wildcelticrose.net

When (swim) Angels Squee…

Welcome to “things that make me go Squee”.

After “cleaning out the pipes” yesterday by venting for WTF Wednesday, I’m ready to “squee with glee”.

In honor of Pop Fiend’s attempt at decreasing drama for at least one day a week on LiveJournal by promoting “Drama Free Thursday” (for those who aren’t aware, my blog is crossposted to LiveJournal, my self hosted WordPress blog, Blogspot, and Facebook), I offer up my own “special” (in a rode the short bus kind of way) contribution, “Things that Make Me go Squee!!!

* Things that make me go squee!” ~~may~~ has become a regular Thursday ~~spectacle~~ production because “Squee” rhymes with “Drama Free”, and I’m trying to do my part.

I think that almost everyone occasionally forgets to celebrate and share good things. I know I do.

So in the spirit of putting “good juju” out there, here are the current things that make me go “SQUEE!!!”

Last Sunday, I had the honor to once again be a Swim Angel for the Seattle Danskin Women’s Triathlon. This is a huge beginner triathlon and many women have never done an open water swim before. Many are cancer survivors, some in active treatment. One’s first open water triathlon swim can be quite intimidating.

I swam sweep on two waves and picked up swimmers that needed encouragement/help. The first one was having heart rate issues (too high, something I’m all too familiar with), but I got her to relax, kept her near the boats and she finished just fine.

The second woman was difficult to keep up with when she was doing a crawl stroke, but she’d get winded and briefly need the noodle to rest. It was a super choppy day out there, with some good sized waves at times, so I’d see her come up and gasp for air and hand her the end of the noodle. She also finished strong.

After my 2nd wave, there were no more waves starting, so I swam back out from the finish, helped some women in (often they don’t need the help or encouragement until the end of the swim course when they get tired) go back out and do it again. I lost count of how many times I did this.

One woman said that when she becomes a stronger swimmer and triathlete, that she’d like to come back and be a swim angel some day. I hope she does.

I missed Karen and Jenn, but did find Alisa and Robin doing just great.

As I headed back out for the last time, swimming into the sun, I could see the silhouettes of the kayaks, lifegards on surfboards and halos and swim noodles of the other angels coming in with the final swimmers. It was then that “Ride of the Valkyries” started running through my head. I laughed so hard. Then got unceremonially hit by a wave and sucked in a bunch of lake water. That will bring one back to reality quite quickly.

The last woman in the last wave (who was not the last finisher BTW, I checked) was the one I remember the most. She was not built like an athlete. She was someone who was out there changing her life and working very VERY hard. These are the women who (other then the survivors) are the most inspirational.

With all the kaykers, lifeguard and swim angels with her, she kicked her way to the finish, laughing, smiling and knowing that she was doing something extraordinary.

We angels were chanting “Jennifer… Jennifer… Jennifer…”

Soon, the lifeguards were beating out a cadence on their surfboards as were the kayakers on their boats.

The dumming and the chanting were contagious. Jennifer laughed, we all laughed. It was awesome.

The swim angels lining the exit ramp, noodles in the air joined the chant, as did all the spectators and race staff on the shore.

“JENNIFER… JENNIFER… JENNIFER!!!”

I’m telling you, the first place finisher at the Boston Marathon does not get this kind of reception.

I think more than one of us cried tears of joy when she hit the swim finish accomplishing what months ago she probably never dreamed she could.

This race always makes me cry.

You can see me in this picture, I’m the one with the halo and the sparkly pink princess sunglasses

Here’s the first pink swim wave, which consists of cancer survivors taking to the water.

Here’s what swim angels look like on dry ground

How can you tell that you shop at Home Depot too much? (other than having the folks in the garden department ask, “See you tomorrow?” when you leave.

I got a $50 Home Depot gift card in the mail yesterday as a thank you… It was a great surprise.

I am so happy that my wonderful chickens, MaryAnn, Ginger and Lovey provide me with healthy, safe and fresh eggs

I don’t have to worry about the massive egg recall (380 MILLION eggs as of this morning) due to salmonella contamination.

Perhaps this will make more people consider backyard chickens, farmers markets or at least supporting small local farms instead of factory farms where this sort of thing happens due to crowded, unhealthy and inhumane treatment of these birds.

And let me tell you… with chickens and a compost pile, NOTHING goes to waste from the kitchen or garden.

Speaking of urban farming, my garden continues to grow like mad.

My first Juliet tomato is finally turning red.

My corn is getting tassels

And I have cucumbers…

I also have squash, green beans and apples that are almost ready to pick.

A few more updated garden photos are available by clicking here

I received my pasta extruder (a manual crank, no fancy electric for me) and I made my first batch of yummy home made pasta. It’s easy (the hard part is letting the dough sit for an hour) and WAY better than the dried crap you get at the store.

My blog post about said pasta making is available by clicking here

I went on an AWESOME hike up to Spray Park at Mount Rainier National Park on Friday.

More photos are available by clicking here

I went on an AWESOME hike up to Snow Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness on Monday

More photos are available by clicking here

And here are little smilies for all the squees left unsqueed

And of course, the greatest squee of all…

I am blessed to have really GREAT friends in my life

And you can see a lot of them here… (if I don’t have a picture of you here, send me one)

Insert “squee” of your choice here

I wish everyone a happy and drama free Thursday, as well as lots of things to go “Squee” over.

SKA-WEEEEEEEEE

Now, I’ve got to get back to work, I typed this up last night and posted on my break, (which is now over).

Mood: Gotta Squee

Squees August 19th 2010

Runnin’ of the Green (part two)

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After a crazy day celebrating the green on Saturday, I joined 15,224 of my best friends to run the St Patrick’s Day Dash in Seattle.

This is not “just” a run; it’s an event; it’s a giant street party; it’s the thing to do in Seattle.

KOMO News footage (did you see me? I’m the one wearing the green

There’s a Seattle PI photo gallery here

It was a BEAUTIFL morning in Seattle. No rain, no snow (like last year) still cold, but sunny.

I headed over to Gene’s house bright and early to carpool up with he and Michael. (earlier than usual since we just turned our clocks forward for daylight savings time)

We were joking that Michael looked like an “Irish Pimp” in that hat. I just looked crazy in my blinky pin, glasses, mylar streamered deely boppers, bling and snoopy shamrock shorts (more on the shorts later)

We got up there in plenty of time to get parking, check gear and meet up with friends. I very briefly saw Tori in traffic (I recognized her runtoryrun.com logo on their car)

We found Kathy, Jon and Maggie in short order.

