. Our french fry appetizer (made from yams, lest you believe they had received a shipment of regular potatoes) showed up half way through our meal.

When our checks arrived our sever was kind enough to discount my steak and remove the cost of the appetizer completely. It was explained to us that the Head Chef walked out earlier today and that the Bar Manager had also quit. That could definitely explain the irregularity in our meals. While we sat and discussed this development and our meal our drinks were collected and table began to be bussed as though we were not sitting and chatting. There was no reason to throw us out, as there were plenty of empty tables, but we took this as our cue to leave.

I don't know exactly how much the Head Chef and/or the Bar Manager have an effect on the Serving Staff at a restaurant, but it seemed as though our waitress had no idea what was going on this evening. I don't think I'll be sitting in the bar section again. I hope it was just a fluke and that The Hub find a new Head Chef and Bar Manager soon.

Posted by Ensie at 09:18 PM | Comments (33) | TrackBack

April 06, 2008

Climate Change

It is currently only raining on the Eastern half of my house. The Western side is completely dry. And when I say raning, I mean pouring - wind blowing, rain slanting down, etc. But looking out the Westside window - nothing.

Weird.

Posted by Ensie at 04:42 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

March 20, 2008

Sound Transit Tunnel to be Graced by Ellen Forney Art

How come Seattle has Ellen Forney doing their public art and we get...this when it comes to art?

WTF?

Posted by Ensie at 12:24 AM | Comments (189) | TrackBack

March 17, 2008

Free Spay/Neuter for All Puget Sound Pit Bulls

In an exciting collaboration with Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue (SPDR), the Seattle Humane Society is providing FREE spay and neuter surgeries for ALL pit bulls in the Puget Sound region for a limited time!

You can view the PDF here.

Direct from the flyer:

Pit bulls account for approximately 30% of lost, stray, and abandoned animals in our community's shelters today.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR DOG:

1. Your dog will live a longer, healthier life.
Spaying and neutering virtually eliminates breast and uterine cancer, testicular cancer, and prostate disease if performed before six months of age.

2. Your spayed female won't go into heat.
Females in hear vocalize, urinate, and produce a foul discharge.

3. Your male dog won't roam away from home.
Intact males are highly likely to roam, risking injury in traffic or fights with other males.

4. AND he will be much better behaved too!
Unneutered males mark their territory with urine (inside the house and out), mount your family and guests, and are more likely to develop behavior problems.

5. Spaying and neutering your pet will NOT make your dog fat or lazy.
Your pet will remain fit and trim as long as you continue to provide exercise and monitor food intake.

In addition to the FREE spay or neuter, dogs will be microchipped for FREE during surgery.

If you have an unaltered Pit bull, or know someone who does, call the Seattle Humane Society at 425-649-7560 to make an appointment.

Posted by Ensie at 08:40 AM | Comments (74) | TrackBack

March 12, 2008

The Go Local Slippery Slope

With all the "Go Local" talk lately, I've been giving the idea a lot of thought. No one can argue that supporting your local businesses is good for your neighborhood, your community, and your city. It supports local commerce, encourages further economic growth and development, and it makes you feel good.

In some circles, it appears that "Going Local" has become more of a clique or a status symbol (some might even say a fetish) instead of something people do as part of their daily lives. When did we forget that "Going Local" is part of living? And who made the rules so freakin' strict?

In the course of living one's life it's desirable to incorporate going local into daily activities. Stop by local stores. Eat at local restaurants. Buy local art. But should you need to go to a big box store to get an item, do not be ashamed. If you need to enter the Tacoma Mall to find clothing, do not feel the need to flagellate yourself upon the trunk of your car directly afterwards.

I believe a good philosophy to follow when it comes to going local is "Do Your Best" (but don't beat up on people when they don't - or can't - go local all the time). As a vegetarian I followed this axiom for years and found it suited me well. Not sure that soup is 100% vegetarian? But the restaurant thinks it is - do your best!

There are a few specific points that come to mind that can make "Going Local" especially difficult:

-- TIME: Please show me the person who has time to run errands to all the different places that one trip to Target can fulfill? Show me the local store that carries toilet paper, hair care products, cat litter, electronics, gardening supplies, storage containers, razor blades, light bulbs, greeting cards, underwear, Vitamin Water, and detergent. All of which were on my shopping list the other day.

-- MONEY: Price is a factor for many people. It's been pointed out over and over that big box stores undercut local businesses when it comes to price. I hate WalMart as much as the next good liberal, but that doesn't change the fact that people have a need for cheap goods.

-- ACCESS: Accessibility can be an issue for those who work odd hours or weekends. Locally-owned businesses that close at 5 PM or on Sundays can be difficult to shop for many people. I know I've been thwarted more than once when trying to hit up a downtown location or local restaurant on a Sunday.

In the past few weeks while attending the Go Local or Die event and reading all the "Go Local" campaigning I've been ashamed to admit that I work for a large company. I shouldn't be as Bob's Hogs, while we've had our differences, is a pretty good company to work for. I've been with them for almost eleven years. When Frinklin and I decided to move to the Pacific Northwest they created a position for me where there was none. I'm proud of the hard work I've put in to reach the position I have and I shouldn't have to hide that fact.

So this is a coming out of sorts. I'm admitting that I work for a Fortune 500 company that has several locations all over the Puget Sound. While I enjoy shopping locally, I also will hit up the Tacoma Mall from time to time as I don't see many Tacoma clothing shops that carry a variety of clothing that cater to women who wear anything over a size 14. You can typically find Frinklin and I eating dinner in one of many locally owned eating establishments, often joined by friends. But occasionally we'll feel the need to hit up Carl's Jr. or Panda Express.

Lets be realistic and inclusive with our "Go Local" campaign going forward instead of making lists and shutting people out who may have reasons for spending their dollars outside of local businesses. If I feel uncomfortable talking about what I do for a living because it's not local enough, I'm sure there are plenty of other people who aren't bloggers who feel exactly the same.

Posted by Ensie at 12:00 PM | Comments (40) | TrackBack

March 11, 2008

Tacoma Does Deserve Economic Development

Because Natasha is wrong. And I'll tell you why.

Essentially Natasha has composed a piece telling us all that we don't deserve economic development downtown because we don't appreciate what already exists. We don't shop in the stores that already exist, we don't ride the LINK rail, and we fail to provide appropriate feedback to the business owners when unhappy with their current practices.

To start with, she specifically targets bloggers, and I'd like to start by adressing that issue.

To quote the article:

I notice people who are blogging all day long, talking crap about the businesses in Tacoma without ever trying a place out, or without providing feedback on poor experiences directly to the restaurant manager, opting to talk s*** online instead. I think all of the above is weak.

Where exactly are these blog posts with people bitching about about various local businesses that they have never patronized? Let alone people who are posting them "all day long"? I can't even find the terrible experiences that would require someone to talk to a restaurant manager or business owner. Can someone direct me?

What I have found are several posts of local bloggers organizing and meeting up to support local businesses. In fact, there was even concern that local bloggers had overrun one restaurant during their grand opening (it turned out that the restaurant was expecting the lunch rush and was very happy with the extra business).

As a local blogger, and as someone who hangs out with local bloggers, I can guarantee that we definitely eat and shop at local businesses. As my husband noted in the first comment on your post, in the last few days me and my blogger friends have spent time (and money) at local businesses the Red Hot, Herban Cafe, The Helm, Satellite Coffee, PSP, Hello Cupcake, Comic Book Ink, Sushi Revolution, BKB, Next to Nature and that's just to name a few. Not all of these are downtown, but we like to spread our dollars around. Along the way we either spent time with or ran into In-Tacoma, Tacomachickadee, jcbetty, Tacomamama, Cassioposa, Kevin Freitas, Izenmania, and Tacoma Urbanist.

Those Tacoma bloggers. Stuck in their homes, glued to their computers.

Ms. Gorbachev also points out that people need to use the public transportation systems we have in order to have them "improve[d] or extended". I'm all for extending the Link rail system, considering the fact that it travels something like 12 - 15 blocks and unless you're in a hurry walking makes far more sense. I don't mean to seem ungrateful, but lets get a workable system that doesn't just ferry homeless people around all day long. I don't think I should have to ride a relativelessly useless public transportation system in order to get a useful one.

I know Erik of Tacoma Urbanist has pointed out that he prefers to walk for exercise, and can walk across most Tacoma in 10 or 15 minutes. Walking is even better for the environment and people's bodies than public transportation. If people want to walk, I say more power to them. Sorry if that fucks up the economic development plans.

Lastly, there is the issue of crime that was discussed in the article.

I recently attended the Go Local or Die event downtown (Sorry Natasha, I did not see you in attendance). It was a fascinating speaker panel that also allowed much of the audience to talk about what they would like to do to build up their neighborhoods and community as well. One of the ideas that came out of those conversations was taking back Frost Park from drug dealers as it is scheduled to potentially have a fence put up to keep undesirables out.

Shortly after the Go Local or Die event, a takeover of Frost Park was organized online at Feed Tacoma. After putting the event off for a week due to scheduling issues, more than 30 people met up for lunch at noon in Frost Park last Friday. About one-third of those involved were bloggers. Proof that information posted on Feed Tacoma (and blogs) is not only reaching other bloggers, but community members as well.

This Friday we'll be meeting at Frost Park again at noon to take back the park. It's bring your own lunch. Pink cookies to be provided by Gretchen of Herban Cafe. After a month of meeting in Frost Park the plan is to move onto Fireman's Park, then onto another location. Everyone is invited!

My point is - people are ready for economic development now. They are working on all the areas Natasha took us to task for in her article. We're shopping and eating in downtown businesses. We're frustrated at the crappy public transportation (and we've written a lot about it as well as joined groups in order to change things). And we're working to make the crime situation better, and it's getting there. I don't believe it's unreasonable to expect the city to put plans in place right now for future development.

Don't just knock bloggers for writing about the situation. We're community members who are working in other ways too.

Posted by Ensie at 12:01 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

February 20, 2008

Tacoma Residents Get in FREE to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium Today

Tacoma Free Day - February 20th

Visitors who live within Tacoma city limits will be admitted free on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Please bring proof of residency (current driver's license or utility bill).

Posted by Ensie at 08:25 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 18, 2008

Backyard Vigilante Justice (Literally)

The other day I wrote about a neighbor climbing the fence into our backyard without an invite, which could have turned very ugly had the wrong dog been unleashed. But it isn't the first time a gentleman caller has decided to enter my backyard unannounced.

After living in Tacoma a few months, Bob's Hogs and Weiner Pigs offered me a Pilot Position that included working from home. This was perfect for me, as I was tired of working in a store and ready to take on some new responsibilities. I happily packed up my digs and moved all my stuff into the home office, effectively rendering it useless to Frinklin and requiring him to purchase a laptop (but that's another story).

My office has a large window that looks out to the side of our house. I haven't bothered to put up any blinds or curtains up in this window as it's largely blocked by a huge butterfly bush. The butterfly bush allows enough sun to filter in to keep me warm in the winter, and shades the same hot sun in the summer. Since the bush keeps its leaves year-round, it provides a lot of privacy as well. Which is how I got to observe something completely unexpected one afternoon.

Sitting at my desk working diligently away on a price quote for a customer, I noticed movement outside the window from the corner of my eye. Looking up, I found myself a few feet away from a strange man who was slipping onto my property, working his way behind my house. Thinking he had seen me and would stop any moment, my heart began pounding, but the butterfly bush had kept me completely hidden, working like a one-way-mirror, although it appeared we were eye to eye.

As he passed out of sight behind the house, I leaped into action, calling The Jeffrey and running toward the back door. As I passed the hallway to the master bedroom with it's window facing the rear of the house I saw the man passing by and my heart sped even faster. With The Jeffrey's collar firmly in my grasp I unlocked the back door and stepped onto the rear deck, confident that the tall back fence would keep the intruder out. As an arm crept over the top of the barrier and began feeling around for the latch I spoke.

"What the HELL do you think you're DOING?!" I yelled, hoping I sounded much more authoritarian than I felt, and praying he didn't have a firearm of some sort. The arm whipped back over the fence. Footsteps began retreating. I slammed the back door and ran to the front where I threw open that door, still holding The Jeffrey's collar, him standing beside me, barking like mad. Two men stood in the alley beside my house, one brandishing a large 2x4, both looking pissed off. A glance to my left revealed the now-terrified-would-be prowler.

"Dude," I said to the man, "I don't know what you're thinking, "But I gotta whole lotta German Shepherd Pit Bull just waiting to eat your ass you if you got over that fence, so you're fucking lucky you DIDN'T get in MY BACKYARD!"

"That guy tried to get into my backyard too!" Yelled the man with the 2x4.

At this point, the prowler had turned quite pale and was just wanting to get the hell out of dodge. He had clearly underestimated the power of the Tacoma North Slope Historic District Neighborhood Watch Program. He chose the best course of action available to him when a woman with a raging 75 lb. dog and an angry man with a 2x4 are yelling at you - run like crazy. He took off down the alley with the 2x4 man hot on his heels screaming, "You think it's OK to walk into people's backyards? Huh? I'll show you!" The other neighbor began picking up rocks from the alley and throwing them at the prowler as he ran.

At this point I realized I had my phone in my hand. I must have picked it up automatically. I called 911 to report that a man was in danger of being beaten to death by two others with rocks and a board. I also mentioned the potential break-in. The operator informed me that an officer would come by my house to speak with me. I waited outside for a half hour, but no one came by. I also waited for the men to come back, but they never returned. Eventually a police car drove by, didn't stop, and turned the opposite way that they men had gone. Well done, Tacoma Police, well done.

I felt rattled by the experience for a couple of weeks. But we put locks on the gates to the backyard and make sure we keep the doors locked. And we still have the man-eating dog. And although I've never met those particular neighbors again, I assume they're still out there, keeping our North End backyards safe.

Posted by Ensie at 12:26 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

February 15, 2008

Surprise in the Backyard

Did I ever write about the guy who tried to break into our backyard? I was reminded of it today when we let two (thank God it was only two - the friendly two!) of our dogs out in our fenced backyard before leaving for lunch. Surprisingly there was a man standing in one corner who, when Perdita appropriately barked and growled at the stranger on her lawn, swung his long-handled tree trimmer things (apprently they are called "loppers") at her. Thankfully, Frinklin called Perdi off before she was hurt and yelled at the guy to calm down. The guy began scaling the fence and said he was from next door and was preparing to cut back the tree in his backyard that hung over our fence.

"Next time, knock on my Goddamn door and let me know!" was Frinklin's reply, but the guy wasn't paying attention and was slipping over the fence even as I was walking out the door after hearing Frinklin shout.

"What's going on?" I asked as I saw a leg diassapear over the fence.

