Inktrails from Alaska

"I'll Meet You There"

"I'll meet you there." I can't tell you how many times a friend, usually a guy friend, has told me that, only to keep me waiting up to an hour for him to show up.

They don't stand me up. Well, not often. But somewhere it is in my Code of Operations to be on time. Clearly, most men are wired differently.

I'm sure there are women who are like this. But I don't seem to have to meet women very many places, and when I do, they are on time, just like me. On time, or even early.

What is it about men that makes them think that they can leave the house or cabin fifteen minutes befor the movie starts, and somehow magically arrive half an hour before it begins, the time they agreed to meet me? It takes at least twenty minutes, if not half an hour, just to get the tickets and popcorn on a busy movie day. I almost always have to buy the tickets, because if I waited until my date got there, it would be time to walk into the movie and we would still have a fifteen or twenty minute wait to get the tickets.

Your car is not a time machine, guys.

So I end up buying the tickets, and he ends up buying the popcorn. It's not an even match-up on what it costs, either. Tickets cost either $6.50 each or $9.50 each, depending on if it is after six or not. I spend either $13 or $19, while a large tub  of popcorn and a medium drink costs $10.50.

Yes, you may say. He's trying to be a cheap date.

I don't think that's the problem, but I tell you, it irritates the hell out of me. My main squeeze has finally realized this and has been making attempts to be more on time, thank God. But he resents being on time!

I don't understand that!

I recently attended a community meeting that was supposed to start at 6:30 and end at 7:30. The meeting started at 7:00 instead. People were still arriving at that time. I had to leave to go to an event I lead weekly. This is "Fairbanks" time. When I lived in the Southwest it was called "Indian" time.

I call it Rude Time.

Nowadays if someone doesn't show up within half an hour, I'm leaving. Call me anal, but it seems that if you set a time for an event, then it should happen at the time stated!

Last year we wanted to see a rock group from Ireland perform at a local bar/nightclub. The tickets stated that the show began at 8:00. We dutifully arrived at 7:00 so that we'd have time to order and enjoy dinner first.

At 9:30 the place was packed with milling, smoking people (hack hack) and there was no sign whatsoever that the band was going to start. We saw the band enter a back room, enjoying a pizza and some smokes. They didn't look like they were doing anything but killing time. I asked one of the band members when they were going to start, because the tickets claimed 8:00 as the start time. "What?" he replied. "We've never been told anything but that we started after 10 pm!"

We got refunds and LEFT, never to patronize that venue for a concert again. I heard later it was nearer 11 before they started.

The bar owner does this every single time he has a band. Claims that it starts HOURS before, so that he can sell drinks for hours. I call that more than late and rude. I call that dishonest.

Well, I'm off to the movies again. I'm leaving late on purpose. Hope we can get tickets.

The Staircase Diet

Here's how to lose five pounds:

For breakfast: Instant apple cinnamon oatmeal, three packets every day with just applesauce on top.

Move into a house with very steep windy stairs where the main living area is upstairs, but the kitchen, and the BATHROOM are DOWNSTAIRS.

The asthma is improving from all this stair-climbing, too. My ass looks great!

Things to do, especially if you are allergic to cats:

Don't forget to shampoo the rugs, because the extremely strange person from whom you bought the house had three cats and never bothered. Who doesn't shampoo the carpets before selling the place?

I already have very steep windy stairs at work that I go up and down numerous times a day. I never lost weight because of it, though. Maybe there are a critical number of staircases that must be involved before the staircase diet works?

There's Voles in That There Snow!

We finally have enough snow to have a little fun in. At 10:30 in the morning, when the sun wasn't quite up yet a few days ago, Sofia decided there were definitely voles hiding under the snow.
The 'ghost' is my breath. I think it the temperature was around zero.
She is quite intent.

It's not easy to take pictures one handed with a digging dog in the other hand, wearing gloves, and trying not to drop the camera in the snow.

"I know it's in there!"

"Not gonna get away from ME!"

"Wait! Do I hear a squirrel?"

House Warming

Beginning the New Year right is important. Breaking in a new home is also a good idea, and having good friends help you do that is even better. Last Saturday we had a potluck and jam session and everyone actually fit in my small place! Magically we had enough chairs! It all worked out so wonderfully well that I'm still amazed.

It's great to know I know such nice people. We have now tested out the loft and indeed, the acoustics are pretty darn good and it's a great, comfortable place to play music. My midnight fears of having the upstairs collapse under the weight of more than five people were unfounded, thank goodness! It's as solid as 2x6s can make it, I guess.

I didn't get a picture of everyone. These are just a couple of quick shots, all upstairs. Downstairs we had a pot of lamb stew (my contribution), some cassoulet, and many, many desserts. It seems almost everyone was in the mood for sweet stuff!  There was cake and brownies and beautiful dried fruit....and lots more.

Thanks to everyone who attended! We'll have to have more jams in the coming year.