Oh, those shorts? The best part is the back. Normally, I make fun of girls who draw attention to their (often really large) butts with lettering on the back.

I could NOT resist the shorts that said “Feelin’ Lucky” BWAAHAAAHAAA

Of course, since it’s all about the butt shot, Kathy decided to be a flasher.

We split up after that, Gene and Michael got closer to the front of the green (first and fastest timed) wave and I got to the back of that wave, wanting to take it easy after running the Tacoma St Patty’s Day run the day before. Kathy got towards the front of the (next) red wave. Jon and Maggie cheered us on.

The starting line was the usual chaos, but we got off and running on time.

Sadly, the route no longer goes through the Battery Street tunnel and up on our ill fated viaduct. It runs up hwy 99/Aurora Ave. (it was nice to not need shuttle buses and to end at the Seattle Center which is a much better place for a party than the parking lot at the stadium.)

There were all sorts of crazy costumes (which is one of the main points of the race)

Here was a pot of gold

and then there were the “underwear boys”

a big favorite was the “green men” (yes, they ran the entire 4 miles like this)

Once again, I didn’t look at time (I only wore the Garmin to track the new course) and just tried not to inure myself. It wasn’t very smart to not run for a month and a half and then do two back to back events.

After I finished, I wandered back to the fountain to meet Gene, Kathy, Michael, Jon and Maggie.

We were treated to a concert and mini parade.

I also made some new friends

After a bit of celebrating, we headed up to the Blue Star Cafe in Wallingford for breakfast. Bill came up to meet us. Kathy was flashing guys in the bar.

We walked around the corner to Archie McPhees to check out the rather extensive devil ducky collection.

We dug through the “tub of duckies”, someone would pull one out, I’d say “I already have that one”, Gene would say, “I KNOW” and we’d all laugh. I did add a pink devil ducky, zebra devil ducky, yin/yang devil ducky and a dead ducky to my collection.

After that, I hopped in Bill’s car and we headed up to Magnolia for the bike expo.

I saw lots of friends from Cascade, including Claire who I don’t get to see very often.

and spent some time at the Tacoma Wheelmen booth visiting with Calra, Peggy and Christie

After that, we headed down to the University district for beer at the RAM

When I got home, I discovered just how bad running on that “hot spot” on my arch was.

I had a nasty NASTY blood blister on my right arch.

This is what it looks like this morning; it’s actually already looking better. I plan on leaving it intact as long as possible so that it remains sterile and heals.

I headed over to South Sound Running to show them my blisters and get some ideas one where to go from there.

As it turns out, the arch support in the Asics 2150s is more aggressive than the support in the Brooks Adrenaline GTS that I’ve been running in for the last nine years. The fact that wearing thicker socks and using bodyglide for the 2nd event didn’t help indicates that this structural difference is significant enough that it’s probably not the shoe for me. (and they black ones were so pretty)

I’m back in the Adrenalines. I’d rather have to buy shoes more often than have them tear up my feet.

THIS is why I always recommend that those starting a running or walking program go to a REAL running store (Footlocker, Big-5,etc… are NOT real running stores) owned and staffed by runners to have their gait analyzed and the proper shoes presented for try ons and test runs.

Today is a rest day (for the most part, I have things to do)

Mood: Tired

events March 15th 2010

WTF Do you know about law enforcement?

3 Comments »

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I almost skipped WTF Wednesday this week. (and I’m certainly not using my usual “cutesy” format)

Aside from national news being incredibly depressing, we in Tacoma, Seattle and surrounding areas in Western Washington have been hit hard with tragedy.

If this post comes off as a bit raw, that is how I am feeling; it is how a lot of us are feeling and this is a subject that brings forth tremendous emotion.

We are sad, horrified and angry. Oh yes, we are angry.

In a period of less than a month, six police officers have been gunned down (one in the Seattle incident survived)

We feel as if our world has been turned upside down; and that nothing is as it should be.

If those who are sworn to serve and protect us can be gunned down, two while doing paperwork in their patrol car and four while sitting in a coffee shop planning their day’s activities, then who is safe?

What has our world come to?

I won’t dwell on the vicious, cold blooded murders (actually, they were assassinations) nor the people who aided and abetted them, who are just as guilty.

I won’t give the sick bastards who committed these heinous acts the time or attention.

But I do want to talk about the officers involved in the manhunts, about any and all officers.

The catalyst for my wanting to talk about this, was a comment made by an aquraintance that enraged me.

Since this individual is not likely the only one who has the ignorance and audacity to say such a thing, I will address a general audience (the “royal you” as it may be)

A short history is unfortunate but unavoidable in order to put my feelings on this matter into perspective.

The perpetrator in the first killing in Seattle was gunned down when he pointed a weapon at officers who arrived to question him, the trigger was pulled but he screwed up and the gun didn’t fire. He was shot, but survived. I don’t’ know if he is still in the hospital or in jail. I don’t care. At least he is off the streets.

In the second case, the alleged killer (who was out on bail for child rape and who committed armed robbery twice after being released from prison in another state and who had been charged with assaulting an officer) approached an officer who was alone and responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle which the suspect had stolen. The suspect who approached the lone officer from behind, failed to follow the officer’s orders and then attempted to flee (and who was armed with the duty weapon of one of the murdered officers) was shot, as is legal, in line with policy and prudent when one is dealing with a fleeing felon who poses a threat to public safety.

There have been many emotional and angry responses to this.

Many are cheering his death, stating that “justice” was served. (given how many rapists, child molesters and murderers go free in this state, it is somewhat understandable that many people, when emotionally charged feel this way)

One comment on my Facebook page that made me furious was from someone with no knowledge of law enforcement, policy, procedure, law or the danger than officers face every day, infuriated me to the point where it was very difficult to respond without profanity or just dumping the person from my “friend’s” list.

This person had the audacity to refer to the officer who made the most horrible choice an officer ever has to make (and a delay of less than a second can cause the death of that officer, his or her partner or innocent bystanders) by stating that they deprived that suspect of a trial and killed the suspect in a “blind rage”

I ask (once again, the “royal you”)

How DARE you say such a thing and WTF do you know about law enforcement?