"Stupid guy in our backyard trimming his tree."

"Oh my God! What if we had let The Jeffrey out?" I stared at Justin. "You're lucky dude! I yelled, "If we had let our other dog out he would have ripped your legs off!"

"I've always been lucky!" came a voice back.

Dumbass.

I'll write about the backyard break-in story tomorrow.

It's been a long time since I've hated on some neighbors. Feels good. Feels real good.

Posted by Ensie at 05:42 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack

February 12, 2008

You're Fired!

Sometimes right in the middle of living your life, the road will shift and you find yourself falling. It happens to everyone. Often more than once. It happened to me in college. I can remember the exact moment I stepped off the path -whoosh!- to graduation and a degree and instead ended up at a series of junior colleges and never quite found my way back again. My feet are once again on solid ground, but it took a long time to get there. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, although I do wonder how my life might have turned out differently sometimes, but I don't regret the decisions I've made and the life I have now.

Last week the ground swelled and bucked and tossed Frinklin into limbo. The company formally known as The Corporate Behemoth now known as Those Fuckwads Aetna fired Frinklin without warning. Without any warning at all and definitely without a severance package. Official reason, "failure to improve performance statistics." Unofficial reason, "It's just not working out." After three fucking years of stellar performance reviews and busting his ass. My suspicion is that they are getting rid of him because they announced that they will be outsourcing his position within the next year. They offered to have he and other people in his position train folks in the Philippines just a couple of months ago.

On the one hand this isn't the worst news. When my husband came downstairs to tell me I looked him square in the eye and said, "Thank God you never need to go to that crap job again," and gave him a huge hug. Frinklin's been half-heartedly looking for another job for a while. He hated being tied to his desk (granted, at home) in an hourly position, listening to people scream at him for problems that weren't his fault. It left him grouchy at the end of the day and dreading the work week. And they never gave bonuses, but a steady supply of branded alarm clocks, laminated certificates, and once a crappy canvas folding chair that one of our cats peed on. Thanks asshats!

The bad part is the money end of things. It's not good when one half of the household income disappears. There is, thankfully, unemployment which will bring in a portion of what's been lost. And I started making calls to see what we could do. That did not go well.

Our mortgage company always gives you a happy little message that if you anticipate having trouble paying your mortgage you should contact them. I let them know that I don't think we'll have trouble, but wanted to know what their potential solutions would be. Their "solution" is to make a double mortgage payment now, allowing us to skip a payment in the future.

"See how that helps?" the representative chirped to me.

"Not exactly." When I explained that I don't have the funds to make a double payment now, allowing us to skip a payment in the future she told me that she couldn't really help me further. That our payments would need to be made on time as usual, or if made late that our credit would be affected. How exactly is this helpful? I'm not sure. She couldn't tell me either.

My next call was to the folks that manage my 401K. I have a significant amount in my 401K as I've been paying into it for 8 years. I did take out a loan about 3 years ago that I've been paying back steadily. The 401K folks did tell me that I can take out a "Hardship Withdrawal." Fantastic! Send me the forms! The forms arrived and I found that I don't qualify for a Hardship Withdrawal as there are only four reasons one may make said withdrawal:

1. Payment of tuition for post secondary education for me, spouse, dependents.
2. Payment of unreimbursed medical expenses for me, spouse, dependents.
3. Payment to prevent loss of primary residence through eviction or foreclosure.
4. Purchase of primary residence, excluding mortgage payments.

So you see, I must stop making payments immediately on our mortgage, allow our credit to fall to shit, and hope that the bank begins foreclosure proceedings on our home post-haste in order to withdraw the money. It's a perfect plan! What about those of us that want to make our payments on time and keep our credit scores good?! The logic of this whole thing escapes me. Plus it's my Goddamn money!

We do have credit cards that we can live off of. It's just that we already have credit card payments and I don't want to be a slave to debt for the next 20 years. I don't want to have to go to the Bank of Parents to solve this (they have money, but not tons of it to give me).

To top it all off, Frinklin's last paycheck wasn't direct deposited as usual, the Fuckwads are mailing it to us to arrive who-knows-when. They haven't officially reported Frinklin as terminated, so his 401K can't release any funds to him. And his ex-boss won't call him back about anything (four messages and counting).

We're holding their fucking computer hostage until I get some answers.

Posted by Ensie at 05:15 PM | Comments (82) | TrackBack

February 11, 2008

Caucus Rebellion

I know I'm late to the caucus blogging party, but I was definitely there on Saturday with what appeared to be my entire neighborhood. I was glad to see them, although things were a little chaotic, Frinklin and myself eventually found our precinct (The Mighty 314!) and were ushered into a separate area of Jason Lee Middle Schoool as we were a good 250 strong, one of the two or three largest precincts in attendence.

After some continued confusion as to who exactly we were (313? 312?) we waited around for our Precinct Captain to show while the Caucus Chair asked us to talk amongs ourselves. No one was entierly clear on how exactly things would go down, considering the number of people present, and the folks running things all seemed to be relatively young first-timers. A festive mood continued to reign as an hour passed and Frinklin and I chatted with an undecided neighbor about why we were for Obama. She remained undecided as we broke into our respective groups a short time later.

The caucus site ran out of sign in sheets and requested that people sign in on the back of sheets if they hadn't already. People who hadn't signed in their choice had their names read aloud and were asked to declare, "Obama!" " Clinton" or "Undecided". The Precinct Captain was the first name read alound and tried to get away with being undecided, but after sheepishly blushing gave it up for Obama. People proudly yelled out their choices and were cheered - undecideds were given just as much applause as those who had a candidate determined.

At that point, the room was divided into our three groups, Clinton on one side, Obama on the other with the Undecideds in the middle. Each group was invited to have a representative speak, which we did. At that point, the Undecideds had questions that they wanted answered. The Caucus Chair asked us to quiet down, but after a couple of hours of being told to keep quiet and chat together, we were ready to make our voices heard and debate. Several of us (myself included) stood up and yelled loudly, stating that we would like the opportunity to debate and sway the Undecideds. The Undecideds shouted that they would like the opportunity to ask questions and make up their minds. The Caucus Chair started to get nervous that he might have a bunch of pissed off Democrats completely rebelling and the debate was on!

While many people spoke from their hearts and didn't always weigh in on specific policy and topics, everyone was passionate about their decisions. We also heard from a number Undecideds who gave varied reasons as to why they hadn't made up their minds; one man couldn't see enough difference between the two (he eventually went with Obama), another woman though Obama supporters were just attracted to the Cult of Personality (although she later also swayed to Obama too), and one woman said she was terrified that Americans are stupid and prejudiced and wouldn't vote for an African-American man (Frinklin stood up and told her, "If YOU are afraid to vote for him, stand with us and show others that people WILL vote for him!).

The final count was 189 for Obama (16 delegates), 58 for Clinton (5 delegates), 16 Undecided (1 delegate). Frinklin is a delegate and I am an alternate for Obama. I find it funny that it appearsthat a bunch of people we know are delegates or alternates (Jen, Kevin, Cassie, Mark -- did I leave anyone out?).

This was my first time caucusing, being from California. I have to say it was confusing and messy and long, and I absolutely loved it. I can see why it's not for everyone, and if I had kids or needed to be somewhere that day why I would hate it. But it was really fun from my perspective this year and I wouldn't mind doing it again at all.

Posted by Ensie at 06:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 08, 2008

Obama Rally in Seattle

I waited in one of the enormous lines to get into Key Arena today. Frinklin and I got there about 10:40 and the line was growing in leaps and bounds (we were standing under the Space Needle). After 11 we were practically running as we moved forward to get inside - but there were two lines and we missed getting in by just a couple of hundred people. It was about 11:15 when we were turned away. We were told they had 14,000 people in the stands and another 5,000 on the floor. We booked it out of there (yay for valet parking at the Needle!) and arrived home just in time to see the speech live on Northwest Cable News.

When we left there were hordes of people behind us in line as well as tons of people still arriving by the thousands. We let as many people as we could know that Key Arena was full, but most continued on to see if they could still get in. Most said they would be caucusing for Obama tomorrow and when it continued to be announced that the event was full people's attitude was, "That sucks that we didn't get in, but that's fantastic!"

There's been some discussion as to weather Obama has outdrawn Hillary at their Seattle events. Even with their respective venue choices, I'd say that Obama could have easily had another 7 - 10 thousand people should he have chosen a larger venue. I don't think that Hillary could have drawn that kind of numbers.

In other news - Frinklin met Janet Huckabee at the Starbucks headquarters this morning. But I'll let him tell that story later on his own blog. He's busy at opening night for his new show (How the Other Half Loves - tickets available now!) right now. It's a funny show he tells me. I'll be there a week from Saturday.

If you're a Democrat and you need information on the how to and where to caucus for (Obama) your (Obama) chosen (Obama) candidate (Obama) in Tacoma (did I mention that Obama rocks?) check out http://wa-democrats.org/. Everything goes down tomorrow at 1 PM. Be there or be square.

Also - (FINALLY!) our long backordered Obama yard sign and rally sign arrived. They went up in our yard and window to tell the world that we're in the cool crowd. Hopefully the yard sign won't blow away!

Posted by Ensie at 06:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 23, 2008

Spoiled For Life at SAVI Day Spa

I know! I know!

You're like - JESUS! Two blog posts in two days!? What have we done to deserve this?

But I had to write about the fabulous experience that my toes had last night at SAVI Day Spa.

Cassioposa and I have been on a quest to find a descent manicure shop in Tacoma for some time. We figured we would visit a number of ghetto places around town, eventually stumbling upon someplace unknown yet amazing. You know - the dream that all girls dream - an inexpensive nail shop with a miracle worker inside that can magically transform your shredded nails into strong, healthy, gorgeous nails overnight. All for under $20 a visit.

And we tried. We really did. We hit up several shops. Old ones, new ones. Until a few weeks ago we tried someplace really new and it was as though the place terrified our nails into not growing at all. Both of us have been suffering from short, peeling, split nails ever since. Plus we were seated far away from each other so we had to shout our conversation and then we were up-sold the entire time on eyebrow waxes and massages. Um, no. It was terrible. So we took a break.

And then I decided yesterday that my toes just couldn't take it anymore (email to Cassie, "Toes are claws! Need pedi!") and I needed and pedicure. But not at some ghetto place. I was determined to find something great, and in Tacoma. But try Googling "Tacoma Best Pedicure" online and you'll get a ton of results for Seattle. It's rather depressing. I soldiered on and eventually landed on the SAVI Day Spa at the Hotel Murano downtown. After a quick phone call to make sure they had room for two in the evening, our appointment was booked for 6:30.

We arrived right on time and valet parked (any service over 30 minutes gets free valet parking), admiring the new lobby decor. SAVI is in the corner of the building and we found our way quite easily there. Once in, Kelly welcomed us by name, given some paperwork to fill out for potential future visits, and offered drinks and appetizers. Since we had just come from The Melting Pot's happy hour we declined, sadly. But a glass of wine with your pedicure sounds just about perfect, don't you think?

At that point we each removed our shoes and ascended to the pedicure thrones. I can't imagine being more comfortable as Shelly and M (I'm so sorry I forgot your name!) worked on our feet. It was like heaven! We laughed and talked while our feet were pampered and rubbed, scrubbed and polished. There were no lulls in the conversation as we chatted with each other as well as Shelly and M.

Part way through our pedicure Co-Owner Sharon joined us to start our manicures. She provided us with some excellent advice as to why our nails might be spitting and chipping so badly since the last manicure (formaldehyde in the nail polish?). When she finished working on my nails they looked nothing like the sad things attached to my fingers I had brought in with me. Thanks Sharon!

They nearly had to shove us out the door when we were finished, we had such a lovely time at SAVI. I would have happily stayed forever.

We went with the lowest priced option for mani/pedi. The pedicure was $45 and the manicure was $30. Plus a big tip for the excellent overall experience. Definitely worth it. There are a number of other options that I'm sure I'll be checking out in the near future.

Posted by Ensie at 11:52 AM | Comments (130) | TrackBack

January 22, 2008

Sucking at Updating (In More Ways Than One)

Hello!

Hi there!

Did you miss me?

I'm sorry I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks. But, I've been busy, you see. There's been work, of course, which has been really picking up. And my house got a mini-makeover. And I got a mini-makeover.

I wish I could show you the before and after pictures of all this. But I can't, because I didn't take any before pictures. Because I suck at the whole "makeover" thing. Sorry about that. Suffice to say, it wasn't pretty. However, I DO have AFTER pictures of the gloriousness that is now.

New bookshelves in the dining room:

New Bedding:

Detail:

New Curtains:

Before the mini-makeover, there was a broke-down old shelf with far less space in the dining room that had unfortunately absorbed some of Sadie's pee (we've come to an agreement with Sadie at this time that seems to work for both of us and is saving our furniture). Out with the stanky shelf, in with the new! White, basic curtain panels in the bedroom were replaced with the ones (thanks Ikea!) which have leaves that match our wall colors as well as the new duvet cover.

And then there is my own makeover. Jenyum at Tacomamama was kind enough to notify me of a 50% off haircuts event that Embellish was having a little over a week ago. I'd been chatting with various people about Embellish and "meaning to call them" for about six months now, so I finally wo-manned up and made the appointment for a little over a week ago. It had been over two years before any sort of hair professional had touched my head.

This launched the crazy "hairstyle search of 2008" campaign. I immediately bought every hair magazine on the racks and began frantically looking for some haircut that would look good on my head. I knew I wanted something longer than my shoulders, but not much longer, as my hair dreadlocks itself as the day goes on. It should be able to be worn in curls or straight, and look good with my squarish/roundish face. Commence panic.

Pretty quickly I settled on what I thought was a good look - Kerri Russell has gorgeous brown hair. She also has very curly hair that looks great when straightened. I could rock this 'do, I thought:

And now, I am.

Thanks to Albon at Embellish for spending FIVE HOURS over two days on my hair to make it look gorgeous like Ms. Russell's. I can't recommend him enough. He was a lot of fun to have work on my hair and did a great job.

And I feel fabulous with my new hair. I've got an actual hair STYLE instead of a big mess on top of my head. It's inspired me to wear lipstick for the first time in forever. Who knows where this could lead?

Posted by Ensie at 11:04 AM | Comments (431) | TrackBack

January 03, 2008

Project Runway Girls Night

Last night's "Girl's Night In" expanded from two to four with the addition of jcbetty from Girlfriend in Tacoma and Jen from Tacomama to watch Project Runway at my place. Also added was a large bottle of wine courtesy of Jen and several different munchies. Cassioposa even brought her delicious home made caramels!

We had a great time, talking blogs and Tacoma, somehow meandering to stories of mooning people (you can see the natural progression there, right?). After listening to some hilarious parenting stories I've decided to delay having children for several more years. I like to sleep.

