Countdown
I just gave my two week notice today.
Watty set me straight last week about not doing any other prep work other than sauces, bases, and mixes. He probably feels that my palate is the most useful thing I possess, and for Tulips, I would have a hard time disagreeing with that opinion. But my other skills aren’t insignificant.
There really isn’t enough of that type of prep work to keep me busy more than about 3-3 1/2 hours a day, 3 days a week. John asked Amy, who is the new general manager of both Port 412 and Tulips since Brandon left a few week ago, to give me hours at the front of the house, but I’ve seen the schedule this week, and there’s nothing besides my prep shift. Last week that totaled all of 10.7 hours. And it will likely be even less this week. Death by starvation. Time to go.
I’m really looking forward to seeing some friends, most of them from college. There’s Charles, one of my roommates in Columbia, MO, now living in St. Louis with his wife and son. I met Diane, but I hadn’t met their son, so that will a lot of fun.
Then I’ll stop by the university itself. It’s been 10 years since I was there, and though I’m sure it hasn’t changed too much, wow, I sure feel I have! Hopefully I’ll get to talk with David Rees, the head of the photoj department, and the professor for the last class I have to take to finish my degree.
Westward HO! The drive from Columbia to Denver is generally boring, and let me tell you, that is a very long time to be bored, especially when you’re driving by yourself.
I have a college friend in Colorado, don’t know exactly where yet, but we’re Facebook friends and I just wrote her a message. I don’t think I know anyone in Utah, Nevada, or Idaho, so I’ll probably just go straight to Seattle for the climax of my trip, staying with Madeline and Don on Waldron Island, which is a small island in the San Juan Islands. I’ll probably be parking my car on the mainland, taking a ferry to Friday Harbor, and then taking a small private boat (Madeline and Don’s?) to Waldron Island.
She’s been living there for at least a few years now since she bought a house and farm. She’s had the farm certified organic, and she, Don, and her daughter Amirah live completely off the grid, growing their own food, selling it to nearby stores (now there’s a relative word!) and keeping chickens and goats for eggs, meat, and fiber.
I’ve really been looking forward to visiting them for quite a while, but with my life the way it’s been the last few years, and before that, it’s been impossible. So finally, yay!
I’ll stay there at least one day, perhaps two, we’ll see. Then I’ll stop in Portland, where I lived for 3 years, from 1999-2001. I worked for Intel and then was very unemployed after the tech bubble burst. My inability to find work forced us (my wife at the time and I) to move to the NW Indiana, SW Michigan area, where she has family.
I’ve got friends in Portland that I’d like to see, some beer I’d like to drink (is Hair of the Dog still around?), some food there I’d like to eat (helloooooo food carts), some shops I’d like to visit (Uwajimaya’s here I come!!!), and a few friends that I’d like to see.
Then south, south, to Sacramento where my sister and her husband live, for a brief visit before heading still further south to Merced, where I lived from about 2-12. I consider it the place where I grew up, perhaps because my fondest memories are from here. My parents are living with my grandmother and aunt in my the house my grandfather had built (he died a while ago).
The arrangement isn’t without it’s challenges, but everyone seems to have settled into what appears to be toleration and helpfulness. In comes Colin, and let’s see how it goes, if only until I’m finished with the last class for my degree, which will not take me any longer than May.
Then I’m off to S. Korea. And that will be a significantly shorter trip than the one from Michigan to California, in more ways than one.