Until you get up in the morning and put on a badge and uniform, body armor and a weapon, wondering if that is the day that you won’t make it home to your family and/or that you may have to make the most horrible (split second no less) decision that anyone could have to make, you don’t know squat.

You have no right to condemn that officer.

You have not been there, you will never be there.

You feel free to blame and criticize, yet you have/will never make the sacrifice or put yourself in that position, yet you will not hesitate to ask for their help.

Oh, you’ll call 911 if there is a prowler, or if your attacked or if someone steals your big screen TV.

You’ll ask one of these public servants to risk their lives and safety to rescue you.

Yet you won’t even allow the standard investigation to take place before you condemn that same officer as a killer who was in a “blind rage”.

There are not words for how reprehensible that is.

No one goes into law enforcement with the desire to kill people or to deprive them of their rights.

They give up a normal life and often their health and relationships in order to protect the lives and rights of others.

Yes, there are bad cops.

But NO one hates a bad cop worse than other cops whom they give a bad name.

I had a bad 3rd grade teacher (in the 1960′s) who emotionally physically abused children (the boys were pulled out of their chairs by the hair and shaken when they misbehaved and she dug her fingernails into our arms-yes sometimes she drew blood.

Does that mean that all 3rd grade teachers are bad? No.

Does it mean that 3rd grade teachers support that behavior? No.

So shut the hell up!

YOU do not have the right.

I DO have the right to tell you this.

I am a former law enforcement officer.

To this day, I still won’t sit with my back to the door; I always keep my weapon hand free and protect my hip where my side arm used to lay.

I have made that vehicle stop on a dark isolated road at 1:00 AM to be told by dispatch that the driver has a felony warrant and that I have to arrest and bring them in alone.

I have worked alone in areas with no backup and sometimes no radio communication,where a drug runner or poacher (who was better armed that I was) would happily shoot me and dump my body in the river for the value of what they had.

I have been turned on by the domestic violence victim who I was trying to protect.

I have also rescued lost dogs, lost children and keys locked in cars.

I have known the feeling that I might not go home at the end of the day and that my loved ones could receive a knock at the door and be informed that I was dead.

And I have known that on any given day, I might be called upon to use lethal force.

I was lucky, I’ve used my pepper spray, my baton and have had to go hand to hand with guys that are much bigger than me.

But I never had to make that horrible choice. I never had to live with the fact that I took a human life, never had to second guess myself and ask, “Would this have happened if I had done something differently.”

For that, I am eternal grateful.

The officer who was faced with a few seconds to make that horrible choice did, and he will live with that choice for the rest of his life.

He may be being touted as a “hero”, but I can guarantee you that he would rather not have had to make that choice and live with this.

I’m certain that he would rather have taken the suspect into custody and seen him tried.

But the suspect (did I mention that he was armed with the duty weapon of one of the murdered officers?) did not give him that choice.

YOU do not have the right.

You DO owe that officer (and all officers) an apology.

Mood: Pissed Off and Disgusted

Rants December 2nd 2009

WTF 103.7 KMTT The Mountain?

6 Comments »

Yes folks, it’s time for my now infamous weekly blog feature (gotta “clean the pipes out “for Drama Free Thursday and Things that Make Me Go Squee”) WTF Wednesday.

WTF Wednesday is when I (and anyone else who cares to; a few already had an early start) get to moan, whine, bitch, complain and vent with impunity)

It’s when I sit down, make a good strong margarita (with GOOD tequila) sit around in my underwear and vent.

*OK, I typed this up last night and am posting it while on a break at work so I’m not drinking or sitting around in my unmentionables (but trust me; that will change when I get home tonight)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about supporting and promoting Popfiend’s Drama Free Thursday with my own “Things That Make Me Go Squee” and this is, in part, preparation for DFT.

I’m all about putting good energy out there (because what we put out there it what we get back)

But I’ve realized that in order to appreciate the “good” things, we need the “bad” as well, realizing of course that “good” and “bad” are shades of gray and that nothing is black and white. (and no one likes a “Pollyanna”)

It’s Wednesday, and I’m gonna bitch and vent about people that I like to refer to as “Cheetoheads”.

I wrote about this several years ago in my now somewhat ~~famous~~ infamous essay,

It’s only one Cheeto-A sad commentary on our society

Each week I give an individual or group the “Here’s your Cheeto award” in honor of the rude, obnoxious, selfish, “It’s all about ME” asshats that we are force to live, work and walk amongst every day.

Today, the “object of my objection” is

103.7 KMTT The Mountain radio in Seattle

Seriously, WTF is wrong with people?

I don’t normally get caught up in the lives of people, (particularly on air personalities) I don’t know or in the running of local businesses, but I’m making an exception this time.

Recently, the hosts of our favorite local radio station, 103.7 KMTT The Mountain let go the hosts of the morning show, Marty Reimer and Jody Brothers.

One morning we tuned in and they were just gone (as is common in radio with staff and format changes)

I don’t know what might or might not have gone on behind the scenes; but I do know that these two were very well loved by our community.

I tried listening to the new morning show “host” with an open mind.

Today, I sent the following email to the station, as I just couldn’t take it anymore.

” To whom it may concern,

I have been listening to KMTT-The Mountain since I moved here eleven years ago.

I was disappointed to discover that Marty Reimer and Jody Brothers were no longer on the air, but as a long time listener, I decided to give the new show a chance.

I have been sorely disappointed in the new guy (honestly, I don’t know his name and have no desire to waste my time and energy to look it up)

He is not funny, is extremely negative and the last straw for me today was his “how do you people stand it (the weather) here?”

I don’t need someone from somewhere else bad-mouthing the area I call home and love.

One of the things I have always enjoyed about your station is the sense of caring about and being part of the community I have sensed in your on air staff.

I will no longer listen to your morning show, and I’m guessing I’m not alone in that decision.

Sincerely,

L. Lisa Lawrence”

What I REALLY wanted to say (but restrained myself because it would have compromised my credibility) is this.

Dear whatever your name is,

I have given you a chance, but after several mornings of trying my best, I can only come to one obvious conclusion; you are a boring, negative, incompetent (gee, work phones/radio equipment much?), jackass.

How DARE you come to our area and ask “How can “you people” stand it here?”

