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June 17, 2000 |
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Today would be a busy day. Pam and I had a full
day. Not too busy in terms of the number of things we had to do, but it
simply spanned a long time.
I did take the time to do my workout and I ran through the Tae Bo basic
workout at Pam's. It is similar enough to my
kickboxing class so that it doesn't really stress out my joints or muscles,
which is a good thing. The one thing that I'm already starting to notice
is that since this Tae Bo tapes are recorded, the workout becomes routine.
The two things that are wrong with this is that you're more likely to get
bored and you're only developing certain muscles. No that big a deal
though, I'm doing it mostly for the cardio anyway.
The plan was to go to Lucas's
graduation party, which started at 4pm. It takes about an hour and a half
to drive down to Olympia, which is where he lives, which meant that we
would have to leave at about 2:30pm. The party was a potluck, and Dalia had us bring beer. Actually, the plan
was for Trudy and I to bring wine and
beer and it was up to us to divide it up between the two. I picked beer.
I know very little about wine.
Naturally, I was running late. Story of my life. Pam and I were pretty hungry so we grabbed a quick bite to eat
at McDonald's. We both had the same thing we had before, no, it is not all
that noteworthy. Pam did seem a bit
impressed that I was able to remember what she normally orders here. I
maintain that she's easily impressed.
Oh, before I go on… there'll be one little wrinkle today. Seattle and
what is collectively known as the Eastside (where I happen to live) are
separated by Lake Washington. There are four ways to get from one to the
other. You can drive north of the lake. You can drive south of the lake.
You can drive through one of the two bridges, Interstate 5 and 520. Most
folks drive through one of the bridges. The reason I mentioning this is
because the 520 bridge is closed down for maintenance this weekend.
Not pretty.
Did I mention I was running relatively low on gas? Not that big a deal
really. I was sure I would make it down to Olympia, but I would certainly
have to get gas before I returned. Given the choice, I would rather get
gas at a gas station I'm familiar with; I'm funny that way.
Pam and I finished lunch and got on the road. It
was a beautiful day out, that meaning it looked beautiful.
Driving around like this was pretty brutal. Compounded by the problem that
the air conditioning in my car wasn't working. Actually, it was
working, except that it slowly leaked the freon (the refrigerant). I had
the guys at the shop look at this before and they said that it simply was
low. Hey guys, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the reason it
is consistently low or out is because it is leaking. I have to have this
looked at again. Still the drive really wasn't that bad, I opened up the
windows and my car ventilates pretty well.
I'm not sure precisely why I started to get into my sneezing fits, but I
did. Enough so that Pam suggested I get an
antihistamine when we get beer. I wasn't about to get the beer and have it
sit in a hot car, so we were going to get some as we neared their place. I
got some Corona. I'm not a fan of microbrews because of the condescending
way that their drinkers carry themselves. Yes, I'm generalizing, but I'm
not the one who came up with the phrase, "Budweiser? Why not just drink
water?" There are many fans of microbrews here in Washington.
It's pretty sad really. Anyway, I got Corona because that's a beer that
most people will enjoy if not tolerate. Naturally, I also got limes. You
can't drink Corona without a lime!
We got to Lucas's party uneventfully. Pam finally
got to meet my "little brother" and his mom and vice versa. Trudy
and her husband were there as well, we sat down next to them to chat. I
drank Cokes intead of alcohol because of the antihistamine, not that I
would've drank more than a beer or two, since I was driving, but still it
would've been nice to have one. I gave Lucas his card and the Pikachu dog
tags… yes, really. He replied with, "Uhmm… Thanks that's just what
I needed", laced heavily with sarcasm of course.
Oh, and I finally got to meet Lucas's father. He told me he has heard a
lot about me, which I hoped meant good things. Now granted, Dalia didn't
paint a good picture of the circumstances in which they were divorced.
Still I didn't want to form my opinion solely based on her side of the
story. Naturally, I don't think she's embelishing, but there's bound to be
some friction and bias on her part. I only got to talk to him for a few
moments.