Thanks for coming over guys! I'll see you next week - same time, same place!

Want to join us? Send me an email at ensie1@gmail.com

Posted by Ensie at 11:57 AM | Comments (365) | TrackBack

December 28, 2007

Emergency Vet

Last Saturday was an adventurous day for us, to say the least. Not only did I have to make one trip to the emergency vet, I almost had to make two!

The day started off relatively relaxing, with both Frinklin and I sleeping in. He was planning to do some Christmas shopping and I was getting ready to attack the massive piles of laundry that were taking over our bedroom. We were watching the dogs play with a new toy in the living room when things got a little heated between The Jeffrey and Perdita. Suddenly, Perdy decided the new toy was hers and hers alone and grabbed The Jeffrey's head in her jaws!

Normally little tiffs between dogs are no big deal. They happen from time to time and you assess the damage and move on. However, Perdy happened to catch The Jeffrey's eyelid on her canine tooth from the inside and we couldn't separate them easily. The stupid dogs wouldn't hold still long enough for us to grab them, so I was practically sitting on Perdita when they magically came apart. Somehow, The Jeffrey only had a small puncture wound in the bottom part of his eyelid - no major damage. Whew! Escape Emergency Vet visit!

I should have never said those words aloud.

Not an hour later I hear one of the cats errupt in a loud scream, which is not unusual, considering the difficulty Sadie has had fitting into our family of kitties as of late. My usual course of action is to scoop Sadie up and soothe her, as she usually dissolves into a puddle of purrs and cuddles within seconds.

This time she growled and hissed at me, and when I ran my hand down her tail my fingers came away wet with blood. I discovered a large chunk missing from her tail and when she squirmed away from me red droplets followed her. On closer examination, I found a V-shaped slice in her tail, obviously requiring stitches.

"Now I'm off to the emergency vet!" I called to Frinklin, who was prepping for his foray into the wilds of the mall.

"What now?" He yelled in reply.

"Cat damage!" I exclaimed as I packaged up Sadie into her cat carrier and bundled her out to the car where she pitifully cried the entire drive to the Animal Emergency Clinic. It must not have hurt too badly though, because she was all charm and love when the vet on call examined her once we arrived. Her paperwork states, "Purr to loud to read pulse."

The vet initially recommended $700 in surgery for her tail to keep the blood flow active (don't want to kill off the end of her tail!). But because Sadie is so sweet, we opted for sedation and local in the tail while the stitches were put in (only $275!), which seems to have worked just fine. Everyone at the Emergency Vet's office fell in love with her. I told them that they could keep her, but so far no takers.

Upon her return home she appeared to have a giant dread lock attached to her ass:

Sadie remedied this quickly by ripping the vet wrap off almost immediately and rendering herself even funnier looking:

Our own awesome vet checked Sadie out on Monday and declared her to be healing. Her stitches come out in another week or so. As great as the emergency clinic was, I have no desire to go there again soon.

Posted by Ensie at 12:14 PM | Comments (157) | TrackBack

December 01, 2007

Tacoma Firemen Rescue Kitty

I really thought this was an urban myth. But this morning I awoke to a Tacoma Fire truck parked outside my front window with ladder extending to rescue a wayward neighborhood kitty named Max that had managed to get himself stuck on a slippery roof yesterday.

Posted by Ensie at 10:31 AM | Comments (322) | TrackBack

November 30, 2007

City Sidewalk Replacement

I really wanted to call this post "Fucking Sidewalk Replacement". And then in my head I was all, "but what if that's what goes up at Feed Tacoma and people are all offended and shit?" And then I remembered that I made a promise to myself that even though my Mom reads this blog from time to time (hi Mom!), that I wouldn't censor myself for anyone. That this is my own space to write whatever the hell I want...but then again...Feed Tacoma isn't my own space. Conundrum! Especially after all the publicity from yesterday.

I'll have to talk to Kevin about that. What's Feed Tacoma's official policy on swearing like a sailor?

Anyway...

This is my sidewalk:

I know it's my sidewalk, not only because it's directly in front of my house, but because I just paid the city of Tacoma over $1000 to replace it. They sent me a letter telling me that I had to replace it, because of the terrible condition of my unholy sidewalk:

(Click to read)

Am I the only one missing the terrible condition of my sidewalk? Especially, say, in the front six squares in the picture? Are there some booby traps or sidewalk demons I'm missing? No wayward tree roots have made their way skyward, and all of the cement is pretty much in one piece. I've read the description of "dangerous" sidewalks in Tacoma and I don't think mine falls into that category, but whatever.

So for the sake of peace, I've given in and paid for the stupid sidewalk replacement. Am I the only one pissed off by the fact that the original assessment of the sidewalk was done the year prior to my owning the house but I'm still paying for it? And why is the city forcing me to have ugly-ass sidewalks instead of keeping some semblance of historical accuracy since I live in the North Slope Historic District and I want to keep my neighborhood the way it is?

See my old-timey stamp?

See the hideous, glowing, ghost-like, new cement?

Am I the only one who thinks this patchwork of new and old cement will look like crap on a cracker? Get ready to welcome this look all over neighborhoods near you!

Posted by Ensie at 04:43 PM | Comments (520) | TrackBack

November 29, 2007

South Sound Technology Conference

Today's South Sound Technology Conference at the UW Tacoma was a blast. I had the chance to see a number of local bloggers speak, some of whom I am very familiar with, others I have never heard of before.

While I enjoyed listening to all the speakers and panelists, highlights for me included:

The "How Blogging Has Transformed the News" panel, featuring David Zeeck, Executive Editor of the Tacoma News Tribune, who was fascinating to listen to. He was a HUGE proponent of sharing resources and ideas, which was really great to hear, considering the arguments that have come up in the past between bloggers and "official" news sources.

The ParentBlogger panel which featured Elle of Life of Elle (among other awesome parent bloggers), who I met later on. How did I never know about this blog before? Definitely taking a permanent place on the blogroll.

Justin Carder on the "Civic Blogging: Public Discourse and Participation Through Blogs" Panel, who is working to create neighborhood blogs through his myzip.net network. His Capital Hill Blog reminds me a lot of Feed Tacoma in that it's a place for people in a neighborhood to come together and become a neighborhood.

Several other bloggers and tech folks were present, including Derek of Exit 133, Kevin of kevinfreitas.net and feedtacoma.com, and Andrew Fry (who did a great job being "policeman").

Posted by Ensie at 05:20 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack

November 27, 2007

Forever Dog

A dog can never really be separated from its forever person. Neither time nor space can ever come between them. So when the dog comes to the end of its earthly life, and must go on ahead without its person beside them, the guardian angel becomes a loving bridge that connects the two friends for as long as the person remains on earth.

--Excerpted from For Every Dog An Angel by Christine Davis

Thank you to Dr. Warren and the staff of Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital for making Pharaoh's last hour one of peace and love. And to the awesome folks at Mud Bay and Lucky Dog for the treats and hugs on his "farewell tour".

Posted by Ensie at 11:44 AM | Comments (370) | TrackBack

November 25, 2007

Sadie Needs a Home

After much consideration, Frinklin and I have decided to find a new home for Sadie. This is doubly painful as it comes at the same time as we are dealing with Pharaoh's impending death, but it has become very clear to us over the last couple of weeks that Sadie is not fitting into our family the way we had hoped she would.

Initially, we assumed the Princess of Thumbs would eventually give way to the rule King Percy. He's a relatively benevolent King , allowing things to play out daily without interfering most of the time. However, this defiant female usurper who refused to bow to his kitty will definitely rankled him and he set out to break her. While initially these started out as long, annoying games of "I'm not touching you..." they progressed rapidly to something far more annoying and eventually dangerous.

We've been listening to cat fights that have been growing in intensity and frequency over the last few weeks. They've been upsetting the other cats, the dogs, and Frinklin and myself. They can and do erupt at any time - when I'm on the phone with clients, when we have friends over, or in the middle of the night. Nothing like waking up to wailing, shrieking, spitting cats in the middle of the bed at 3 AM!

The cat fights have also manifested in Sadie not being able to move comfortably around the house, causing her to start urinating in odd places like: the floor, the countertop, and the top of the kitchen cabinets. Yes - the top of the kitchen cabinets! Fortunately I own an arsenal of cleaning supplies and have scrubbed down and sterilized everything in my house regularly. Once the cat fights diminish, I believe the litter box issues will disappear.

The Humane Society does not accept cats with litter box issues, which is the category she falls into. So I'm looking for a new home for Sadie on my own. I truly feel that Sadie just needs the right home, not to be put to sleep. She needs a place where she feels secure and safe, and isn't chased away from the litter box(es). I think a home where she is an only cat would be wonderful. Dogs are not a problem. Cat-safe dogs are fine for her. I think she would be just fine with kids that wouldn't be too rough with her. She loves to sit in laps and be cuddled for hours while she purrs.

If you or anyone you know are interested in Sadie, would you please e-mail me at ensie1@gmail.com

. I am desperate to find something for her soon. She's too wonderful a cat to allow Percy to harass her anymore. I want to find her a home of her own with a family for her to love.

Posted by Ensie at 04:24 PM | Comments (355) | TrackBack

November 23, 2007

Buy Local Day!

This is totally something I can get behind!

Instead of Buy Nothing Day, which I think is kind of silly (isn't it better to avoid the shops you want to protest all year?), use this day to focus on local shops who need the income just as much as the chain stores.

Posted by Ensie at 10:09 AM | Comments (20) | TrackBack

November 21, 2007

A Terrible Decision

Yesterday I took Pharaoh, my elderly great dane mix, to the vet. He came home with me, but there's only a limited number of hours left.

It's been a long time coming. This trip. It was a consultation on his worsening condition. Since we brought him home he's had terrible back and hip problems, so bad initially that he slept outside for the first week. Stairs have always been his nemesis, and lately they've been more and more of a problem.

He's an incredibly proud dog, and hanging around anywhere near his hind end while he negotiates any obstacle is a good way to end up with puncture wound. His body language is clear, "DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HELP. I CAN DO THIS MYSELF." Touch him, and a roar of anger will emit from within and he will go down, all forward progress stopped while he flails to reach you like an alligator in a mud pit. Charming, no?

Pharaoh wasn't meant to be here this long. We adopted him to have a home while he lived out his remaining weeks or months. Instead he lasted a year and a half.

He started following me around after a few days, insisting that his broken, clunky body get up and down to be in the same room with me, even if I was just changing the laundry around. He loves to plunk his head down in my lap, expecting his entire head to be roughly scratched and rubbed for a good 10 minutes before he will finally relax in his own bed. He's slept beside me since he could make it inside the house.

But he's started snarling and snapping at the other dogs and cats, inciting fights with The Jeffrey and ending up the loser in a number of battles. He's refusing to eat more and more often, and he can't seem to remember when he's in or outside before letting loose his bladder anymore.

During the car ride to the vet yesterday he couldn't get all the way onto the car seat to see out the window - possibly his favorite thing ever. He had to ride on the floor.

So this weekend Frinklin and I will have a Pharaoh Day with car rides and walks and dog park. He's on super-duper pain killers to keep his body up to the tasks his mind will enjoy.

Next week he will be put to sleep and his ashes spread over the Tacoma Narrows.

As I write this he is curled up beside me as best a great dane with back problems can curl. I am already missing him.

Posted by Ensie at 01:12 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack

November 12, 2007

Crown Bar Review

I was really excited to be checking out Crown Bar which recently opened on 6th Avenue. Owned and operated by the same team that handles my favorite Tacoma restaurant, Primo Grill, there was no way this could be a bad experience, right?

Wrong.

Since it was a Friday night (November 2nd), I assumed it would be difficult to get a table, however, at 7:30 during the Dia Day Los Muertos procession down 6th Ave. myself and Cassioposa walked right in and were seated. There were a couple other free tables, but the small bar was full. We ordered a couple of beers; mine a European Apple beer was fantastic, but at $8.50 a bottle I wasn't going to drink more than one.

When we were joined by a third, we ordered up the bratwurst, grilled bread, and curry ketchup appetizer. The grilled bread was delicious, the curry ketchup sweet and a little bit spicy, and the bratwurst was average. There was an agreement at our table that an appetizer of the grilled bread alone would be a great addition to the menu, as we all loved it, and could have taken or left the bratwurst.

When it came to ordering dinner, I chose the much-talked-about Jerry Stokes berry's buttermilk fried chicken, butter braised local greens and substituted the garlic mashed potatoes with the goat cheese olive campfire potatoes. Cassie had the Cougar gold mac and cheese.

Disappointment reigned over dinner. My fried chicken arrived hot from the fryer, but was bland and tasteless. It seemed as through there were no spices in the mix at all. On the contrary, Cassie sampled her mac and cheese, finding surprising peppercorns as she swallowed her few bites. My "greens" were a soggy, greasy mess of chard that was almost inedible.

I did enjoy the potatoes that were yummily mixed with goat cheese and green olives. They made up the majority of my dinner, as I hardly any of the chicken or chard.

The topper was a cocktail for Cassie that tasted like Windex mixed with rubbing alcohol. It claimed to be some sort of martini, but after we all sampled the blue concoction, it was proclaimed to be the worst drink ever mixed. The nearly full glass was left on the table with the majority of our dinners.

After tip our bill was over $100 and I felt ripped off. For "street food" this is enormously expensive. We had two beers, one cocktail, one appetizer, and two meals.

All but one table was empty when we left at 9:30PM. A bad sign.

I really, really wanted wanted to like Crown Bar. But the concept and the execution don't seem to mesh very well. And...well, are you a bar or a restaurant? If you're a bar serving street food, should your bill be a hundred bucks after eating there? And if you're a restaurant, can you get the rowdy people at the bar to stop screaming and yelling, and to quit leaning over my table and listening to my conversations? It's highly distracting and annoying. I'm also not thrilled with the decor (seriously - the silver fireplace rock? It's hideous), but I see what you're going for.

The food is the biggest issue though - if the food is good I'll sit through bad drinks, high prices, weird decor, and drunk guys leaning over my plate. Unfortunately, it's not.

Posted by Ensie at 02:48 PM | Comments (45) | TrackBack

November 01, 2007

Workspace Confessions

Today I was browsing the internets as usual and came across Dooce and her most recent entry about how Apartment Therapy wanted pictures of her workspace. Of course she submitted tasteful and artful pictures of various items arranged on desks and walls. All her shit is artsy and cool.

I wonder if this is how her workspace is every day, or if it gets cluttered and piled up, the way my desk is? It's so the opposite of artsy and cool. If Apartment Therapy ever wants my desk shots, here's what they'd get:

It's crucially important that my cell phone be comfortable.