You already had big shoes to fill; people were upset about losing Marty and Jody, but some of us were (and that is PAST tense) willing to give you a chance.

You should have been trying harder NOT to alienate and piss us off.

I’m not going to listen to your show anymore, I will probably quit listening to the station as it will no longer be my #1 preset channel and I’ve let the station know why.

As much as I don’t normally care for this statement, it applies to you.

Go back wherever it is you came from asshat

“103.7 KMTT The Mountain radio in Seattle”, this cheeto is for YOU!!!

And I have a suggestion as to where you can put it!

I think that’s plenty of venting (was it good for you? It was good for me) and I actually have more to “squee” about tomorrow than to “WTF” about today, so I’ll leave it there.

None of this is earth shattering or even life changing it’s all minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things.

But I had FUN venting, and damn it feels good.

With all that philosophical crap out of the way,

I introduce to you.. WTF Wednesday…

Because face it; life is not totally drama free…

Sometimes it needs to be all about (you and) me…

We must vent today, if tomorrow we wish to be genuinely “drama free”…

So that with clean and pure souls we can go “squee”…

When you feel that life has run over you like a big ole mack truck…

Pull up a chair, pour a glass and say WTF!?!?!?!

Get it of your chest now, make your soul free…

For tomorrow we will do our best to be drama free…

There, doesn’t that feel better?

Have a happy drama free Thursday tomorrow. I know I will.

Break’s over, back to work with me…

~L

Mood: WTF?

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Rants November 18th 2009

For some reason
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For some reason, I’m really into this song lately…

This is a cute video adaptation (the sound comes on in a few seconds)

Hello Seattle, I am a mountaineer

In the hills and highlands

I fall asleep in hospital parking lots

And awake in your house

Hello Seattle, I am a manta ray

Deep beneath the blue waves

Ill crawl the sandy bottom of Puget Sound

And construct a summer home

Hello Seattle, I am the crescent moon

Shining down on your face

I will disguise myself as a sleeping pill

And descend inside of you

Hello Seattle, I am a cold seahorse

Feeling warm in your sand

I sing about the tide and the ocean surf

Rolling in the evening breeze

Hello Seattle, I am an albatross

on the docks and your boats

I sail above your inlets and interstates

Through the rain and open wind

Hello Seattle, I am an old lighthouse

Throwing beams of bright lights

Red in the morning, blue in the evening sun

Taken heed from everyone

Hello Seattle, I am a mountaineer

In the hills and highlands

I fall asleep in hospital parking lots

Take me above your light

Carry me through the night

Hold me secure in flight

Sing me to sleep tonight

Take me above your light (Hello Seattle I am)

Carry me through the night (a mountaineer, In the hills)

Hold me secure in flight (and highlands I fall asleep in hospital)

Sing me to sleep tonight (parking lots and awake)

Mood: Contemplative

~L

~

Music November 14th 2009

Sister Clubs Bike Ride
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Today I went on a bike ride with several groups from the Bicycle Alliance (comprised of the Tacoma Wheelmen, Cyclists of Greater Seattle, BIKES of Snohomish County, West Sound Bike Club and the Capital City Bike Club)

Carla from the Wheelmen organized one of the rides as a social tour of Tacoma and Gene took a faster group out to do the Steilacoom Spin.

We started and ended our ride at the HUB.

It was raining lightly (and it was wind and butt cold) when I left my apartment (apparently it poured last night, but we were all to busy yakking, laughing and drinking wine to notice) I figured that I might as well get used to riding in crappy weather.

I had breakfast and a latte at home, but went ahead and had a biscuit and a cup of decaf so that I could sit with the breakfast crowd and socialize a bit.

We headed out through the streets of Tacoma and hit the Scott Pierson Trail

We of course, took a ride across the Narrows Bridge.

I warned the riders from other areas to be careful of the cross winds on the bridge. It’s common to fly down the ramp to the bridge and get hit by a sudden, unexpected nasty cross wind which can cause and accident.

I mean come on, wind (and bad engineering) is what took down the 1st Narrows bridge, our own ill fated, infamous Galloping Gertie.

Here’s an old newsreel complete with fabulous narration. (although the Tacoma Narrows is not a “river”; it is an extremely treacherous passage in the Puget Sound)

We got onto the bridge in the cold wind without incident, but one of our visitors was blown down about mid span on the bridge. Luckily, he was slowing down to stop, so it was more like an unable to unclip at a stoplight fall than a high speed crash.

He was fine. Here’s the view from mid span on the bridge.

We headed back to Tacoma for more touring and a view of our waterfront.

After a flat tire…

We headed back to the HUB for appropriate food and beverages

I came home, fixed my toilet (some handyman service on twitter offered me a $25 coupon to fix my toilet… Uh, scuse me… I can fix my own darn toilet, it’s not rocket science. I tweeted that I was going to go to Home Depot not that I was some wussy girl that couldn’t fix her own toilet. Dorks)

I ran a couple of errands and came home to finish cleaning up after last night’s party.

Tomorrow, I’m getting up early to meet Janet for coffee before boarding the Vashon Island Ferry for a ride that’s probably hillier than I should be attempting as out of shape and off training as I am right now.

I don’t care, it’s going to be a beautiful day tomorrow (albeit a bit cold) and I want to go out there with my friend.

I’ll post pictures of our adventure tomorrow.

~L

~

cycling October 3rd 2009

Crazy Weekend
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What a weekend.

On Saturday I went in to work and then worked at home a bit to get caught up from all of the “stuff” and associated time off I’ve had.

Saturday afternoon, I went out to University Place for some badly needed and long overdue best friend time.

We had a lovely afternoon on the deck, a wonderful “counter dinner” (home made fish and chips served “on the counter” and Cajun music) and then a run/walk.

There is a 10K loop around the Chambers Creek properties down through the golf course around and back (steep hills included, some day I’ll check the grade on my Garmin, let it suffice to say, it’s steep)

I wanted to take some photos of my favorite subject on the golf course, even more dear now after the attempt on its life.

Charlie finally gave up on us after Molly passed him at a fast clip (I had left the house before them realizing how close it was to sunset) and then I passed him after a brief “pause for the cause” at the park.

I ran like a mad woman (with camera gear) down to the golf course and then down the hill to the bay (note to self, prodeal new running shoes… OUCH!)

It was worth it.