I won't even try to enumerate all the wonderful food that was there. They
belong to a Lithuanian community, one which I have had the pleasure to
mingle with on occasion. There are always the same kids running around,
each time I see them a little older. The elders often group and chat,
sometimes in English, but I think mostly in Lithuanian. I haven't picked
up the language, but I have picked up a taste for their food. It's very
tasty.
Pam and I sat down on one of the long tables and
chatted with many of the folks there, some of who I knew, but mostly people
I didn't really know. Still, I was there to celebrate the day with Lucas.
I was glad to see him graduate, it is such a significant milestone. I
don't think he realizes what's in store for him in the months ahead. I
didn't when I was his age. I remember being overwhelmed when I it finally
hit me that I would probably never live in the same house again, not
really. That's pretty sobering. I'll be here if he needs to talk,
or if he needs anything at all.
The day was winding down and Pam and I went for a
walk. We chatted a bit. I told her that she should call her mom. Her mom
and I share the same birthday and her family were going out to dinner
tonight to celebrate it. She was pretty sad that she wasn't able to make
it. I suggested that she should call them, even if she can't be physically
there she could at least tell her mom how much she wanted to be there with
her. I gave her my phone and had her call.
We left shortly after.
I could tell you that we went back, but we didn't. I had talked to Ted earlier during the week and we had made plans to stop by his place on the way back. Naturally, Pam and I weren't hungry, but Ted and Allison could finally meet Pam. I'm not sure who was the one at Thanksgiving that suggested that she was fictitious; it might have been Ted.
We looked at the entire array of animals at their place. They have three cats and one dog. The dog is one I had yet to meet. At this stage in my life, I'm more of a cat person. I just happen to prefer the way cats are. Pam is a self-proclaimed dog person, though she still seems to like cats. I really think that she's a closet cat person, but is living in denial.
All we did was hang out at their place and chatted for hours. We caught up with everything that we had been up to recently. Allison had just gotten back from a business trip. Me? Well, that's easy just read the journal. Ted never really seems to elaborate much. I got a couple of birthday presents from Allison, one was this Mickey Mouse cell phone like gadget that makes noises, some of them in Japanese, the other was a keychain shaped like Mickey's gloved hand used to alleviate sore muscles.
Among some of the things that we discussed was whether or not John Rocker should have been suspended and by whom. I happen to think that it's not that big a deal. I have news for you people… there are racists all over the place. Just because one of them has a mic in front of them doesn't mean that the world is collapsing. If anything I think we have become a little complacent in believing that the world is this beautiful place to live in.
It's not. It sucks. There are many stupid people out there that you can't reason with. Just learn to adjust.
Ted does have an incredible mind and brought up many good points for why he thinks that the league was just in punishing Rocker. The one thing that we did agree on was the idea that athletes don't have a responsibility to be "role models". It's really kind of silly. They get paid to do a job. To score many points or to play defense or whatever. They're not paid for your kids to admire; they're paid to play the game. That's why both Ted and I like Charles Barkley, who thumbs his nose at people who criticize him for not being a better role model. Want someone to look up to? Don't you want to know who they really are instead of the plastic face they put on to appease all the parents out there. Pam disagrees with us, but that's her perogative.
We continued chatting until about 10:30pm, I believe. We were all pretty tired by then, so we decided to call it a night. Ted and Allison saw us to my car and we said our goodbyes. It's often months before I see them, but I always enjoy their company.
I had to fuel up. I stopped at a gas station as I was getting into the expressway. I though I may use the bathroom before starting a forty minute drive. Couldn't do it. The bathroom was out of order. Strange. I drove the gas station across the street. Their bathroom is also out of order. Am I being paranoid, or is it that they don't want others to use their bathroom… or maybe they don't want me in particular to use the bathroom.
It's okay, I was able to hold it for the duration. The drive back was uneventful. Save for the poor condition of the road. It's something that I'm used to, but it was making Pam a little nervous. I reassured her that everything was just fine. I drove her back to her place. I would eventually have to go back to my place tonight, since I had to feed Magic. Still, I stayed there and held her until she fell asleep, and then I left.
June 17, 2000