That green thing is The Jeffrey's Dogzilla Halloween costume.

Looking at these pictures makes me see it through new eyes. Yikes!

OK - so this is pretty messy. But technically it's in piles. Piles of incoming, outgoing, and, uh, important stuff. VERY IMPORTANT STUFF. So don't touch it.

This cracks me up every time I look at it.

Is it wrong that there are more comics than work related items on here?

God it's good I don't meet clients at my office.

Books, books everywhere! Those shoes are also very important for work.

Posted by Ensie at 02:47 PM | Comments (32) | TrackBack

October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

I never know how many trick-or-treaters we'll get at our house. Logic says we should get a lot given our North Slope Historic District location and relatively high concentration of children in the neighborhood. Tonight's weather report is dry, something I haven't seen since moving here in 2005. This is my first rain-free Halloween. However, it's 7:15 and we've had exactly two groups of kids totalling six trick-or-treaters since I flipped on the porch light on just after six.

What a bummer. And we have so much candy. I'm literally giving it away by the handfulls. Way to miss out Tacoma kids.

I've been entertaining myself by dressing up the dogs instead.

Devil Dog Matches:

Lobster Dog Pharaoh:

Pharaoh, pouting like a little girl. He hates it when we put any sort of "clothing" on him and his reaction is to run and hide. Sorry bud. It was totally worth it for the pig tails.

God I need a hobby.

Posted by Ensie at 06:22 PM | Comments (450) | TrackBack

October 09, 2007

I Will Never Own a Convenience Store

No. No. No. And no.

Seriously? Convenience stores are the answer to groceries downtown? Or at least, to some groceries downtown? Who wants to have a convenience store located on every street corner across from their hip, downtown condo? Who wants to have a convenience store located across the street from their business? Who wants a "slew" of convenience stores to open in the downtown area?

This would be piss poor planning on the part of Tacoma to allow for ghetto grocers to move into buildings all over the downtown area. Now, if we're talking about small time grocery stores, like Tacoma Boys, or Dave's Meat and Produce (on Steele and North I), I would support these. These are not convenience stores, they are actual small, locally owned grocery stores with fresh meat, produce, and the like. You can shop there for a whole meal, or just pick up some essentials. They are charming places and do not attract bad elements in their various neighborhoods. But the majority of "convenience" stores are ugly blights that lend themselves to loitering and crime. Drive by the corner of 9th and Commerce one evening and you'll see what I mean.

Putting a real grocery store downtown is a fine idea if there are enough residents in the area to support it. But in the meantime, get used to driving for your groceries, just like pretty much everyone else does in the South Sound. I live in the North End and, believe it or not, I also DRIVE to get my groceries. I chose a home a few miles from the grocery store, and therefore, I drive. It's that simple. I didn't move here expecting a grocery store to be built next door. I don't complain about not having a cheap grocery store within walking distance.

And that brings up another point - the "affordable" downtown grocery store. Urban-centered grocery stores are a different animal than your suburban stores. When was the last time you saw a Fred Meyer or a Top Foods open in a truly downtown setting? Everyone who is convinced that you're going to get one next to the Tacoma Convention Center let me bust that myth right now - it's never going to happen. If the downtown demographic swings far enough in the family direction you might see a Safeway or the like, but otherwise places like QFC, Metropolitan Market, Thirftway, and Whole Foods - grocery stores that excel in urban environments - will be the companies that will be looking at setting up shop in Tacoma's downtown.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a vibrant downtown with a mixture of small time, independently owned grocers selling their wares, along with a good sized grocery store that coexists to meet the needs of all that live downtown and in the Upper Tacoma area. I think this would bring more people downtown on weekends and after business hours as well as allow for more businesses to stay open longer hours, which is good for everyone in the downtown core.

I cannot see any need, however, for a ton of hideous convenience stores. In fact, I would happily get rid of the ones right now that aren't attached to gas stations. In the meantime, understand that we've created a suburban world where most everyone drives for their groceries and start working on building a population density and identifying a demographic that is conducive to the type of business (read: type of grocery store) you'd like to see in the downtown area.

Posted by Ensie at 08:30 AM | Comments (133) | TrackBack

October 08, 2007

Tacoma Film Festival Outing

Braved the rain yesterday with Frinklin, Kevin, and Sarah to see Inlaws & Outlaws at The Grand during the Tacoma Film Festival.

We arrived with plenty of time at 3:50. The movie was scheduled to start at 4:15, however, we were told that it would not start until 4:30 because an earlier movie was running late. We headed over to One Heart Cafe next door and enjoyed some coffee in their comfy back room. When we returned at 4:25, the film was already underway. I HATE being late to movies, so this was really annoying. I felt like asking them to restart the film, "Hey - you told us to wait, so we did, and now you screwed me out of the first 5 minutes!" So irritating.

I really enjoyed the film, a documentary interviewing people about their love stories in a way that you didn't know if they were gay or straight until later in the movie. You just knew that they were telling their story about falling in love, sometimes talking about their childhood and various teen crushes, eventually getting to the love of their life (or in one case, a marriage that ended in divorce). Their narratives were so similar, you couldn't separate the gay stories from the straight, which showed exactly how similar gay and straight love stories are. By the end of the movie I was in tears listening to an elderly lesbian couple talk about their love for each other. There is also a heartbreaking story of an older gay man who describes the death of his partner of 50 years and subsequent struggle with heartbreak, desire to kill himself, and redemption at a North Everett church that welcomes him into their fold.

There is plenty to laugh as well. An odd, divorced woman keeps attempting to name her "life philosophy" and comes up with "all of life is grieving" and then states that "you should try to be happy." The elderly lesbian couple shares a little too much about their sex life in a G-rated way, "I lifted my pajama top and..." A few people come off as idiotically homophobic, "Can we get off this 'gay' topic please?" begs a single straight guy who doesn't think gays should be able to get married. There is a creepy, bald, unnecessary piano player to shows up a few times who stares unnervingly into the camera who gave me the giggles.

Overall it was very enjoyable, save for the odd musical cut-aways that did nothing for the movie. The music was good, but the singer was distracting. The film is offered for public viewings to communities and the like. A good starting point for people looking for a way to spark discussion about gay relationships. I think that this would be a fantastic film for high school gay/straight alliances (or possibly all high school students) to view.

Posted by Ensie at 01:23 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

October 07, 2007

Peeved at the Secondary Comic Book Shop

Frinklin likes to joke that I should have a regular (daily) column on my blog called "things that piss Ensie off" or "things that are annoying me". The list of things that irritate me is huge. I just think I would overwhelm people with my whining and kvetching constantly. Everything seems to bug the shit out of me sometimes, and I tend to hold a grudge against random people that have no idea who I am.

Today I had to go to the Secondary Comic Book Store to look for the second volume of Empowered that was released this week. Unfortunately, like my First Choice Comic Book Store, they were out of it.

Frinklin and I were discussing the merits of various comics and laughing at the artwork on covers, as we usually do, enjoying our time inside the store. At First Chice CBS this will solicit commentary from Alex, the best clerk in the universe, which keeps us in the store for sometimes as long as an hour as we chat about the merits of various storylines, writers, art, artists, etc. In the Second Choice Store things went a little bit differently:

First, before we had even approached the counter, Lame Clerk decided to tell us, "Must have this week are Umbrella Academy, Unmen, and [something else I can't remember because it sucks]!" Um, no. A) Frinklin already has Umbrella Academy, B) I would never read Unmen and Frinklin hates it, and C) Why are you pointing your finger at me and telling me what I should buy before you even know what type of comics I'm interested in? If you wait until I'm up there and see what I'm buying and then make recommendations based on my purchase, that might make the slightest bit of sense.

Then there was this exchange:

Me: Dude, a Howard the Duck Zombie cover? Howard the Duck blows.

Clerk: Howard the Duck is silly!

Me: Howard the Duck is the lamest thing ever. The creator of Howard the Duck has disowned him. Howard is dead to his own creator.

Clerk: But he's funny!

Me: No. He's not. Howard the Duck is the essence of lame. Everyone knows that. It's the ultimate truth about Howard the Duck.

Clerk: He's funny.

Me: (internal: WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!)

Now, to you, this may seem like a simple exchange with a misguided clerk. But to me, this screams that the clerk is correcting me, a paying customer, as well as a simple truth of the universe over and over again like an idiot. And he would NOT let it go and allow me to be right. Because, obviously, I was right.

Witness another conversation:

Me: The Ms. Marvel zombie alternate cover isn't nearly as scary as the puppet-master cover. Puppets trump zombies for creepiness any day.

Clerk: But clowns are creepier than everything.

Me: ?!? (internal dialog: Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.)

I totally realize that I am overreacting in a major way to someone who was just trying to do his job. However, I have high customer service standards after working in customer service and retail for over 10 years. But there are simple rules for customer service, the first of which is DON'T BE FUCKING ANNOYING.

I like the owner of Secondary CBS, but I will never shop there when Annoying Clerk is handling the place again. He is dead to me.

Posted by Ensie at 10:40 PM | Comments (55) | TrackBack

October 06, 2007

Nalley Valley Explosions

One of my greatest fears is not being home when there is an emergency. My dogs and cats would be lost without someone to comfort them in a moment of chaos, not to mention the possibility that they may become lost, as they are all indoor beasties.

Today I felt a moment of panic while Frinklin and I sat in traffic on 38th Street wondering why there was so much traffic while were were running errands. Eventually I had the idea to switch from the Cougar game to the news on the radio where an explosion at the Atlas Foundry was being discussed. Or rather, being mentioned briefly. Almost an hour after the event took place, only the traffic problems were being talked about, the actual explosion itself was barely mentioned, except to say that it had been felt up to five miles away and that there was a 500 foot fireball.

Immediately we swung around and headed for downtown and an alternate way home. I heard Sprague Avenue being mentioned, which isn't far from my home, and doubled my efforts to get home quickly. Down Pacific, over the 5 (totally stopped), up 11th, down Fawcett, up Division, down Sheridan, and HOME.

Fortunately I completely overreacted and everything was fine at my house. All the pets were relaxed and happy to see us home as usual. Unfortunately, we are short numerous items we desperately needed on our errand run.

But household needs pale in the face of disaster, and I pray that everyone in and around the Atlas Foundry stays safe. There is still an unexploded propane tank that the firefighters are working around.

UPDATE:

Video of the explosion is available here. 4:15 is the big explosion.

Posted by Ensie at 03:47 PM | Comments (63) | TrackBack

October 03, 2007

The Middle Floor Merchants

I have to start off this entry by apologizing to Deidre Norris and Jennifer Foster, who I promised I would write about way earlier, except that my life got in the way. So here is the blog entry that I should have written a week and a half ago...

Despite having lived in Tacoma for over two years, I had never visited the often talked of, almost mythical Sanford and Son. I'd head tell of the Middle-Floor Merchants, but didn't really understand how the whole thing worked. Turns out you walk into Sanford and Son on Broadway, viewing their amazing collection on antiques, then follow the signs downstairs. At that point you are at the "middle floor" deciding to go left or right, where there are amazing shops tucked away in stalls of varying sizes.

Deidre Norris' one is awesome. Deirdre was so much fun to meet and talk to about her art. She was in the middle of reorganizing her shop, so things were a little chaotic at the moment, but she still gave us the back story on several pieces she had put together ("I'm a dumpster diver!") and how she changed things from tossed trash to amazing art.

Currently Deirdre is "offering one-of-a-kind yard art, birdhouses, chair flair, unique & vintage chairs, pillow talk, custom headboards/wall panels, and many other unusual, vintage and quirky home decor items". She gave me a big hug as I left, encouraging me and my Mom to venture across the street to The Helm gallery, "Look! I just go goosebumps when I mentioned it! You must go!"

I bought this from Deirdre:

I'm thinking of mounting it on the wall.

Another of my favorite of the Middle Floor Merchants is Jennifer Foster who owns Country Girl Gardens where I stocked up on hemp washclothes (4 for $12!) and bought a gorgeous, handmade wool scarf that I've been using everyday for the last week. Jennifer handmakes the soaps she sells and has a great selection of items that make excellent gifts or just items to spoil yourself with. Decadent, environmentally-friendly products, as well as cool clothing that you'll want to buy.

Jennifer also let us into Folie A Deux, a space which sells art and old, (sometimes) refinished furniture, which was closed for a few days while the proprietor was repainting her house. I recognized the furniture - she used to sell it on the side of the street on North 21st. and had told me she would be moving into a Sanford and Son space some time ago when I had stopped to admire her work.

Also of note in the Middle Floor Merchants are Mondo Bizarro, a toy/comics shop that caters to the indy comics collector. My Mom purchased the Maus comics for my brother there (OK - so that's not so indy...) but don't go expecting to find a bunch of X-Men and Batman comics.

Sisters is a Muslim clothing shop that has fantastic scarves at great prices. You can find everything from tunic tops to burquas there if that's what you're looking for. The woman who owns the place runs a Muslim halfway house for women and is extremely friendly.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that Re-Fine Clothier is where I met Nannette and, in a vintage pram, her daughter Natalie. Vintage clothing (and an especially fine selection of gorgeous coats!) at bargain prices. Mom bought a beautiful red sweater for only $5.00 and has been cursing the warm weather in San Diego that hasn't allowed her to wear it.

The entire list of Middle Floor Merchants is here, but I truly recommend that you check them out in person at 743 Broadway. Several of the Merchants have odd hours, but Saturday seems to be a good day to catch most of them open at one time.

Posted by Ensie at 10:44 AM | Comments (34) | TrackBack

September 27, 2007

And They Say Tacoma Is Bad or This Is What Happens When I Leave My Hair Down

Yesterday I left Tacoma in the late afternoon for an appointment in Everett. I was happy because there would be little traffic and it would be a relatively peaceful, short drive where I listen to NPR and think about what would be happening later in the evening.

Until I got to the Boeing Field area.

Traffic started to get a bit sticky due to a Mariners double-header taking place. I wasn't particularly bothered, figuring that things would clear up once I was past the south end of Seattle. Then a large Dodge truck pulled up next to me on the passenger's side.

I glanced over, taking note of my surrounding as I usually do, and was surprised to see a man about the age of my father (late 50s) making kissing motions at me. I immediately started laughing, which seemed to encourage him. Whoops - wrong reaction. Since were were in slow traffic, his vehicle was stuck next to mine and he had numerous opportunities to continue the kissing, waving, and other mime that indicated that he'd like to get to know me better. I held up my left hand and pointed at my wedding ring while saying "married" which received a shrug and "so what?" in return.

I tried to ignore him, but it's hard to stare straight ahead while someone has rolled down their window and is screaming, "I LOVE YOU!" at the top of their lungs at you. It's flattering and all, but it's pretty distracting. I finally called Frinklin to tell him about my not-so-secret admirer, and seeing me on my phone seemed to freak him out. The window went up and the kissing motions stopped.