The rest of the picture are available here:

On Sunday, I was up bright and early for a Seattle Photo Safari adventure. All by public transit. (I have a monthly Puget Pass for my train commute) No traffic, no gas, no environmental impact, no parking, no hassle.

It was an easy ride from the Tacoma Dome to downtown Seattle.

The first stop was the Pike Place Market. (I even took some photos of the original Starbucks location, just for my friend Jen in Texas which are on my Flickr’ page)

I had an amusing “encounter” with the “socialized cats” guy. He and a younger man set up a table with their ‘highly socialized cats”(who do amazingly well with the crowds at the market. They have a refuge of sorts for cats.

Anyone who knows me knows what a sucker I am for kitties.

So in this public market, with a cat on a stand that is there to draw attention to their cause, I decided to take a picture of the kitty (a little free publicity never hurt any cause right?)

The older guy (wearing leapord pants and a hat with cat ears on it) grabbed the cat and said, “You can take pictures but FIRST you need to know what we’re about.”

[thinking out loud here]

Uh, First… I can READ.

Second, I’m from here, I’ve listened to your schpeil many times over the years.

Third, you’re in a public place in one of the biggest tourist attractions in Seattle, If you don’t want pictures; this isn’t the place to be (and, you have no legal right to prevent it)

Fourth, bloggers and magazine writers/photographers can help your cause. (if you don’t act like a crazy asshat and drive them away)

He continued to be snotty to myself and another woman that walked up, so I turned and left.

I told him, “I know what you do, I’m from here.” and he yelled “Oh that’s different” after me.

[thinking out loud again here]

Too late asshat, you aren’t getting any free publicity from me.

After some more walking around, we headed back that direction.

I couldn’t help myself…

I knew the guy was a bit of a nut case, but I did it anyway… (I’m a bad bad girl)

I walked up to him and said,

“You know, you shouldn’t be rude to people like that; you never know who might be a writer for local magazine.”

He replied, “Well I thought you were a tourist.” (uh…. scuse me? Why set up at what is arguably the #1 tourist attraction in Seattle if you’re going to be rude and mean to tourists?)

I smiled and replied, “Well you shouldn’t be rude to tourists either.” then I turned and walked away to go about my business. (personally, I think it was good advice)

No shit, there I was, walking down the street with the crazy dude, in the leopard pants and wearing a cat hat, literally chasing me a full city block yelling at me that I “picked a fight with him” and “shoved a camera in his face” (didn’t happen-I had no interest in a picture of a crazy and unattractive guy in bad pants)

It was quite the show; and there was an audience watching him chase me.

I wonder how may donations he garnered with that performance?

Sadly, I found it amusing. (there’s something about remaining calm while someone else makes a fool of themselves I get a perverse bit of pleasure out of)

The waterfront is always good fun and well worth a wander before it gets too crowded on a weekend.

*for more insight into the seagull feeding sign, check out this YouTube video that I did a few years ago:

Next on the itinerary was the Elliot Bay Water Taxi (or whatever they call it now), also covered by the transit pass) a walk out to Alki Beach (West Seattle), lunch at Bamboo and another ride back across the water.

Next, was a trip up to Greelake to visit my friend Lisa who I’ve “known” through LiveJournal for several years.

Here she is getting the best angle on a photo possible

There was a wonderful tour of Greenlake which even included a stop to visit some neighborhood chickens.

The lake was beautiful and is a great place for people and critter watching. (I haven’t been there since I moved here 11 years ago)

check it out, water DOES roll off a duck’s back…

(check out the turtles on the log in this photo)

Lisa has the mirror image of this photo, she was taking a picture of the dogs (she’s in the background of this picture) at the same time I was.

It was a good (and long day)

Unfortunately, there was some very minor “drama” on the bus on the way back.

Apparently, when you choose to move to the back of the bus to get away from people being loudly and extremely negative (it’s their right to moan, whine, bitch, complain and swear to anyone who will particiapte, and my right to excuse myself when it’s ruining the trip) because you’ve had a good day and would like to keep it that way, you’re an asshole.

Such is life.

Anyway, it was a lovely trip and adventure and that’s what I’m going to focus on.

The rest of the pictures are available here:

Or individually here

~L

Mood: Photo Geeky

~

Life, photography August 31st 2009

Bikes, Salmon and Bonking… Oh My!
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I was pretty bummed about missing RAPSody this weekend. (not even going to rehash the rest of it) and my dear friend Janet told me about a Tacoma Wheelmen on Sunday ride that would be relatively flat (I forgot about the hills at the arboretum and Seward Park) and only 40-50 miles.

So we headed out to Tukwila on Sunday morning (which is not the same thing as “Going to Tukwila”) to meet the group at the Sounder station.

I was told that the station was totally ghetto (I get off the train in Kent, the stop just before there and joke that I’ll never sleep on the train because I might wake up in Tukwila) and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a crappy wooden platform built on stilts on the side of a berm. I should have taken a picture.

We rode up the Inter Urban Trail through South Park over the 1st Ave Bridge to the waterfront, down Alaskan Way and through Myrtle Edwards Park to Ballard.

This is my dear friend Janet riding through Ballard

The stopped for lunch at tthe Ballard Locks

Of course, we visited the fish ladder.

Check out the size of that Chinook (King) Salmon (lower left in the picture)

and this guy looks like he wanted us for lunch instead of the other way around…

We rode on the Burke-Gilman Trail (OMG, that final link needs to be completed, you take your life in your hands riding on the streets of Ballard) out to the University, over the arboretum and down Lake Washington back down South.

Here’s our route (all except the place where I forgot to turn my Garmin back on after stopping at the restroom so it went line of sight and makes it look like we rode through the water)

This was a good ride for me mentally (not so much physically as I almost bonked coming back up off the lake)

I realized when riding over the arboretum and along the lake, that I’ve never driven a vehicle either of those places. I’ve always been on a marathon course running or a bike course riding.

The rest of the ride pictures are here:

or in a sideshow here:

We arrived back to the ghetto train station for a total of 44 miles. As crappy as I was feeling, I think it was the longest 44 miles I’ve ever ridden.

But it was worth it. I felt alive, I felt the wind in my face and I felt the companionship of friends.

