Ok. I’ve been home from camp just about a month now. I’ve managed to upload a few more pictures from the end of camp. Packing up camp was a bit more difficult this year due to the unforgiving rain. It always rains in July, but there’s usually at least some time off to allow for packing. We managed to get everything packed and off to Eager, AZ for a week. Luckily for us, Lex lives in Eagar so we had a place to hang out in the evenings that was much more interesting than the Rode Inn. If you are ever in Eager/Springerville, AZ or remotely near there, stop in at Java Blues for some great food (I recommend the grilled roast beef and brie sandwich and the espresso shake). Lex, Ky and I had an awesome bike ride in the rain and mud, although my tires practically doubled in size with all the mud caked on them. The next morning was departure day and as happy as I was to be going home, it was terribly difficult to leave Lex and Ky (and Stephen and Maggie too). My slightly delayed departure put me in Phoenix, AZ about, oh, 1pm, at the start of August. Yick. At some rest stop, I glanced at the temperature gauge to realize that the poor car was overheating more than I was. So, once we returned to the road (we being me and the aging station wagon – thanks mom), I resigned myself to the desert heat, draped a wet bandana across my neck and rolled down the windows. We made it home in one piece (for I was almost permanently stuck to the car seat at that point) that evening and I have never been so glad to bounce over the half-dozen speed bumps it takes to get into our complex.
After that, I took two glorious weeks off and had a great vacation at home. We were able to do some house stuff that we’d be thinking about since before I left. Our fridge died (temporarily) on us the day after I got home and right after a major grocery trip. After spending a few late afternoons in the living room sunshine, I discovered just how badly we needed blinds for our sliding glass door. See our latest home improvements here. Of course, there was plenty of unpacking for me to do, both from camp and from when we moved in. And then plenty more to unpack once I returned to the office. For those of you who haven’t asked me yet (there must be one or two of you left), I don’t know how long I’ll be home. At least 8 months I suppose (well, 7 now) maybe longer. We won’t know until the end of the year if the owl project funding is going to be renewed. No worries though, there are a few other projects in the works that I will be a part of so I won’t be jobless (hooray!).
I’ve been surfing so much more now, I don’t know how I survived four months being land-locked. Clarke got me soft racks for my car and now I’m not dependant on him to drive me and the surfboard to the waves. I have been taking the Coaster up to Carlsbad on Fridays to meet up with Clarke to catch the waves in North County and help him avoid the gnarly southbound Friday commute. I wish the Coaster weren’t as expensive so that people would use it more. Not that it’s expensive exactly, it just doesn’t cost less than a month’s worth of gas for most people. But that’s Clarke’s rant. :) Thankfully, the turons are leaving San Diego as I type this so the beaches will be less crowded come Tuesday morning. Once of the great things about San Diego is that the summer weather season lasts much longer than the summer tourist season.
(if it’s called tourist season, why can’t we shoot them?)
Warning: major rant following. Shortly after I returned to work, I received an email from my neighbor Jenni saying that as she was checking the mail she noticed birds flying into our office window (not inside, into the window). Upon closer inspection she noticed that there were about 100 termites swarming our curtains!!!!!!!!! So I went home and she helped me vacuum them up for about 2 hours (yay Jenni!). There were at least 300 of them, they just kept coming. I found their hole (I hope) and plugged it up with some spackle. I’ve called the property management company and a termite company has set up an inspection. Just last week the home owner’s association board voted not to tent the townhomes but that they will do spot treatment upon request. We had that exact same window spot treated 9 months ago before we bought the place. The inspection then recommended tenting but the seller wasn’t going to pay for that. What really gets me is that for at least the last 6 months the board has been debating on whether or not to tent the townhomes. Some owners/residents are opposed for various reasons (most of them being inconvenience) and one of them (who happens to live in my set of townhomes) is super opposed to it and sent out propaganda and an unofficial ballot asking the owners to vote on whether or not they wanted tenting. The propaganda along with the ballot of course only gave the anti-tenting information. Clarke got this when I was away at camp and emailed a member of the board asking if this was official (because it didn’t look like it came from the board or property management, and it was VERY one-sided). She emailed him back saying that it sounded like “someone was trying to stir up trouble” and not to vote. Well, that same board member asked Janet (the propaganda spreading neighbor) for those ballots at the last homeowners meeting AND based on those ballots, the board voted not to tent the townhomes because the majority of those that voted said no (18 no, 9 yes, 33 total townhomes). And while 18 is a majority, if I were sent this one-sided ballot without any other info, I’m sure a lot of people voted no based on the propaganda. I’m just so so so upset that they voted no and not one week later our office is swarming with hundred of termites. End of rant.
Petco Park
On a sad note, our beagle Lady had to be put down. She was suffering from congestive heart failure and could not eat or take any medication. Lady was technically my brother Anthony’s dog, but she belonged to all of us. We found her, or truly, she found us. A few Christmases ago we were visiting Karen’s family in Oregon and driving down the road to the farm one night we saw this dog trotting up the road toward our car. We stopped to let her get out of the road, but instead she came right up to the passenger side door. Collarless, covered in ticks, bones visible under her skin, and paws so worn we wondered how she could walk on them. We took her home that night and bathed her, a lot. We had decided that she should stay in Oregon at the farm, but at the end of our stay she was given to Anthony as a belated birthday present. She’s been with us ever since living at my Dad and Karen’s place in San Marcos, escaping under the fence and trying to eat Chito’s food as well as her own. She no longer resembled the skinny dog we found on the road that night. We had a ceremony for her this past weekend and scattered her ashes in the field behind the house where she always escaped. We’ve found comfort in the thought that without us, she probably wouldn’t have been the fat happy dog she was these past few years. We’ll miss you Lady.
Take care everyone. Happy back-to-school.