We finally hit the express lanes in Seattle and he was about to follow me onto those express lanes when I made an executive decision to sit in traffic for a while and pulled back onto the regular freeway. He ended up in the express and I lost him. Thank God. I had visions of him following me all the way to Everett and harassing me at work. That would be awkward while I'm trying to meet with people at an appointment and he's screaming, "I LOVE YOU!" in the background.

At the appointment I was chatting with someone about their jewelry and mentioned that the store The Seven Muses carried some beautiful pieces similar to what she was wearing. We laughed at the fact that Tacoma had a bad reputation, but she said she was trying to broaden her horizons.

All I could think was, "Hey - in Tacoma I don't get creepy older men leering at me in cars for several miles!"

Posted by Ensie at 10:25 AM | Comments (100) | TrackBack

September 18, 2007

Arrrr!

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day! Shiver me timbers!

I'm totally exhausted from my trip down to San Diego. My Mom flew back with me last night for a week's vacation in the PNW and our flight was a good hour late last night, finally landing at 11PM.

I wish I had more to add, but it will have to wait until later in the week when I've washed some clothes and caught up on sleep.

So nice to be back where it's not a million degrees outside!

Posted by Ensie at 07:32 PM | Comments (102) | TrackBack

August 30, 2007

Opa! is Definitely Worth Checking Out

Another blogger outing to a local Tacoma restaurant resulted in full and satisfied stomaches I'm happy to report.

Jen noticed Opa! opened their doors August 24th and organized a blogger meetup last night for dinner. Never one to pass up good Greek food I happily agreed and sat down with Jen, Kevin, Sarah, and Joe for an excellent meal.

Service was extremely quick from our appetizers to our meal. Drinks came immediately (Kevin - a Fanta? Seriously?) and we settled in to eat. We ordered a selection of four dipping sauces and were impressed by most except the hummus, which I noticed sat untouched by most after the initial dip. The Tzatziki was excellent, as was the Skordalia (potato-garlic dip) and we all enjoyed the Tirokafteri (Feta cheese, olive oil, lemon and herbs) as well. The pita was served hot and delicious.

When our meals arrived we dug in with gusto. Sara and I both ordered Myzithra spaghetti which was fantastic. I had never tasted myzithra cheese before and absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it, but plan on taking a box home with you - my stomach was full long before my plate was empty. Jen and Kevin ordered lamb dishes - Jen a stew and Kevin chops - both of which were gorgeously plated and came with rice and potatoes tasting deliciously of lemon.

Joe was the only one to clean his plate, having ordered a chicken dish. You can see Kevin's shots of him digging in here, and the aftermath here. Well done Joe!

I ordered the strawberry cheesecake for dessert and Sarah and Kevin split the white chocolate baklava. The menu states that the desserts are all fresh and homemade, but they taste like they come straight out of a freezer box at a mass produced warehouse. The only disappointment of the night.

The was a bit of a surprise when the check came. I thought the total was a bit high so I looked over the check closely and noticed that there was a gratuity already added. It seemed odd to add a gratuity for serving just 5 people, so that's something they may want to reconsider. Either make your customers aware that this is the practice in your restaurant or do away with it since it's not customary.

For a place that's only been open for 5 days, Opa! was bustling with customers and has a good feeling. The owner came out and bussed our table and said hello, which was nice. The menu has a lot of choose from, if you don't want Greek food you can have lots of other "fusion" options. Our waitress was funny and friendly, the atmosphere was nice, and I will definitely be making a return to Opa! in the future.

Posted by Ensie at 09:57 AM | Comments (150) | TrackBack

August 22, 2007

Mmm...mmm...Mary's Burger Bistro

We've officially reached the point where blogs are controlling people's mealtime habits in Tacoma. Kevin will point us in a direction and say, "EAT" and people will show up and eat they will!

Today the designated hot spot was Mary's Burger Bistro on Pacific. They opened their doors bright and early for breakfast, but Frinklin and joined in for the noon rush hour, and holy crap, was it busy!

We met up with so many well known Tacoma bloggers I hardly need to name them. Head over to feed tacoma and pick anyone you want and they were likely there. Reviews are up all over the place. I sat with Frinklin and Jen, Kevin, Sarah, and met Todd for the first time. I also spotted Joe (with a fancy new blog) and Michael of Red Hot Tideflats fame. And I had the luck to meet Tacoma Chickadee in person finally. It appears that even Ed of Ed's Diner made an appearance today.

The atmosphere was festive when we arrived at noon, and the line was out the door. The folks behind the counter were jumpin'. It took about a half hour to order, but we entertained ourselves by meeting new people and munching on the free cookies that were handed out (great cookies, BTW!). Once our food was ordered came the long wait. And long wait it was. Our food took about an hour to come, but we chalked it up to working out the kinks and there was very little grumbling. Free cookies continued to keep the troops happy.

Frinklin proclaimed his BBQ onion burger "great" and happily inhaled it. Unfortunately mine resembled more of a burnt hockey puck. When I pointed out my disappointing burger to Mr. Mary, he immediately swept away the hockey puck and moments later an enormous MIGHTY BURGER was thrust into my mits. Piping hot and deliciously adorned, the MIGHTY BURGER was perfection in burger form. The fries were fantastic and I left mighty satisfied.

The general consensus is that the food is good, operations are still working the kinks out, but overall everyone left feeling full and happy.

Posted by Ensie at 04:11 PM | Comments (29) | TrackBack

August 20, 2007

Wii Have Been Converted

I totally blame Kevin and Sarah.

But now that the blaming is over, we're having a blast. You can read the sumarized version of how we came to own a Wii this weekend. The slightly expanded version is that we played around with Sarah and Kevin's on Saturday night and by Sunday afternoon we were playing around with our own.

The gaming console is tiny and takes up almost no room. It's shockingly simple to set up and even more easy to use. There are no complicated manuals and walkthroughs to play the Wii Sports game that come with the system (yes, you heard that right Playstation and XBox fans - FREE GAME). There is the simple wireless remote ("wiimote") that is super cool and minimalist. And there is the idea that anyone can use this gaming system from the very young to the very old and have a good time doing it.

Frinklin and I are having much fun beating the crap out of each other at various games and sports. We picked up a few other games including the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Wii Play. Wii Play may go back to the store as a trade in, but Zelda has proven to be pretty cool.

In addition to the games, Wii also includes a news channel with the latest in national and international headlines, global weather, and photos. It's like a web browser within in your gaming console. I've found myself using the Wii in the morning instead of the computer to read the latest news and check the weather.

If you're thinking about getting a Wii I highly recommend it. I'm hoping the next positive thing to come from this will be weight loss. I was on my feet for a good three hours today playing tennis, bowling, and boxing and I'm exhausted!

Posted by Ensie at 07:39 PM | Comments (35) | TrackBack

August 17, 2007

I Am a Hot Dog Wuss

Joining up with several other bloggers on Wednesday at the brand new Tacoma eatery The Red Hot turned into an excellent evening of great food and good company. Frinklin was, of course, in attendance. Kevin and Sarah were both there. Mr. In-Tacoma himself. And a representative of This Shirt Is Pants. Frequent commenter (start a blog already!) Erik was there, as was Sparkrobot (buy his house!).

Special message to Angela and Steve - get a website...everyone's doing it.

There was definitely a festive feeling in the air upon our arrival at six, and the place was already busy. The bartender recommended the Woodchuck Pear Cider which went down well on such a warm day (not recommended if you're looking for something strong - it's more like a soft drink). I started a tab and ordered a couple of appetizers for the table.

Consensus on the apps is that they were OK - not recommended for large groups, but we hardly paid anything for them, so no great loss. Everyone ordered something different. Michael ordered the Tideflats which has absolutely everything on it. He wins the award for bravery 'cause I know my stomach would have put up a serious fight over that thing.

I had the Chicago dog minus the onions, peppers, and tomato. I KNOW OK! I KNOW. What kind of Chicago dog is that? But I wanted the poppyseed bun. Essentially I had a dog with mustard and relish and it was delish! Whatever neon green relish is used - it's the best I've ever tasted. Absolutely amazing.

Kevin's dog had cream cheese on it which sounds weird, but tasty. I'm branching out in that direction next time. Frinklin said the sour kraut was great, as was the slaw.

After three dogs, the cider, water, a root bear, and the two appetizers our grand total was $20.25. Practically nothing!

This could become a regular thing. Thanks Chris!

Posted by Ensie at 02:57 PM | Comments (223) | TrackBack

August 12, 2007

The Red Hot August 15th

Kevin Freitas and his lovely wife Sarah, along with a couple of friends will be joining Frinklin and myself for dinner at The Red Hot on Sixth Avenue for dinner on Wednesday, August 15th at 6PM. According the the blog of the owner of The Red Hot, Beer and Hot Dogs, they will opening their doors on that lovely day.

Who can resist beer and hot dogs?

Every time I pass The Red Hot my mouth waters with antici.......pation (3:33). Hope to see you there!

Posted by Ensie at 10:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 10, 2007

International Ensie Day!

Happy Birthday to Meeee!
Happy Birthday to Meeee!
Happy Birthday to Ensie!
Happy Birthday to Meeeeee!

I'll be celebrating by going out to Joeseppi's (did someone say birthday tiramisu?!) tonight with Frinklin and the In-laws. Thanks so much to Kevin and Sarah for doing drinks and dinner last night. It was tons of fun, even as we discovered they are just better looking, younger versions of Frinklin and myself.

Posted by Ensie at 09:37 AM | Comments (19) | TrackBack

August 06, 2007

Sicko and the Health Insurance Industry Evil

Frinklin and went to a showing of Sicko at The Grand Cinema last night. Initially Frinklin wanted to see The Simpsons Movie tonight, but I wasn't in the mood for the ginormous multiplex, so I talked him into the health insurance documentary instead...what?

Little did I know I'd end up in hysterical tears on the way home, sitting in front of the house yelling, "And they're all evil! Evil!!" While my husband grasped at what the appropriate response would be to this statement.

This is your typical Michael Moore movie. In turns dramatic and funny, over the top and obvious. Hillary Clinton is the "sexy, sassy" bombshell wife of President Bill Clinton who brings the idea of Universal Health Care to the uneducated masses and when the idea fails is never allowed to mention it again. George W. Bush is seen as a bufoon and the Republican Congress is easily bought by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

Canada, England, France, and Cuba have Socialized medicine and therefore have superior health care than the U.S. Which, after watching not just this movie, but other documentaries and reading pieces on medicine in other countries, I am inclined to agree with. As someone who is seriously wanting to start a family soon it kills me to hear the expectant mother in the UK state that all new moms get six months paid maternity leave and another six months optional unpaid leave. And in France you get a nanny to assist with laundry and meals twice a week, it's mandatory to take at LEAST five weeks vacation each year, and doctors make house calls. Did I mention it's all free? Those crazy French.

The harder parts of the film are the insurance denial horror stories. The woman with the haunted eyes that tells the story of her husband who died of liver cancer while the insurance company denied treatment over and over again. "Experimental treatment" they claimed, month after month as his doctor tried valiantly to find something that would fall under the banner of "conventional" treatment. When the doctor found a bone marrow donor that matched perfectly and declared it his last chance, the insurance company denied that too. The woman pled her case in person in front of the insurance board who condemned her husband to die for no good reason. Whoops - there was one good reason - money.

Or the story of the baby with a deadly feaver insured by Kaiser Permanente who was brought to the wrong hospital - MLK in Los Angles - a place infamous to those in Southern California (I used to listen to LA radio and hear about how many people they would kill every month). Kaiser insisted that the baby needed to be taken by car to the nearest Kaiser hospital for treatment while the mother begged that the baby be admitted and receive treatment immediately. While the hospital, the insurance company, and the understandably hysterical mother argued, the baby was eventually moved, and died.

The movie ends with the much-talked-about trip to Cuba with 9-11 rescue workers and a number of other people. Initially they plan to go to Guantanamo Bay to get the same health care as the "evildoers", but abort that plan when alarms go off as they get close. They end up at the Cuban hospital instead where everyone appears to receive the treatment they need, free of charge.

What really got to me about this movie are the people who sit on high in the insurance companies denying claims for no good reason other than to keep the money in the hands of their company. There is a woman who testifies before Congress that in order to move up in the health insurance industry, she had to deny claims, and it is further discussed that saving the company the most money would win you a bonus within the company.

This is a seriously fucked up system. A very evil system.

It is truly evil to allow people to pay you, to allow them to think that they are paying you to protect them when they are at their most vulnerable - potentially dying from a terrible disease, or that their loved ones are dying from a horrible disease, when all the time you are looking for ways to undermine and destroy them. There is an entire system in place to ensure that your benefits are not paid, or if they are paid, that they are returned to the insurance company at a later date, and that you will be retroactively billed. Or that you will be dropped from the insurance company for making a claim.

I can't help but think what would I do if Frinklin were hurt or dying, and the insurance company that we have, that he works for, were to screw us in such a horrible way. Oh, the pain I would rain down upon them...

Universal Health Care Now!

Posted by Ensie at 08:26 AM | Comments (27) | TrackBack

August 05, 2007

KOMO TV Blogger Meetup Happens

Because Kevin eats, sleeps, and breathes computers, he blogged about this event hours after it actually happened, however, I'm just now getting to it a few days later. I had some important, uh, weekending to catch up on in the meantime.

Last Thursday evening, myself, Frinklin, Jen,and Kevin traveled to the KOMO televison studios to attend a blogger meetup for the Seattle area. After scaring the bejesus out of everyone in the car a couple of times and taking a few wrong turns we managed to arrive safe and sound.

There were a good 75 bloggers present and the mingling was excellent. I met several new folks who I may never have run across in the blogosphere otherwise, and I hope to share a cup of coffee with in real life in the future. We also ran into Derek, and had a lovely time chatting it up Tacoma-style.

I know you're going to be jealous of this - but we go to take our picture in the Northwest Afternoon studio, and then we go to play a bit at the KOMO Anchor Desk and the green screen for weather. Somewhere there are shots of Jen and I doing the green screen weather thing. I even made it into the shot on the Seattle PI Big Blog (along with 20 other people, but still!). Since I'm anonymous, you'll just have to take my word for it. Although if you look at all of Kevin's pix, you'll eventually work it out. Although you'd have to be a really obsessed fan (or really pissed off supervisor of mine) to care that much.

After the meetup, the Tacoma bloggers sans Derek had a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory downtown. We had a great time getting to know one another and I'm looking forward to spending time with them again!

Posted by Ensie at 03:15 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

July 20, 2007

KOMO TV Blogger Meetup

So...I got a little got a little invite in my inbox today...