~L

Mood: Tired

~

cycling August 24th 2009

STP 2009-an epic ride
2 Comments »

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What a weekend it was…

I don’t even know where to start (and this post will be long and rambling)

When I first moved here 11 years ago, I couldn’t imagine riding on the road (hadn’t had a road bike since college and had been a mountain biker my entire adult life) more or less riding 204 miles from Seattle to Portland with 10,000 of my new closest friends.

But now, I can’t imagine not doing it.

Last year I was nervous and terrified-I didn’t know if I could do it.

What a difference a year makes; I fussed over logistics but knew I could do it even with less bike time this year (with all the triathlon training I’m not in as good a bike shape but am in better overall shape), had nothing to prove and would be riding with friends. (last year only 2 of the 11 people I trained with actually rode it and they wanted the latest start possible [on the hottest day of the year no less-I passed] so I rode solo)

Of course, no major undertaking is without things going wrong.

For the life of me, I could not find my bike pump that I took off my bike last time she was in the shop. I finally pulled one off of my other bikes.

My bike computer died so I replaced the battery (the battery wasn’t the only problem as it turns out-it told me I was riding 4mph slower than I was making me think I was bonking when I wasn’t)

and when I got to the start line, I discovered that when I tripped on my stairs leaving my apartment at 4:00 AM (almost took out my ankle and missed the ride all together), the heart rate monitor strap on my Garmin fell out of my bag and was likely lost forever.

I called Leo (my ride partner and other half of our comedy duo) at 4:30 and he was about 3 minutes behind me on I-5; we arrived at the UW in Seattle at about the same time. (not bad for one of us leaving from Bremerton and the other leaving from Tacoma)

I picked up my medical support jersey from our happy volunteers and got to meet Kimbery, MJ, Andy Williams (we’ve been reading each other’s blogs for some time) and Shawn Darraugh (photos to be uploaded to Facebook)

After picking up my jersey, hitting the port-a-potties and loading my luggage on the truck I was putting the final bit of air in my tire and getting ready to go when I heard,

“Hey!!! It’s DARWIN (my slug who has his own blog)

Mary was not only excited to meet Darwin in person

but she had banana slugs all over her helmet (and she gave me one; I also saw another slug on the ride that she gave someone else)

After that, Leo and I headed to the start line at 6:00 AM sharp (right in our projected time frame)

Last year, I was a very new (and nervous) road cyclist having only had a road bike for three and a half months before the STP.

This year, I was much more relaxed and less nervous about the other cyclists (many of whom aren’t adept at riding in groups safely or courteously) I also slept better the night before and ate more and often.

We enjoyed the cruise along Lake Washington Boulevard with the water and Tahoma (Mt Rainier’s real name) as a spectacular backdrop.

We had a blast singing, joking, insulting each other for the amusement of the other riders and playing duets on our horns (Leo loaned me a horn that honked to offset his “squeaker”.

There was an accident near Renton, but there were already medics and a support vehicle on scene and the EMS system had been activated so we kept going to be available for other incidents.

Claire and David when whipping past us on their tandem (they’ve been animals this year) Leo took off after them (at about 25 miles per hour) I took off after Leo, realized it was stupid to push that hard so early in the ride and backed off.

We did see them at the REI rest stop.

Where there were lots of REI employees volunteering and working hard at the BEST rest stop on the ride.

I even got to meet “Super Girl”

We saw lots of interesting people along the route and had a “lovely” (read hot on new black asphalt) run up the Puyallup hill and then headed on to Spanaway for the lunch stop.

We discovered early on that Leo was the “invisible” ride ref. He would politely ask people to say “on your left” and they’d completely ignore the poor guy. (he got teased about this for two days)

The lines were very long, but we got food quickly and then unlike last year, sat in the shade and cooled off.

It wasn’t easy, but I talked Leo out of waiting in the scorching sun for the port-a-potty lines and made other arrangements down the route (legal indoor plumbing thank you very much)

There was a bike accident outside of Spanaway, but there were more medics than patients and a support vehicle on scene, so we kept going to be available for other incidents. We also started seeing lots of flat tires.

I started getting sick from the heat around Tenino (it wasn’t quite as hot as last year, but was more humid) I thought I was bonking earlier when my bike computer said I was only going 9mph (slight uphill) when I was actually going 14 before I realized that it was borked)

Once I get that hot, I can’t eat because I get nauseous. Luckily, I was well hydrated, but I did bonk between Tenino and Centrialia. We pulled over and I downed a package of Cliff Shot Blocks and as much water as I could get down without vomiting (and it was close, let me tell you)

I made it into Centralia where I had a room booked at Rocky and Patsy’s house (the house with the mister set up practically on campus). No riding across town to a motel and walking back.

It was like staying with friends. The two other guys that were staying there were guys I had met on the Chehalis Western Trail (what are the odds out of 10,000 people) when I was being regaled with linguistic trivia by another rider.

I pulled up on my bike, put it in the back yard and was offered a beer (a good one too)

I had a nice shower, sat in the front yard and then a wonderful sit down dinner of lasagna, salad from the garden and garlic bread.

After that, we all walked over to the camp at the college (less than half a block) to socialize.

I finally got to meet Michael Snyder from the Cascade Bicycle Club.

Here we are with Leo in our obligatory Hawaiian shirts (how we recognize each other in the beer gardens at these events)

The beer garden had run out of beer (16 kegs), so we wandered over to the West Sound Cycling Club tent for a beer before calling it a night.

Yes, I was a naughty girl, I stayed out past 9:00 PM drinking beer with the cycling club from across the bridge (for which Rocky briefly locked me out of the house as joke)

I was awoken just before 5:00 AM (when the alarm was set to go off) to the sound of a torrential downpour (these were not showers-this was a deluge) which didn’t bode well for the rest of the ride. Heat exhaustion the first day-hypothermia the next. Good times!

Leo and I met back at the camp and headed out just after 6:00 AM.

I had breakfast at the house (just coffee and cereal, I’m not a big eater in the morning) but Leo didn’t. I hopped a paceline between Centralia and Chehalis, turned around and didn’t see Leo anywhere. It was his turn for a bonk.

I pulled out of the line and waited for him..

There was thunder and significant lighting strikes (big ones hitting the ground) which added more than a bit of excitement to the ride. We (along with a few hundred of our closest new bestet friends hauled butt into Chehalis where the smart ones took cover while the cells passed.

