My mom had her surgery late yesterday evening, and is recovering nicely. Aside from the occasional nap, she's as coherent as ever. I can only imagine how bored she must be sitting around all day, but we did watch the first 2 Thin Man movies I got her for her birthday earlier. Good cinema.
I actually made some progress on my folks' cherry end-table (actually cherry and poplar) this afteroon. The new, more powerful sander is a bit tricky to get used to, but it does an excellent job. With luck, I should have the table completely sanded down and ready for staining in a week.
German word of the day: Schopf (m) - Moppy hair, a tuft of hair
After applying outrageous amounts of greasy goo (ear medication) to my dog's ears, she's recovering nicely. She does, however, reek like a pair of dirty socks from the floor of a crackhouse... I'm giving her a bath tomorrow.
I finally bought a new hand sander today. My ancient Black and Decker vibe sander is still ok, but it can't handle cheaper sandpaper (it just tears or slips), and it's way too loud to use in the garage of a duplex. Think: the volume of a loud weed whacker.
I'm going to be insanely busy over the next several weeks. My new job is going to require a considerable amount of preparation, and fall semester at the college is starting to really pick up. My political involvement is also gearing up because of the state recall, and I've been becoming somewhat involved in helping to put a band together.
Anyway, wish me kind thoughts and good karma over the next month folks... but wish it to my mom moreso, as she's having foot surgery tomorrow.
German word of the day: Gerippe (n) - Skeleton
The other day I saw a photo online of a tank crew in Iraq with the caption, "A message from Iraq." The photo cracked me up, as the tank crew had a sign on their turret reading simply, "This place sucks."
I don't know if in the mid-1980's all the really attractive parents suddenly decided to get busy, but I've been continuously floored by the sheer number of extremely attractive women at the college this semester. Hmm.. maybe I'll actually have a chance to start dating again? With my luck with women, yeah right! Woo!
My dog has yet another ear infection... and once again it's in both ears.
German word of the day: Ekel (m) - Disgust
I slept horribly last night and woke up 20 minutes before I had an interview with a temp agency. I felt horrid so I cancelled, performing a heart-tugging rendition of the classic "family emergency" as my excuse. I then went back to sleep for a little while before being woken up yet again by my mom and a lady from a window blinds company. Apparently we're going to have all the blinds on the second floor replaced... which is fine by me, as mine have been broken since the day we moved in. I just love knowing that random people can look up into my room when I'm changing my pants, don't you?
Later in the afternoon I went to a job interview up north for one of the school districts, and I was hired on the spot. The head manager apparently recognized the benefits of my obsessive and excessive self-inflicted education on numerous general topics. I was jazzed, unfortunately the job doesn't start until mid-September. There went the remnants of my savings account...
After the interview I met my folks and my sister at a really good tex-style barbecue and sushi restaurant. Following some green cheesecake, I strained my patience by helping my dad install virus scanning software on his office computer.
Then came the blackout. When I returned home, I found that our entire neighborhood had been without power for a couple hours. I sat around downstairs playing guitar for a while before boredom set in. I drove around a little and eventually settled in at a local coffee shop, where I made some progress toward finishing Fast Food Nation. The coffee shop closed at midnight, which I found odd (what self-respecting coffee shop closes at midnight?), so I drove around a bit more before giving up and heading home. The blackout ended at just about the same time, so I stayed up checking my e-mail and surfing the net into the wee hours of the night.
German word of the day: Zahltag (m) - Pay day
I posted some flyers to try and hook up with local musicians to jam a week ago, and I've since received a few calls. We'll see if any of them develop into anything...
German word of the day: Freiden (m) - Peace
In other news, today was not the best of days. Among other things, after working in semi-promising office jobs for the last 6 years, I came to the realization that I may soon be forced to start working in the industrial sector. Unless I'm able to find a better job opportunity in the near future, the best I've been able to scrape out of the currently horrendous job market thus far is a gig packaging and shipping musical equipment in a warehouse. It's a bit humbling, but it'd better than receiving no income at all... only slightly more depressing.
German word of the day: Fabrik (f) - Factory, shop
I've been pretty busy since last week. Last Friday I went with my dad to see the Raiders play St. Louis at the Raiders' home stadium down in Oakland. It was quite the spectacle, as one could tell the Raiders' fans outnumbered the Rams fans by about 20-1 just by listening to the boos and yells from the stands. The drive back was equally as interesting, as my dad proceeded to play 3 different versions of the classic Doors' tune, "Break on Through," turned up to 10 for a friend of his that we gave a ride to. I believe alcohol was a factor...
The day after the Raiders game, Luke, Torry, and Luke's friend Sean came down so we could all go to the last show of the Summer Sanitarium Tour, down at Candlestick Park. The show was a bit long for my taste (9 hours), but it was an excellent one overall. Mudvayne and The Deftones were up first, but I'm not really familiar with either's tunes past what I've heard on the radio. Linkin Park was up 3rd, and, even though I've had my doubts about them in the past, I have to say they put on a really damn good show. I think, Metallica aside, the fans in the stadium were supportive of those guys more than the other 3 bands combined. Limp Bizkit was 4th. The crowd didn't like them, their stage presence sucked, the mix was too tinty, and Fred Durst didn't seem to want to be there. They did, however, have an amusing video montage of George Michael during the band's finale tune, their cover of "Faith."
Next... Metallica. The Bizkit probably should've played longer, as Metallica waited about an hour for it to get dark before they started playing. They balanced new material with their old tunes very well, and even threw in a few I'd never heard them play live before. The stage show was a 10/10, they really kicked some ass. Post-show, the 4 of us braved parking lot traffic for a bit before driving into Sanfran for some chow at the Mel's Drive-In on Geary. We finally got home around 2 am and slept into the early afternoon on Monday before the guys finally took off back to Oregon around 4 pm.
Gregory Hines, RIP. And now for something completely different.
German word of the day: Entspannen - To ease up, relax, release
Thanks for the great pictures, Luke.
Last Sunday I went with the fam to the Green Music Festival, a salsa concert/benefit down at Sonoma State. It was pretty fun.. good music, good food. I'm not sure why, but there were masses of dragonflies everywhere... I'm guessing it was because the lawn area was situated between two ponds. I definitely plan on going next year and I'd recommend it to anyone living in this area.
I was pleased to find out last weekend that I received an A in my summer math class. Not bad for a 6 week class that's normally taught in 16 weeks, eh?
Burning Man '03 is in a few weeks... unfortunately neither Cherz, Michael, or myself will be able to attend this year. In its place, I've been considering going camping on some upcoming weekend, though I may shelf the idea until I'm able to find a job.
German word of the day: Wahnsinn (m) - Madness