KOMO-TV and its owner, Fisher Communications, has graciously agreed to serve as host for a blogger meet-up at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday August 2nd. The event will be at Fisher Plaza, 140 Fourth Avenue North in downtown Seattle. Light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments (alcoholic and otherwise) will be served and everyone who attends is promised a cool piece (or pieces) of KOMO swag. That's right; we're digging deep for this.

This is a social event, so come prepared to meet and make new friends. If you know of a local blogger who's not on the list here, please let me know or feel free to invite them, too. We'd like to meet everybody.

If you don't already know me, I'm Chris Pirillo - coffee addict, Seattlite, and a regular ol' blogger who also has a YouTube channel. If you have any questions about this event, feel free to contact Leanne Dillon from KOMO-TV at (206) 404-6055.

KOMO-TV is interested in getting to know bloggers in the area, and what better way to do that than with a little party? Again, this is a social event; there's no agenda for the station other than helping facilitate this meet-up. Fisher Communications recognizes the significance of the personal media revolution, and they want to listen and pay attention to what you're saying. I think this is a good way to start.

KOMO-TV news anchors will be there, so don't forget to bring your camera! You'll also be able to take pictures of yourself (and your co-anchors) at the anchor desk.

Please use the RSVP function of this Evite to let us know if you're coming. We want to make sure we have enough food for everybody.

We should all use "komomeetup" as the tag for photos, videos, blog posts, etc.

Anyone planning on attending?

Posted by Ensie at 02:54 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack

July 03, 2007

Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me

As part of my new position at Bob's Hogs, I'm required to go through the files at all the local stores. It's taken a me a couple of weeks to do this, as some stores have boxes, instead of drawers full of old information. And so much of it weird or bad info. that had no reason to be saved, but I digress.

In going through the business card collection for one store, I came across something frightening. I hate when clowns just creep up on you that way!

I've blacked out the contact info. to protect the creepy, but still!

Even better, the back of the card has the price list ("Klown with magik, hard triks, free toys and free kandy" - enough with the Ks already!) and at the bottom there is a special note, "And I clean ovens, refridgerators, floors and windows. Money back guaranteed, becuase I am a master cleaner. Money back guaranteed." Guaranteed!

"But cotton candy and scotch, that's a weird funk. It's like - oh man - did someone just fuck a clown in here?!" - Dave Attell (Skanks for the Memories)

Posted by Ensie at 05:00 PM | Comments (269) | TrackBack

July 02, 2007

More Than Meets the Eye

I'm probably the 500th person to use that title, but WTF - it fits.

Frinklin and I went to the first showing of Transformers today in Tacoma and GOOD HOLY GOD did the movie ROCK!

If you, like me, were a fan of the television show growing up - go!

If you like to see kick ass special effects - go!

If you like to see lots of shit get blown up in a big, big way - go immediately!

I'm not usually a Michael Bay fan, but this movie met every expectation I had in a big way. The nostalgia factor is huge with this movie, and judging from the reaction of the crowd, everyone was happy. There was a lot of clapping and shouting, especially when Optimus Prime made his first appearance. On more than one occasion several people stood up to clap. Shia LaBeouf was great - after seeing him in this action role, I'm definitely looking forward to the fourth Indiana Jones film.

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June 28, 2007

Surgery for Matchbox

A week ago, I noticed a strange lump on Matchbox's right shoulder. It was about 15 MM in diameter, and was hard and rubbery feeling. I waited a couple of days to see if it was just inflamed from a bug bite or the like, but there was no change over the weekend.

Monday afternoon Matchbox and I headed to the vet and Dr. Warren took some tiny samples and sent them in for cytology (is that the correct usage of the word "cytology"? I really should have finished that biology class). When the results came back with some irregularities, I decided to have it removed immediately.

Dr. Warren removed the lump with wide margins in case it is cancerous. Even though I was warned that there would be a large scar, I was surprised at the size. Biopsy results should be back in a week.

Matchbox has been wearing a T-Shirt to keep the other dogs from tearing out the stitches. He LOVES wearing the T-Shirt and shoves his head into it when putting on a fresh one.

What a weirdo.

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June 22, 2007

What is UP with the weather?!

Hey, guess what? It's June! It's officially summer! And the weather is crappy.

There have been a few days of nice weather, but it always seems to be bracketed by dark clouds and rain. I realize that I'm in Western Washington, but come on already! Last year at this time we had warm sunshine and gorgeous white puffy clouds.

I feel like I've put in my time this year with rain, snow, and gray skies. I'm due for some consistent sunshine! No more nights in the 40s!

Weather report shows that Tuesday next week we may get up to 79 degrees. But of course, over the weekend, it will be raining.

Posted by Ensie at 10:38 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

June 08, 2007

Those $30 groceries from 1998 are finally paid off

The mortgage refinance is finally fucking over. It actually closed a week ago exactly, after much freaking out and last-minute faxing.

The most wonderful part of this whole thing is that all of my and Frinklin's credit cards are completely paid off.* So satisfying to pull up the various card websites and look at the account balance reading "Balance: $0". I haven't been free of credit card debt since I was 18.

*Please do not remind me that the money has really just been transferred to a mortgage that I'll be paying off for 30 years.

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May 21, 2007

Lipizzaners at the Tacoma Dome

Frinklin and I attended the Lipizzaner performance at the Tacoma Dome on Friday night. I forgot the camera, so I have no photos, but can link to these great pix posted by ResQdog51 on flickr.

The performance was pretty good. I was disappointed that they didn't perform all of the Airs Above the Ground. The Courbette, which is my favorite, was not included. I'm sure it's an issue of what horses they have available to perform at certain shows, still, I was bummed.

I could have done without the cheesy announcer and his bad jokes, but overall I recommend the show to anyone who loves horses, and especially to those who are dressage enthusiasts.

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May 11, 2007

Wedding Planning

I am going to kill my sister. Or someone closer if I can’t hold out until the end of May.

She’s the one having the big wedding on Memorial Day weekend and causing me to lose my mind because of all the stress. Do you think she cares? No, she does not.*

I was nice and eloped for my wedding. I didn’t even ask her to watch our dogs while we were in Vegas, because we didn’t go to Vegas. We went to the JOP.

But now there is the dress** (and all the accoutrements), the plane tickets (which have not yet been purchased), the finding of a pet sitter to care for the cats (and one long-suffering Cockatiel), and the boarding of the four dogs at two different locations. Add to this one mortgage refinance to finance all this stuff that is taking for-fucking-ever to complete.

In the meantime, our water heater started making a weird, high-pitched noise that my dad thought was a potential pin-hole leak and Frinklin’s dad thought might be caused by having the water temperature set too high. We wracked our brains for two days trying to find the source of the sound, all the while trying not to claw each other’s eyes out because a constant high-pitched beeping/whining/whistling noise is EXACTLY THE RIGHT SOUND TO DRIVE ONE INTO TOTAL INSANITY. Thank God I was out of the house yesterday for work and Frinklin was upstairs, otherwise the carnage could have been terrible.

We finally broke down and called a professional in (Stop freakin’ - call Beacon! – that’s a little something for the Washington crowd). The expert diagnosis rendered us sane within a matter of moments:

(click to enlarge)

Best. Homeowners. Ever. And it only cost $50! The nice plumber was kind enough to leave us custody of the house, even though we obviously don’t possess the mental capacity to care for it properly.

Now I have to go buy some cat food, because that’s what I do every week – buy lots of expensive, organic, homeopathic pet food. And then I have to clean my house like a fiend to try to make it presentable for the appraiser. And call the pet sitters again. And try to find a descent kennel that still has opening for Memorial Day weekend. And take all the dogs to the vet to update their shots and get fecal exams at least 7 days in advance. And pick up my dress at Nordstroms. And fax new documents to the mortgage broker (because the original ones I sent are too old, because it’s taking a really, really, really f-ing long time for the refi to close. Have I mentioned that?).

Oh, and I should really get on those $400 plane tickets. And I was silly enough to think that my parents would be the only ones going broke paying for this!

*I’m totally kidding and I love my sister with all my shrivled heart.

**Although she knows I’m hating the whole Matron of Honor dress wearing thing.

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May 06, 2007

Busy Saturday

Normal Saturday errands involve a trip to Comic Book Ink, Target, and Mud Bay.

Yesterday was not a normal Saturday.

Started off the morning with a trip to Comic Book Ink and Atomic Comics for Free Comic Book Day. Then headed to the Tacoma Mall with my Matron (ugh) of Honor dress for my sister's wedding. I've been putting off getting it altered because I didn't have the right shoes or (ahem) undergarments, and you've got to have it all together before measuring for any changes.

Thanks to Lane Bryant (and the BRA6) and Macy's for shoes - I was able to get to Nordstrom today to drop off the dress. It should be ready in a week and only cost $16. Granted, I only need to have the shoulder straps shortened, but it's still a great deal! The bridal shop in Southern California where the dress was purchased estimated $135 for alterations. Yay Nordstrom!

I'll have to post a picture of the dress when I get it back. I was terrified it wouldn't fit or be horrendously ugly in the cranberry color, but it looks great!

After finishing up at the mall we did hit Target for our usual - needing three things and coming out with 20. Then after a brief stop at Lowes (they don't carry the brand of paint we needed), went across the street to Home Depot, where we found the much needed paint to touch up the spots where Perdi has chewed! the !! baseboards!!! (as well as one of the windowsills and the bottom of the built-in dresser!).

Seeing all the flowers at Home Depot inspired me to plant something in the window boxes on our house that have remained empty for almost two years. I wanted to try out the city's Tagro potting soil and buy local if possible, so we dove over to Gardensphere (under construction website here) in Proctor to pick up the supplies.

I highly recommend Gardensphere if you haven't been - the employee who assisted us was extremely helpful, and showed us exactly what we wanted when described. The Tagro was cheap ($4.95 for a good sized bag) and we even found a gorgeous hanging basket in addition to the window box marigolds.

Finally heading for home about 5:30, we found some crazy dogs waiting for us. Frinklin took Perdi to the French Lake Dog Park to blow off some crazy, and a little over an hour later returned home to find:

Topped off the evening with the movie Spider-Man 3, which is getting terrible reviews, but I liked (finally get to see Peter be a little bad, in a goofy, Sam Raimi kind of way, and there is the ever-present Bruce Campbell cameo).

Fell into bed about 1 A.M. - feeling exhausted, but good.

Lots of plans for Sunday as well, but so far haven't managed to get out of pajamas.

UPDATE: Shane, the owner of Atomic Comics, just called to tell me that I won one of their drawings. Two free trade paperbacks! Sweet! One for Frinklin and one for me. Now I just have to narrow it down...

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May 05, 2007

Free Comic Book Day

In addition to visiting our friends at Comic Book Ink, today is a good day to check out some other South Sound comic book shops:

Atomic Comics in Tacoma
4020 S. Steele St.
Tacoma, WA 98409
253-472-1908
(between Borders and Wendy's)

Spy Comics and Books in Federal Way
1500 South 336th Street
Suite 12-A
Federal Way, Washington 98003
253-874-3084

Olympic Cards and Comics in Lacey
4129 Pacific Ave
Lacey, WA 98503
(360) 459-7721

Posted by Ensie at 10:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 04, 2007

Let me Second the Announcement

The Gin Blossoms are coming!

I freakin' LOVED this band when I was 17. I was working as a camp counselor that summer and would listen to them constantly on my drives home. My first concert I went to sans parents was the Spin Doctors (I know), opening acts Cracker and the Gin Blossoms.

So many good concerts (hello, Indigo Girls!) and events (What is this, cake? I've never had cake before...) coming up...so little time (and money!).

Posted by Ensie at 10:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 26, 2007

Dean Reports Kissing Girls to Parents

The Dean of Students at Gig Harbor High School reported the "strange" behavior of a student to her parents, prompting them to transfer her to another school. What type of behavior was the girl exhiting? She was kissing another female student.

GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- Restrictions on the use of school security videotape have been tightened after images of two high school students kissing were shown to the parents of one of the girls, officials say.

Keith Nelson, dean of students at Gig Harbor High School, said he saw the students kissing and holding hands in the school's busy commons, checked a surveillance camera and showed the parents the tape because they had asked him a few weeks earlier to alert them to any conduct by their daughter that was out of the ordinary.

They then transferred their daughter to a school outside the Peninsula School District, which lies northwest of Tacoma.

Both girls said their privacy was invaded and denied doing anything wrong. Neither was identified by name in an article published Thursday by The News Tribune of Tacoma.

The kiss amounted to a quick "peck," said the girl who remains at the school, a 17-year-old senior described as the daughter of a News Tribune employee.

"We weren't doing anything inappropriate, nothing anyone else wouldn't do," she said.

Nelson said students could not have any expectation of privacy in a crowded place and maintained that he would have taken the same action had the students kissing been a boy and a girl.

An internal investigation into a complaint from a student -- it was unclear whether the complaint came from one of the girls -- established that Nelson had not violated district policy, Assistant School Superintendent Shannon Wiggs said.

Even so, Principal Greg Schellenberg said, school surveillance videotape may now be used only for security monitoring and discipline for actions such as trespassing, vandalism and fighting.

Kissing and other public displays of affection were at the time and remain violations of school rules, but violators will first be given warnings and will be disciplined only for a second offense, Schellenberg said. In addition, school employees are barred from sharing surveillance video in response to an open-ended parental request.

"It's not our normal practice," Schellenberg said. "It's not going to happen again."

In the case of the kiss, he added, "the same information could have been portrayed to the family without the video."

Nelson said he respected the change in policy but added that he believes his first obligation is to parents.

"They're paying good money for us to make their kids good citizens," he said. "Whatever that means to the parents, I'll do it."

--Kiro TV (Associated Press)

The father of the transferred student spoke on local radio earlier today, stating that they had found, "evidence of homosexual activity, which we believe to be an abomination." He went on to say that his daughter had been "transferred to a school that deals with this sort of thing."

I am totally disgusted with the Dean, the school, and the father of this girl, video or no video. Is it their policy to report heterosexual hand-holding and kissing to parents? I highly doubt it.

And way to go dad - I've been the "abomination" route and it sucks. Parental disappointment can be an incredible burden, and trying to find yourself while someone condemns you to hell for falling for the "wrong" sex doesn't help.

Posted by Ensie at 09:26 PM | Comments (74) | TrackBack

April 25, 2007

Historic Home Tours in Tacoma

The Tacoma Historical Society will be hosting their 14th annual Historic Homes of Tacoma Tour on Saturday, May 5th and Sunday, May 6th. Saturday hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are $20 ($15 for Historical Society members) for access to eight homes.