This was where we had an awesome breakfast at the park. (much like a hobbit, I enjoyed “2nd breakfast”)

Here are Leo’s Squid and my Slug enjoying it. (yes, the Ensure is Leo’s)

When we got a break in the storm, we headed out for what is my favorite part of the ride; the rolling countryside between Chehalis and Longview.

There was a huge number of flat tires on day two; it seemed like we were coming up on one every 100 yards or so. Michael even stopped for a guy who had broken his seat post.

This year, I had to stop in Winlock to take a cheesy photo with the egg…

We continued on through the wonderful rolling hills when our bliss was broken for a time by a hailstorm that pummeled us not long after we left Winlock.

I got to sing with a fun paceline while on the rollers. We belted out a fabulous rendition of “Take Me Home Country Roads”

I was excited to find that they were not out of turkey warps at the Lexington stop this year and we had a nice break and lunch.

At this stage in the ride (just shy of 150 miles) there was a lot of Chamois Butt’r being used… Here is the scene from inside of one of the port-a-potties

We were leaving that stop at about noon when the announcement came…

They were only going to do the escorts across the Lewis and Clark Bridge (between Longview WA and Rainier OR) until 1:00 PM.

It was only 8 miles away, but we decided to haul butt to make sure we got across with the escort.

The bridge to most people is the scariest part of the ride and it’s worse without the escort trying to ride it with logging trucks whizzing by.

Here we are lined up to get over the bridge. (small groups are escorted by the Gold Wing club)

And here we are crossing the bridge (right before the screaming downhill run with the scary expansion joints)

width="500" height="375" alt="STP 2009 031" />

The mad dash to get across the bridge lead to a bit more crowding on Highway 30 than usual but it was workable. (check out the rain on my helmet)

Just before the St Helen’s Rest Stop I could tell that my lactic acid threshold (which I’ve learned a lot about over the last couple years) was being pushed and that whatever they had at the rest stop (they usually run out of turkey wraps that late in the day) was not going to cut it. Michael was very good about staying with me and offering to take pulls when I started slowing down just before St Helens.

So I pulled over at McDonalds (disgusting but a good, cheap quick source of meat, fat and carbs all of which I needed) and got a cheeseburger and fries,which I stuffed in my jersey pockets before heading into the rest stop.

Leo looked at me with revulsion at my disgusting choice of endurance fuel to get the final 25 miles (out of 204) into Portland.

Michael looked at me a bit less harshly…

Soon, they both headed there as well (yes, I laughed my butt off)

Since I was the slow one out of the group, I headed out a bit earlier than they did.

Michael caught up with me well past Scapposse after sprinting a good distance and Leo took a bit longer to catch up.

After that, we took turns taking pulls into Portland (pretty much hauling butt-a 17 mph average that late in a double century ride is hauling butt for me)

That last stretch of Hwy 30 entering Porltand makes me nervous. It’s narrow, the traffic is speeding by, and everyone is tired, stressed and ready for the ride to be done. It was especially bad this year because it wasn’t just raining, it was pouring and we were soaked to the skin and there was a lot of standing water. Some of the storm drains on the side of the bike lane were only identifiable by the bubbles coming out of the standing water.

People turn into “instant buttheads” passing too close without saying “on your left” (I was tempted to snark, but could not do so while wearing a ride support jersey)

Just before the nasty hill coming into Portland we stopped to help a couple of ladies with a flat tire.

I don’t know what was up with me, but I actually passed people on the first half of that nasty hill, I came to my senses and slowed down on the 2nd half. (I’m not a great hill climber)

During the final miles through Portland to the start I was whining, “No ooone toool meeee iiiit might raaaaiiiin in Poooortland.” and “I’m sooooo cooool aand weeeeet I caaaan’t feeeeel my buuuuut anymooooore” (not a bad thing actually)

We hit every red light in Portland between the Steel Bridge and the finish line.

My friend Peter (one of my VERY best friends in Jr High School who I recently reconnected with on Facebook) was there at the finish line for me and for a very short visit. We hadn’t seen each other since the 70′s.

We got in very late (as a support rider Leo, Michael and I had to stop a lot to help people) and barely had enough time to get our bikes on the truck, grab our luggage and get on the bus back to Seattle.

No food, no beer.

I did change into dry clothes (which disgusted Leo that I did it without showering) but he actually got on the bus in his wet disgusting riding clothes.

Someone was kind enough to give us some granola bars as a “thank you” for volunteering and Leo found some cheese crackers in his pocket.

Traffic stunk (which it usually does on Sunday between Portland and Seattle especially on STP and Oregon Country Fair weekend)

We pulled into the UW parking lot some time after 10:00 PM and I was a bit worried when Flash wasn’t racked.

I d id not want to drive up to Seattle the next day to get my bike (again, last year the truck my bike was on got a flat tire)

Then I saw the next truck pull up and Flash was one of the first bikes off.

I was happily reunited with my beloved bike and headed home.

Yes, I’ll be doing it again next year.

Oh, the rest of the pictures are here …

and here’s the route map

~L

Mood: relaxing

~

cycling, events July 13th 2009

We Rocked Seattle (and the worst volunteer experience ever)
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* It’s taken me a while to get to this race report because I had to make a heartbreaking decision on Monday and am having a hard time with it. I am having to force myself to write this. (those who read my blog know why I’m so sad)

** I had a great race and thought the event was well organized, I did however have a very bad experience trying to volunteer which is also chronicled here. (warning, I say some things that aren’t nice because 5 days later my blood still boils thinking about it)

I drove up to my friend Julie’s house up on Queen Anne Hill and rode the bus down to Qwest Field to go to the expo and pick up my packet (traffic and parking down there suck pond water). Julie had driven in to work across the lake in Bellevue and caught a bus downtown to meet me.

This is where I met “The Medical Director” of the event.

In his case, the “MD” on his badge should have stood for “Major Dick” or “Master Douchebag” (sorry if that’s crass, just be grateful that there wasn’t an “F” in his title).

The leader of the bike medics had posted a plea to the Cascade Bicycle Club’s message board needing volunteers to ride medical support on their bikes. I figured that I could run the half, then hop on my bike (just needed a spot of chainlink fence near the medical tent to lock it to in the morning) ride the course in reverse out to the turn around on I-90 and then ride the full marathon course. It would be a brick workout and would keep me from getting stiff after the run.

