Back to Work

Today I am back to work after a week of time off.

Jennifer and I went to visit some friends where we had to fly.  I discovered a couple years ago, that flying in a Utili-kilt is really great.  Plus there's the added bonus of watching people's reactions as I walk by.

This time, the TSA was a little more relaxed about me.  They even showed me on the screen why they needed to pat me down.  Essentially, it's the rivets and buttons; they show up as little points of interest all up the sides and in the front.

However, the best part was my return trip and getting on the first plane.  After I scanned my boarding pass, the agent complimented me on the kilt.  Then she asked me where I was traveling to.  I said, "San Francisco."

She said, "Ohhhhh."

Scottish Fun

Today we returned to this year's Scottish games in Pleasanton. We saw the regular things: the sheep dogs trials, the birds of prey, and the whiskey tasting.

We laid low on the beers today, and focused on the fun of the whiskey tasting. One of the tables had tasting paired with chocolates. Not something I would normally consider, but it turned out exceptionally well. I had three of the four they were offering. And then I tried some others around the room. We all enjoyed what was out there, and then continued to wander.

We got to see the Wicked Tinkers again, and I got a new hat for the Renaissance Faire, and a new Utilikilt (workman's style).

Lots of pictures here, especially the Peach trying out a new outfit (she ended up getting the brown).

Seattle - Monday

Monday morning Dian was nice enough to care for my blisters by draining them and rebandaging them. After that, shoes were not so insanely painful.

For breakfast, we drove (thank you) to a restaurant in the University district. I had challah French toast that was incredibly good.

Then we drove downtown and parked at the Seattle Library. That is one amazing building. Dian got me good by making me go up several escalators to look out the top. She knows my fear of heights (note how I never said I went up in the Space Needle), but this wasn't too bad. I was able to distract myself with the architecture and the scenery. Then she made me ride the elevator back down.

Then we walked (much more slowly than Saturday and Sunday) to the Utilikilts store. We had to kill some time at another book store until Utilikilts opened, but when there I bought a heather gray Mocker. Just like the one in the picture. It's kind of like a dress slacks version of the utilikilt. I had wanted a denim one, but they've been discontinued.

But we did a little more walking and I can use this picture to prove I was really there.

And then it was time to go home, so I was driven to the airport, and Dian went on to a meeting and rehearsal for her next show. The flight back was a little rougher with a young boy behind me who kept kicking my seat. I would look back at his mother who would apologize and then reprimand him by holding him down or something. At that point he would begin screaming because he was (apparently) being stifled. I was glad to have my headphones on at that point.

Then I got home and Jennifer took me to La Piñata for a return margarita. And that night I related her my entire trip.

Seattle - Friday and Saturday

The flight to Seattle was uneventful, and I got some good views of the world on the way. It was kind of cool to be flying over some glaciated mountains, and then suddenly this hummocky area. I couldn't see the volcano itself, but I knew from my old topographic map studies that Mt. Shasta was on the other side of the plane. And the flight was relatively quiet. It turned out there was a baby behind me the whole flight, but it never made a noise until we were on our descent.

Dian picked me up and we went back to her place and set up my palatial air mattress. It was my choice to stay with her because it just seemed like it would be easier than doing the hotel shuffle and coordination. Then we just chatted about things until after 11:00.

The next morning we started the day with breakfast (egg and sausage quesadilla for me), and then the walking began.

We continued downhill to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Wake was the most impressive, and I probably should have taken pictures, but there just wasn't a good way to get the impression of them in a picture. Their scale is such that it wouldn't carry over.

Then we looped around and walked through the Seattle Center. I didn't take a lot of pictures over the trip just because I didn't want all the typical touristy pix. I saw the Space Needle (whee.), and the remnants of the 1962 World's Fair.

Then we went to the NFFTY animation show. It was pretty cool with a couple good entries including an hour long LEGO animation. Not really a short with that length, but still pretty impressive. It took the kid who did it three years to make (20 minutes each year).

Then we walked downtown.

We followed the monorail (with the Simpsons song in my head) until it ended, we passed by Pike Place Market (we'd come back to it), and went on to Pioneer Square, and past that to a big bookstore. The cafe below ground at the bookstore is the one that they used as a model for the TV show Frasier. And on the way we passed the Seattle Utilikilt store. We were kind of... moving with purpose, so I got a promise that we'd come back later in the weekend. We backtracked to Pike Place Market, and wandered through that seeing the original Starbuck's store.

Then time was pressing, and we walked back to Dian's apartment to get cleaned up for dinner and Gutenberg! The Musical!...

The walk turns out to be over 7 miles, and is probably closer to 8. With lots of hills. And that was just a warm up for Sunday.

As promised

And today, As I swore I would do when at the Scottish Games, I wore my Utilikilt to work.

I got a few funny looks and comments. Lots of people asked if I were Irish or Scottish (I'm not). The best was from my program manager:

PM: Why are you wearing that?

E: I got it this past Saturday, and I wanted to wearing something other than regular pants on casual Friday.

PM: I didn't know that was an option.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Yesterday Jennifer and I went to the Woodland Scottish Games with our friends Steve, Lisa, Paul and Gemma, and were met there by Adam and Christa.

We started by meeting at Steve and Lisa's place where I bought a Utilikilt that was too small for Steve. It made my day because I stayed nice and cool, and felt cool as well.

It is the black, survival utilikilt that I bought, and thoroughly enjoyed. Now I have to get a belt. Steve let me borrow one of his that is a policeman's belt, that was really comfortable.

While at the games, we drank much beer. I stuck with Newcastle Brown, but the others had some Fat Tire amber, and a Scottish Ale I couldn't make the name out of, and didn't enjoy. And we had three whiskeys that went around in flasks.

We watched the Wicked Tinkers perform, saw some of the games (caber toss, hammer throw, vertical weight), and a fine performance by a sheep dog moving some very recalcitrant sheep.

As soon as I get my Flickr account going, I'll link to the pictures from both Saturday and Sunday.