Tickets are good for both days, but allow only one visit per house. Advance ticket sale locations includ the Tacoma Historical Society Exhibit Center, 747 Broadway; the Pacific Northwest Shop; Stadium Thriftway; Union Avenue, Fircret, and Westgate branches of Columbia Bank. For additional information call 253-472-3738 or visit www.tacomahistory.org.

___________________________________________

Not to be outdone, the North Slope Historic District Walking Tour will be held Saturday, May 19th and Sunday, May 20th. Tours will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. each day and will cover different areas of the North Slope on each day (Saturday uphill, Sunday downhill).

This is a FREE event, to reserve your space contact Marshall McClintock at 253-572-5474 or marshalm@oz.net .

Posted by Ensie at 09:52 AM | Comments (202) | TrackBack

April 23, 2007

McCreepy

"Hi, can I come in? Thanks. My kids are sick right now and I need something to bring their fever down. Do you have anything? Maybe 10 or 12 pills?"

"Hi, can I come in? Thanks. Do you have any NyQuill?"

"Hi, can I come in? Thanks. I'm having some money issues right now and need to know if I can borrow $10 to pay for my anxiety meds. I get paid on the 1st or the 3rd."

How do you say no to a neighbor you really don't want to piss off?

Until recently we called this family in the rental across the street "The McCreepys" because, well, they creeped us the fuck out. I did my best to avoid them, although it's hard, since they are often on their porch, drinking *many* beers, and they love our dogs.

A few months ago Mrs. McCreepy saw our mail get stolen. She told me about it, and I thanked her profusely for letting me know. Since then, she will randomly knock on the door, invite herself in, dump all her problems on me, then plays with the dogs and cats for a half hour before asking me for something she needs.

Not only does it really bother me that she invites herself into my house, but I don't care to hear about how her doctor won't prescribe her narcotics, or her kid has lice (ew) and got sent home from school, again (double ew), or even, that her older child's friends are not allowed to bring guns into her house - they have to leave them at home(!!). I'm glad she feels comfortable chatting with me, but I'm really not happy with the apparent level of intimacy that we seem to have instantaneously developed.

And the money borrowing thing. That really bugs. It's not the money itself - I have the $10 she needs - it's the fact that we hardly know each other and she is asking me to loan her cash for a couple of weeks. I know it was probably hard for her to ask, and I know it sucks to need money, but there are places that exist solely to assist with this sort of thing.

And the fact that she has plenty of cigarettes and beer while asking me for money...don't even get me started there.

Help me out - internets. Is this normal and I'm just being touchy? Or can I politely tell her to shove it?

Posted by Ensie at 02:53 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

April 20, 2007

Lipizzaner Stallions to Perform at Tacoma Dome

May 17th and 18th, the Lipizzaner Stallions will be performing their Airs Above the Ground at the Tacoma Dome. These highest level of dressage maneuvers include several natural positions the horses were once trained to perform in battle.

The true story of the flight of the Lipizzaner stallions from their famous riding school in Vienna to safety during WWII was made into a Disney movie, Miracle of the White Stallions, in 1963. One of my favorite childhood authors, Marguerite Henry, wrote the book White Stallion of Lipizza about a baker's son who dreams of becoming a riding master at Vienna's Spanish Court Riding School.

God, I'm horse nerdy.

Sarah, are you in?

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April 16, 2007

Letter to the Editor - Breed Specific Legislation is Not the Answer

Published in the 4/18/07 Tacoma News Tribune. See it here.

Robert Shirley’s letter regarding dog attacks in his neighborhood unfortunately puts the blame on the wrong party – the dogs. He complains of loose, dangerous dogs, and asks that “aggressive breeds” be banned.

The problem lies not with dogs, but with irresponsible owners. Most cities currently have Animal Control laws in place that allow for the pickup of loose dogs, especially those that are aggressive. Any dog that attacks is impounded.

The idea of banning “aggressive breeds” is a slippery slope. Pit bulls are typically the primary focus of breed specific legislation (BSL). To some, banning the breed that statistically bites or attacks most often makes sense. However, it is only in this decade that Pit bulls have received this dubious distinction. The Center for Disease Control statistics show Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and even Great Danes have topped the list in previously. Labradors, Dauchunds, and Yorkshire Terriers also make an appearance.

BSL does not address the root of the problem - any breed can be made aggressive if mishandled and/or abused. The same dogs that are considered “aggressive breeds” in some areas are celebrated for their sensitivity and intelligence in others. German Shepherds are one of the three breeds used by Guide Dogs for the Blind.

At a time when a large percentage of adoptable shelter dogs are crossbred in some way with Pit bulls, banning “aggressive breeds” from one neighborhood and moving them to another makes no sense. Requiring spaying and neutering and strengthening current dangerous dog laws are better solutions.

Read the unedited version in the extended entry

Robert Shirley’s letter regarding dog attacks in his neighborhood unfortunately puts the blame on the wrong party – the dogs. He complains of loose, dangerous dogs, and asks that “aggressive breeds” be banned from “family neighborhoods”.

The problem lies not with dogs, but with irresponsible owners. Lakewood, like most Washington cities, currently has Animal Control laws in place that allow for the pickup of loose dogs, especially those that are aggressive. Any dog that attacks is immediately impounded, and the owner may face further legal action.

The idea of banning “aggressive breeds” is an incredibly slippery slope. Pit bulls are typically the primary focus of breed specific legislation (BSL). To some, banning the breed that statistically bites or attacks most often makes obvious sense. However, it is only in this decade that Pit bulls have received this dubious distinction. The Center for Disease Control statistics show Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and even Great Danes have topped the list previously. Labradors, Dauchunds, and Yorkshire Terriers also make an appearance.

The CDC also notes several factors that “affect a dog’s propensity to bite”:

Several interacting factors affect a dog’s propensity to bite, including heredity, sex, early experience, socialization and training, health (medical and behavioral), reproductive status, quality of ownership and supervision, and victim behavior. For example, a study in Denver of medically-attended dog bites in 1991 suggested that male dogs are 6.2 times more likely to bite than female dogs, sexually intact dogs are 2.6 times more likely to bite than neutered dogs, and chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to bite than unchained dogs.

BSL does not address the root of the problem - any breed can be made aggressive if mishandled and/or abused. And who decides exactly what an "aggressive breed" is? The same dogs that are considered “aggressive breeds” in some areas are celebrated for their sensitivity and intelligence in others. German Shepherds (often included in BSL) are one of the three breeds used by Guide Dogs for the Blind. Boxers and Dobermans (also considered “aggressive breeds” in some communities) have also been used as guide dogs and service animals.

Banning specific breeds is akin to banning the automobile because it is the most accident-prone mode of transportation. Forcing everyone to travel by plane doesn't make airplanes or automobiles any safer.

At a time when a large percentage of adoptable shelter dogs are crossbred in some way with Pit bulls, banning “aggressive breeds” from one "family neighborhood" (what exactly is a family neighborhood? last I checked almost all neighborhoods have families in them) and moving them to another makes no sense. Requiring spaying and neutering and strengthening current dangerous dog laws are better solutions.

Posted by Ensie at 07:15 AM | Comments (23) | TrackBack

April 14, 2007

Congratulations!

Congratulations to John Munn, owner of Tacoma's best comic book shop, Comic Book Ink, and his new bride Sarah.

We spent the day at their lovely wedding at the Temple Theatre and wish them many happy years together!

Posted by Ensie at 05:00 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 11, 2007

Tacoma's Beautiful Angle Represents in the Emerald City

In my in-box today I received an invitation to the Beautiful Angle Artist's Reception at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle.

Details for the event taken directly from the eVite:

Host: Beautiful Angle
Location: The Gallery that happens to be at the School of Visual Concepts
500 Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, WA
When: Friday, April 27, 7:00pm

Join Beautiful Angle on Friday, April 27 in the unwashed lands of Seattle, WA. For the first time, we'll be showing a complete retrospective of our work outside of our own holy city. We'd love to see a strong contingent of Tacoma folks come up for the reception.

There'll be some free food, a cool crowd, and posters on the wall. It's at one of our favorite non-Tacoma places, Seattle's School of Visual Concepts. SVC and their wonderful letterpress program has long been a supporter of our project.

We'll be giving away a free commemorative poster on the spot. In regards to the displayed work, it's the same old posters, but we've got to say: the messages seem transformed when displayed in a foreign land. You just may look at them with a new perspective.

We hope to see you soon.

Lance Kagey, Tom Llewellyn, and the rest of the Beautiful Angle family

--------------------

Come out and show your support for local Tacoma art!

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April 09, 2007

Irish Oatmeal Bread

What to do on a rainy morning in Tacoma but bake? Today I had the mad desire to whip up some bread, but had not the patience to wait for yeast to rise. If you have a similar yearning and would like to taste a bundle of oatmealy deliciousness, here is the recipe for you:

Irish Oatmeal Bread

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
1 - 11/2 cups milk

Sift together salt, baking powder and flour in a bowl. Add oatmeal and mix well. Beat the eggs, melted butter, brown sugar (or honey), and one cup of the milk together. Be careful that the eggs are not too cold and the melted butter not too hot or you will scramble the eggs. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet and add enough milk to make a soft dough.

Turn dough out to knead for 1 - 2 minutes. Shape into a round loaf.

Use a heavy, ovenproof plate for baking (or whatever you have at hand that will allow the dough to expand a bit - a cookie sheet will do in a pinch). Grease the plate, then flip the loaf over so that both sides are greased. Cut a shallow gash across the top of the loaf. I like to add butter to the gash - but that's up to you.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.

Bread is done when loaf is turned over and a hollow sound can be heard when you "thump" the underside of the bread. Or when it looks done - starting to turn golden brown. Yummy.

Best when straight out of the oven and spread with your favorite jam or jelly.

Posted by Ensie at 05:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 07, 2007

New Fries at St. Helens Cafe! Film at 11.

St. Helens Cafe has started serving new fries.

We went for dinner on Friday night (instead of Thursday - I swear we don't go there every night, Kevin and Cassioposa, regardless of what was indicated at C&R) and were served a smaller, tastier fry. I asked about the switch and was told that these are more distinctive, less, "frozen, straight out of the bag. We are a fish and chips place, after all!" She also told me Friday was the first day they had tried the new fries and people seemed to like them.

The new fries are more shoe-string style. I vote in favor of them.

Anyone else tried the new fries? If not, make it a point to do so.

We also got to experience eating at St. Helens with the garage doors up. It was great!

Posted by Ensie at 11:17 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

April 05, 2007

Tacoma Reads Together: The Pact

At King's Books the other day I was able to pick up my button for Tacoma Reads: The Pact. If you aren't familiar with Tacoma Reads Together, you should be.

Tacoma Reads is a program created after September 11th, 2001. From the Tacoma Public Library website:

In the aftermath of the tragic event of September 11, 2001, Tacoma educator Patrick Erwin sought a way to bring the Tacoma community together to talk about the issues which appeared to keep the community apart. Remembering What if all Seattle read the same book?, a project begun by Seattle’s Nancy Pearl, Erwin met with Mayor Brian Ebersole and others to suggest that perhaps Tacomans should be encouraged to come together to read, reflect upon, and then respond to the ideas and issues raised by one good book – one book which the entire community would be encouraged to read and discuss. In short order, Tacoma Reads Together was born.

The rest of the Tacoma Reads Together history can be found here.

The 2007 Tacoma Reads selection is The Pact by Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt. This is the inspiring true story of three young black men from the projects in Newark, New Jersey. All three were chosen to attend University High School, a magnet school in the city. As they bonded together as friends, the three made a pact to graduate, and go on to become doctors. All three succeeded.

I was lucky enough to meet all three doctors at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in 2003. They were the keynote speakers and I was running the books sales for the event. I sold 600 books in less than 2 hours. The line wrapped around the room. Their story wasn't just amazing, they were great speakers, and they stayed afterwards to meet with every single person (1000 people attended the session) who wanted to shake their hands.

There is also a version of The Pact written for younger readers called We Beat the Street.

Posted by Ensie at 01:56 PM | Comments (35) | TrackBack

April 04, 2007

Book Crossing Release Caught!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had joined Book Crossing, a very cool web-based community that allows you to register your books, tag them, and "release" them into the wild for others to find. I've released two books so far, one at the black water and the other at St. Helens Cafe.

Today I was rewarded - someone "caught" the book I released at the black water! Hopefully they will keep the trend going and once finished with Then We Came to the End will set it free in another public location.

You can check out other books that I have released, or are soon to be realeased by clicking the icon here:

Posted by Ensie at 05:03 PM | Comments (29) | TrackBack

April 03, 2007

No Rhubarb!

Frinklin is starting a new blog all about the Tacoma Rainiers. No Rhubarb! is under construction right now, but should be fully up and running later this week.

I have a sneaking suspicion this is just to get us to more baseball games this year, but whatever.

Posted by Ensie at 04:18 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 31, 2007

Tacoma Small Press Wayzgoose 2007

Frinklin and I stopped by King's Books on our way home from the Emerald City ComiCon to visit the Small Press Wayzgoose, which was quite fun.

There was paper-making going on outside and Kings was packed with people admiring the works of numerous talented Washington paper-smiths.

I purchased an incidental relation, a very cool handmade book about an almost unseen piece of furniture. I told the book-maker, Jenny Craig of Notta Pixie Press that it reminded me of Edward Gorey's book The Curious Sofa, in which various people perform "pornographic" acts around a stationary chiase. She informed me that she based it purposefully on that style, which you can see a sample of here.

I also had the opportunity to make my very own Beautiful Angle poster, and meet Lance and Tom in person. The guys said they were up late last night creating a new "Parking in Paradise" poster that is very cool. Hopefully it will be up at their website for purchase shortly.

A few shots from the afternoon, taken on the camera phone.

Handmade paper drying

Notta Pixie Press Table

Jenny Craig of Notta Pixie Press

My very own Beautiful Angle poster

Posted by Ensie at 04:01 PM | Comments (438) | TrackBack

March 22, 2007

How Did I Not Know About This?!

Bed Races? Inspired by Frida Kahlo?!

Oh, I'm so there.

April 27th - Mark your calendars.

Posted by Ensie at 10:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

FeedTacoma

If you haven't yet, make sure you visit the new Tacoma-centric site FeedTacoma.

Organized by several Tacoma bloggers (and especially Kevin Freitas), it's self described as "A community resource by people who live and love Tacoma." And it really is.

Check out the main page, the discussion board, photos, and the events about town.

Lastly, the "About" page includes links to several Tacoma bloggers - bothhands to be added soon!

Posted by Ensie at 08:59 PM | Comments (324) | TrackBack

March 18, 2007

Book Crossing

Today we stopped at the open house for a gorgeous, 3-story Victorian house a couple of blocks away from our own house. The enormously high ceilings, flowing rooms, and seemingly endless amount of space were slightly depressing, but inspired a bout of cleaning that was greatly needed.