The nice lady who I emailed said she’d check on how to work that.

It seemed simple to me, I’m local, I can get anywhere on the course I need to be on my bike.

The bike support folks at the Seattle Marathon ride back and forth on a specific section with their ham radios.

Seems simple right?

Wrong!

I walked up to the Medical booth at the Expo to check in and was greeting by a nice young doctor who was the start line doctor. He gave me my information with a smile and appreciation for volunteering.

I joked that I was psycho for running a half marathon and then getting on my bike, but I was a sucker for an event that needed medical bike help.

That’s when the “MD” went off on me.

He was a short, paunchy, balding rude little man from New York (no offense to my lovely friends from New York, but this guy was a stereotype in the worst way)

So there I sat, thinking I was doing a good thing getting my ass chewed by “Archie Bunker” about how it was a stupid idea and wouldn’t work and I couldn’t do it unless I could start with the runner waves because there was no way to get on course.

What a load of crap. Perhaps this nasty man should have sought out the advice of races who use bike support and locals before making that ignorant proclamation. Bike riders trying to stay upright going slow enough to stay with a wave is ineffective and pretty ridiculous.

Nice way to treat a highly qualified volunteer with local knowledge asshat!

That type of behavior may fly where he’s from but not among people that actually have manners.

I restrained myself , did my best to smile, and simply said “All-righty then” and started to walk off.

The very nice Start Line Medical Director appeared somewhat mortified by this jackasses behavior and said, “Do you have medical qualifications?” to which I replied, “13 years as a paramedic, ACLS, BTLS, flight training and incident command.”

He said, “Wow, that’s great; would you be interested in working in the medical tent at the finish line, you’d be wasted on the bike away.” (the bike folks were there mostly to call to activate the EMS system)

He was so nice and so sincere that I said “Yes” despite my desire to tell the rude, arrogant, egotistical MD sitting next to him to piss off.

* more on that bad idea later

Packet pickup went smoothly, we checked out the expo and then headed to dinner at Buca Di Beppos.

We met Daria & her husband, Syliva & her partner Franci (a 78 year old Ironman) Robert, Alice, Laura and Kay for a fun filled dinner (and a trip to visit the men’s room to see the art work)

We all went home early in hopes of getting a good night’s sleep before boarding a shuttle at an ungawdly hour to get to the start line. Julie and I wanted to get there extra early because there were problems with the shuttles at the inaugural Rock and Roll Arizona race in 2004.

yeah, that sleep thing… It didn’t happen. We stayed up a bit late chatting and giggling, then Mr Katz (her feline companion) woke us up in the wee hours of the morning, not once, but twice hacking up what must have been the biggest hairball ever. (oh the joy of long haired kitties)

There were no problems with the shuttles at this race, the process ran like a well oiled machine.

We were at the start line way too early and were very cold (I hate messing with bag check and go minimalist) so we got some discarded shrink wrap from a pallet of water and wrapped up in it to stay warm.

The starting line was very well organized. The corrals started a couple of minutes apart so when yours went there was room to run. It still took almost 40 minutes to get to the start (I was in corral 22 where I never found Kay or Daria) but once it was our turn to go we were actually able to run.

I didn’t find Laura in the corral either but she caught me on the course and greeted me with a friendly tug on my pony tail.

The first part of the course ran along the Green River. I think they missed a great promotional opportunity to let participants know that this is the very river where the infamous serial killer Gary Ridgeway (aka the Green River Killer) dumped his bodies.

One of the great things about the Rock and Roll series races is the energy and the music, bands, cheerleaders and more bands.

The energy was amazing throughout the entire race.

We ran down the Boeing access road and then made our way over to Seward Park and Lake Washington. I had a bit of deja vu as I ran the same course as I rode at the LiveStrong Challenge the weekend before.

I ran into Tory along the Boulevard…

We had a Bald Eagle (who ruined a lot of people’s time because they had to stop and look/take pictures) watching us from his or her fishing perch along side the lake. (at least this one didn’t drop a salmon in the road, getting hit by/tripping over eagle dropped salmon is a hazard here)

At about mile 9 the concrete started getting to me. Most of the roads up there are concrete and it starts to beat the body. Especially someone like me with a lot of scar tissue from the fractured spine and pelvis and who hasn’t been getting the running time in.

We had a short but steep pull up to I-90 where the full marathoners did a short out and back across the bridge and the half marathoners continued on through the tunnel.

It’s interesting that I’ve spent more time on the I-90 express lanes in that tunnel running or riding my bike than driving.

OMG, that tunnel is long, hot and has no air.

The worst part of the tunnel is that someone thought it was a good idea to put an amplified band IN the tunnel

The roar was so deafening that I first thought the Blue Angels were practicing for SeaFair, but it was a band, amplified in a closed area. It actually hurt my ears.

Please do NOT put a band in there next year.

We finally escaped the tunnel and headed into Seattle.

By this time, the lack of sleep, lack of long run training and concrete was taking it’s toll and I was hurting.

We had to run past the stadiums up into town and then make another climb, this one up to the lower level of the viaduct. We were grateful for the short bit of shade.

I crossed the finish line with an unimpressive time of 2:58:10.

I grabbed some water and a bit of food, stretched out and reported for my volunteer shift at the finish line tent where I was told my medical skills would be put to good use.

They didn’t have my information, tossed me a blank medical credential and a double XL shirt and then pretty much ignored me.

I tried to ask what the procedures were and what I should do, but no one could tell me.

One nice doctor finally suggest I go out towards the finish line to “sweep” (ie bring sick/injured runners in) that’s where they put the people without medical training.

So there I was after running a half marathon, stiff, hurting, having been treated like crap by the medical director the day before and now ignored by the people I was volunteering for.

It was grossly overstaffed and the finish line announcer even joked that the huge cadre of medical people looked really really bored.

It was hot, my legs were sore and I was not amused.

I lasted about an hour and half at it until I realized it was stupid and harmful for me to be standing there like that after my race and just gave up and left.

After having such good experiences and being appreciated at other events for my willingness to help and my highly specialized skill set and experience, I was pretty unhappy.

I will not volunteer for these people ever again.

But it was a great, well organized race, I had a blast, spent (not enough) time with friends.

And of course, got a shiny thing.

~L

Mood: Tired

~

race, running July 1st 2009

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