If you've got an extra $500K to spend, it certainly looks worth it (Most disturbing was the bathroom - almost as large as our master bedroom)!

I spent several hours cleaning up the book explosion from January that had overtaken the office after the ALA Convention. Instead of being smart and putting all of my catalogs (oh, so many catalogs) and hundreds of books in boxes immediately, I had left them in the flimsy, free bags that the vendors supply everyone with, and they had started to overflow and give way at the bottom, causing gradual lava flows of books and magazine-like products over the entire space. I would have taken pictures, but the state the room was in was just too embarrassing. Weirdly enough, our next-door neighbors have a perfectly elevated view from their kitchen through our office closet (?!) window. I'm sure they think we're huge slobs.

Now the books are boxed, and the majority have moved upstairs with the rest of our books that don't fit on our minimal bookshelf space. Our next house has got to have a library in it. In addition, the books from the Bob's Hogs Conference have also been sorted through, and I have four boxes of books to donate to charity.

What I'm really excited about is that I finally got registered on BookCrossing today. With the number of free books that I get from publishers and the number of books I have that I no longer need, I have more than enough to unleash upon the unsuspecting Tacoma public. I had no idea that you could even order Release Kits to put on your books to tag them as BookCrossing titles to make sure that people notice them and pick them up. Cool!

My first book release will be an advanced reader copy of Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. It looks like the book release supplies should be coming from Sand Point, ID, so hopefully I'll get to set it free this week.

Posted by Ensie at 06:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 13, 2007

Beautiful Angle

I feel like I'm so behind when it comes to learning about the city I live in. I've been seeing these posters here and there around Tacoma, but it took me weeks to finally figure out where I could get one.

Apparently I missed the holiday show in December, but will be on the lookout for future events.

Posted by Ensie at 08:47 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Best Coffee in Tacoma

I have become addicted to the blackwater cafe.

I'm not exactly why it took me so long to go there, but now that I've walked through the front door, it's going to take a crowbar to get me out.

The coffee is delicious, it's not served scaldingly hot like some places, and there are books aplenty to read on the shelves in the back.

Posted by Ensie at 08:17 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

January 11, 2007

Tah Dah!

Tacoma outperformed expectations last night in the snow category, ending up with 7 inches officially, although we measured 9 inches on our deck at 11:30 before retiring for the evening with snow still falling. Weather reports early Wednesday called for snow North of Seattle, with a possible inch or two in the foothills to the East. Trace amounts expected in the South.

The clouds formed a large convergence zone in the shape of a middle finger over Tacoma that stuck for about 5 hours. Many people were forced to abandon their cars downtown, unable to climb the steep hills to Tacoma proper. Frinklin took the day off. Now that the snow has had a day of sunshine (but not really any heat, it was all of 32 degrees today), everything has rapidly refrozen. It should be an icy experience getting to the train tomorrow.

I got lots of snow and ice driving experience today. The Subaru did well. Only one stopping problem and the anti-lock brakes kicked in immediately to stop the skid. Also one acceleration slip that was my fault for starting out too quick on sheer ice. God do I love the AWD.

Wind chill today was 16 degrees. Overnight it should get down to 14. My friend in Philly told me it was almost 70 degrees there last weekend. Maybe we should move...

A few pics from today:

First thing this morning, before the wind knocked all the snow down.

The Beetle will likely remain in hibernation for the next several days.

No footprints, just ski tracks on the sidewalk!

Early AM

The icy gauntlet

Posted by Ensie at 10:16 PM | Comments (111) | TrackBack

December 22, 2006

"Oh George, George Dear..."

Found at so anyway...

In case y'all didn't know, Frinklin just happened to take part in the radio stage play of It's a Wonderful Life here in Tacoma with the Horatio Theater. He played a number of parts including the Announcer, Mr. Potter, Uncle Billy, and several minor roles. The show was great fun to watch and was reviewed in the paper positively. Can't wait to see the next one!

Posted by Ensie at 04:54 PM | Comments (105) | TrackBack

December 16, 2006

Windy!

The Frinklin-Ensie household is finally back online after the ginormous windstorm that struck Thursday evening. We lost our cable (and thus the internet, TV, and phone) on Thursday afternoon, and our power followed about 1 AM early Friday morning. We were lucky enough to have lights and heat again by early afternoon Friday, and it appears the cable came back sometime around 6 PM today.

We weathered the storm far luckier than some, having giant dogs and plenty of cats to keep us warm, a gas fireplace without an electric starter, and a gas water heater. Currently, the houses across the street from us still don't have power, and Tacoma Public Utilities is saying it may be another day to get everyone up and running. Reports are there are 6500 people still without power here and temps are already in the mid 20s.

Seattle City Lights had 175,000 customers without power on Friday morning. Puget Sound Energy had over 700,000. The town of Gig Harbor only has 30,000 subscribers on their power system, and 28,000 of them were without power after the storm ended. It's been amazing to see the destruction this storm has brought just to our neighborhood.

Check out Exit 133 to find more photos, esp. in the comments section.

When I took the below shots a couple of blocks from my own house I had no idea that this tree came from fellow Tacoma blogger James' front yard. You can see his own pictures at Tacomaness.

Posted by Ensie at 10:36 PM | Comments (175) | TrackBack

November 28, 2006

Ice and Snow

All taken in or from the front yard. Hit the time stamp to see the photos in full.

Posted by Ensie at 02:57 PM | Comments (97) | TrackBack

Snow Day...Yay?

Maybe it's not so great that we have a snow day today.

Reports are that over 150 Seattle Metro busses were abandoned along with countless cars on the side of freeways and roads due to ice and heavy traffic. Bus service is at 80% capacity currently. Cars still litter the streets.

Microsoft shut down their Eastside campus in Redmond, WA. This is the first time I can remember this ever happening.

90% of school districts in Western Washington are closed including Seattle and Tacoma Public.

Commutes home last night took four or five hours instead of the usual 1/2 to 1 hour. Bus drivers told people to get out and walk.

Hotels lowered rates and allowed people to sleep on cots for free in their conference and ball rooms.

Oregon fans leaving the Seahawks/Packers Monday Night Football game last night driving home to Portland are just NOW arriving home at noon, fifteen hours later. Seattle to Portland is normally a three hour drive.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge between Tacoma and Gig Harbor was shut down in both directions last night for several hours due to a major accident. As was the 512 freeway in Puyallup this morning. And the I-90. And parts of various other freeways and roads.

High temperature expected today in Tacoma is 27 degrees with a wind-chill of 13.

High temperature expected today in Bellingham (North of Seattle) is 14 degrees with a wind-chill of -3.

While the sun is shining currently, as soon as it sets everything will refreeze, just in time for evening rush hour. Snow is expected again on Wednesday evening into Thursday.

Frinklin's office, technically a branch of the Bismarck, North Dakota office, saw absolutely no reason to close their Seattle location. What's a little snow and ice? So what if Seattle is located on various verticle slopes?

Posted by Ensie at 01:36 PM | Comments (44) | TrackBack

June 26, 2006

Hot

How Percy spent the day:

What you can't see is the giant box fan in the window set on high.

Posted by Ensie at 04:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2006

Omelet a la Subaru

Dear Asshole,

Was it really necessary to egg my brand new car last night to celebrate your graduation or some other anticlimactic event? I haven't even made a payment on it yet. I've never owned a brand new car before. Finding several eggs glued to the side this morning...lets just say you're lucky I don't know who you are. Even better, I had two appointments that kept me from getting the nasty mess removed until this afternoon. As the weather is warming up, the eggs had solidified and bonded to the paint by the time I got to the carwash.

Ah, the carwash. I don't know where there is a hand wash in Tacoma, so I had to take it the Pink Elephant. My brand new car got to travel through the car washing tunnel. If you've ever had a new car, which I doubt, you'll know that the car wash tunnel scratches the hell out of the clear coat finish on a new car. In addition to the big scratches where the eggs met car, the finish is now marred. You may not be able to see it, but I can. Oh--and the guy who dried off the car? He used a RAZOR to pick the stuck-on eggshells off, resulting in some great gouges in the paint. So, again, thanks for that!

You are a total asshole and I hope that bad car karma follows you the rest of your days. May everything you own be a lemon and should you ever have a brand new car, I hope some dickwad eggs the hell out of it.

Fuck you,

Ensie

Posted by Ensie at 07:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 22, 2006

Casualties of the Backyard

The Jeffrey has turned into a killer.

A few weeks ago he scared the crap out of Frinklin by attacking a full-grown opossum that happened to be in our backyard when he went outside before bed. Frinklin told the story here. Fortunately(?) the opossum survived and after playing dead for ten minutes it wandered away. We haven't seen it since.

Despite the fact that word must have spread by now throughout the oppossum community that ours is a house of death, we are still seeing baby oppossums regularly. Unfortunately, we are only seeing them dead. Yesterday while I filled out paperwork for the new car Frinklin ran home to pick up the title for our trade-in. He let The Jeffrey out for just over a minute which is apparently all the time it takes to maul a small opossum.

I've double checked with the vet to make sure that The Jeffrey's rabies vaccine is up to date. Fortunately rabies is not a problem with opossums in the area, only with birds and bats. I really can't take anymore bodies in the backyard though.

Posted by Ensie at 06:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 17, 2006

Frigid

If I thought it was cold before, I was wrong. The weather report showed temperatures of -5 degrees last night with the wind chill. The wind is arctic air blowing off the ocean. White Pass was -68 degrees! That's MINUS 68 degrees at the summit. Did I accidentally move to Antarctica?!

The weather man currently on TV is reporting that we will see temps in the single digits near the Puget Sound which could feel as low as -10 as the wind continues to blow.

I know for those of you living in truly cold places are probably laughing at me and my wussiness when it comes to freezing temperatures. However, the coldest I've ever been is about 22 degrees. I can't even imagine anything lower, but it sounds like I'll get to feel it. Please send warm thoughts for my pipes (no bursting!) and for the 50,000 people in the area without power (and without heat in many cases). I'm contemplating bringing a couple of neighborhood outdoor cats into our house for the night.

Posted by Ensie at 06:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 17, 2005

Banned in Tacoma?

Where the hell to they sell Suave Naturals deoderant and antiperspirant around here?

Posted by Ensie at 07:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 28, 2005

Homesick

Oh, the homesickness. In waves, like nausea. I've been absolutely miserable.

We've been just over two months and it's like a bell went off in my brain that, instead of saying, "ding!" is screaming, "I WANT TO GO HOOOOOOMMMEEEE!!" Then there are tears and sobbing and a weird panic attack that I actually felt coming on 1/2 hour before it hit.

I had finished eating dinner on Monday night and thought--odd, I feel as though I'm going to have an anxiety attack. Shortly after, I was preparing to go to bed and wham! Tears and gulping for air and uncontrollable shaking. After 15 or 20 minutes I was able to pull it together, only to be hit by another round of tears and shaking moments later (although I could breathe this time). I finally relaxed enough to watch some TV, read, and sleep (thanks to Simply Sleep).

Tuesday sucked. I've been having a difficult time adjusting at work. The people are relatively friendly, but each Bob's Hogs is going to be different, and this one certainly is. It makes me wonder if we were all just slackers down in San Diego. The random rules and restrictions at this particular store are playing havoc with my role as Queen of Everything. The staff at this store is proving less malleable to my way (the correct way) of doing everything. I was blessed to have a very successful program in San Diego that required a lot of time-consuming work, but relatively little outreach. Here, I find I have to do twice the amount of outreach and am reaping less than half of the benefits. Things are beginning to move, but I am impatient. I know realize how lucky I was previously. And I am feeling rather sick at the thought that I voluntarily gave that up.

Yesterday evening concluded with another round of tears, this time on the phone with my Mom. My family is extremely important to me, and I miss them more than I thought possible. How am I going to survive missing my younger sibling's high school years? How can I continue going to the movies without my best friend - my sister, Katie?

I'm feeling considerably better today, but it's more of a struggle than I anticipated

Posted by Ensie at 06:48 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

August 03, 2005

The Furniture--She is Here!

Finally!

I literally had begun to believe that nothing that I own would ever show up at the new house. All our stuff would just continue riding around on various moving trucks, traveling back and forth across the United States FOREVER.

The moving company called Frinklin on Monday afternoon to tell us that the movers would be at the house between 2 and 5 pm on Tuesday and, by the way, you owe us an extra $700 because you went over your weight limit. No kidding, really? I tried to explain when I booked job that we had 32 boxes of books and 15 boxes of comics in addition to our regular stuff, but they didn't want to hear it. Asshats. Then they showed up at 6, even though I had to leave my new job on the SECOND DAY to meet them. They also upped the stair charge from $49.00 to $69.00 for THREE extra stairs. The movers didn't mention that until afterwards and I refused. I think he saw the crazed look in my eye saying go ahead--try and take something worth twenty bucks. I dare you. I'm looking for an excuse to kill you.

I'll be contacting the Better Business Bureau later on this week about the crappy service and their inability to call me back while hauling 5,000 lbs of my belongings around.

Lastly, I wouldn't allow the movers to take anything upstairs (more money, you know), so it's all packed in the living room and one bedroom. I have pictures, but you're going to have to take my word for it for a while until we get the desk and computer set up. The movers did not set up the desk, even though we had paid them to.

To top it all off, they lost all my metal posts which hold the bookshelves in the actual cases, so the 34 boxes of books MUST remain packed until next weekend.

Posted by Ensie at 04:58 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

June 26, 2005

The Lost Weekend

I'll be glad when the weekend gets here...

What? You mean it's already happened? When?

Dammit.

I missed it. I was too busy clearing our entire backyard and cleaning our house like it has never been cleaned before. I am rapidly losing the ability to think--typing this blog entry took me 13 minutes.

Posted by Ensie at 07:29 PM | Comments (1)

May 11, 2005

Movin' on Down

The Forbes List of the Best Places to Live has ranked San Diego thusly:

#25 San Diego CA
Population: 2,986,000
RANK

Engineers1 24

Cost of Doing Business2 148

Cost Of Living3 145

Crime Rate4 44

Culture & Leisure5 17

Educational Attainment6 27

Income Growth* 3

Job Growth* 21

Net Migration* 68

Overall 25

And Tacoma falls just behind it at, um, 123rd:

#123 Tacoma WA
Population: 753,000
RANK

Engineers1 120

Cost of Doing Business2 78

Cost Of Living3 102

Crime Rate4 127

Culture & Leisure5 38

Educational Attainment6 115

Income Growth* 149

Job Growth* 36

Net Migration* 34

Overall 123

But it means the houses are cheaper!

Posted by Ensie at 05:48 PM | Comments (0)