weddings and guests

I am on an RSVPing tear of late! I went 18 years without RSVPing to a wedding (I know, that is really lazy and trashy) and I have sent two back in the last two weeks!

Had a very fun/funny weekend at Terry's cabin (a guy I work with) down at Stevens Pass. Great snow - the last weekend of March - and we boarded from 9 am-10pm....so needless to say, I am still tired but it was a great time.

Other than that, my delays on updating the blog are a direct result of nothing but laziness and forgetfullness! I am looking at houses again, but still extremely indecisive as usual. Lots of place on the market around my price range but it would put a huge strain on the "cash flow"....not sure if that's what I want/need right now....

anywho - time for bed again!

some pictures of Walt that I think are pretty cool/funny
http://picasaweb.google.com/volpenhein17/SomeInterestingPhotos/photo#5184145257254152210
http://picasaweb.google.com/volpenhein17/SomeInterestingPhotos/photo#5184146099067742258

yay for photos...

black, black roses...in my garden....

I spend at least four nights a week wondering if I will make the most of my weeknights... I do know, that if I could eat Bayou Brunch every day of the week between 9-11 am I would win all contests.

Its late. I was out being up late on a kick ass boat. boats kick ass.

I don't see how I will be riding in the next 3-8 hours...looks like it will have to wait until Sunday, if at all. Either way, it is kind of cold here so I think Sunday might be a good option if we get any rain/snow in the area tomorrow....

Walter has a really good nose. It smells a lot of things.

A week away...

Well, I'm back on native soil finally after a combination of a few extremes; 1. A productive week of work in Perth, 2. a great weekend in Fremantle at the West Coast Blues and Roots Festival, and 3. 31 hours of travel to get home!

Thats right, I was at the music festival working up a sweat all day Sunday (Saturday here) and went straight to the airport and changed shirts before taking my midnight redeye to Sydney where I had a 5-hour layover. Tag on the 1.5 hour delay because of a labor dispute and the resulting lack of luggage onboard the plane and we were on our way, lighter than planned. 14 hours later we touched down in Vancouver, finally....or so I thought. My grand prize for smelling up the place and needing to eat like a starving monk was a 2.5 hour delay at the border trying to get back into the US!!!!

Anyway, the week in Perth was amazing. Weaher was nice (save the almost 90 degree day on Tuesday) and the weekend was unbelievable at the concert. I ended up meeting a group of 6-7 people that were as friendly as it gets and hung out with them all day Sat and Sun. Perth is over-the-top expensive (in particular for Americans right now) but it is an amazing city. Water everywhere - the Swan River winds thru the city - and very well planned green space on all the water front. Beaches all up and down the coast within a 1-15 minute drive. The one detriment to the Aussie lifestyle is the service element. Its not that you get bad service here and there, its that there just isn't much of a concept of service at all. With the mines booming up north apparently it has driven wages up like crazy and made it hard as hell for companies to find decent help at decent prices. No one cares about it....

Highlights of the concert; G Love, Galactic, Maceo Parker, The Beautiful Girls, and Seasick Steve (on comedic merits)

LOTS of photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/volpenhein17/20080317Perth

Went to see a sculpture display at Cottesloe Beach and spent the rest of my free time in Fremantle cruising around the markets and enjoying the scenery...lots of it...

Good to be home for awhile again...

updated....via an update

I got home from work the other day and Sadie and Allisa had stopped by during the day and took Walt on a walk. They left me a note that said "We took the Pooch!" So I texted Sadie and asked if it was her that had him....these are the photos she sent me....I told them, I don't negogiate with terrorists!

This was a view today on my drive to lunch from work...Mt Baker at its finest(click to elarge)....

Not too much new - my trip got shifted around and I don't have to go to Tokyo now...so its straight to Sydney and onto Perth. Longer flight but less hastle and more time to maybe snowboard....so I leave Saturday night now out of Vancouver. Finally got a hotel for next Saturday in Perth and a rental car...so I'm set. Going to be a busy week though and lots of work to do and info to gather while I am down there.

OK - tired

Crab cakes and banana chips...

(that was my dinner tonight)

OK OK - its been two weeks since I have been disciplined enough to update things....this is exactly what happens with the pen and paper version of this too! Anyway, the weather finally "broke" back to 40 deg and overcast. The two week perfection was great while it lasted. I am leaving friday for 10 days anyway, so no big deal for me;) If I am lucky we will get lots of snow the weekend I get back, March 21, and we are going to head down to Stevens Pass for some night boarding and hanging out at a friends cabin....iffff we are lucky.

AJ Kramer was here this weekend for a quick visit. We went up to Baker Saturday, back towards Baker Sunday for a hike with Nick and Kristen and AJ and then AJ and I went up to Vancouver for some food and to check out the city. Busy weekend, but good times.

I will be in Tokyo Saturday afternoon and work Sunday morning on a vessel. If things go as planned, I will be back on a plane Sunday evening to go to Perth. I get in Monday morning and work Tuesday - Friday. THEN....I will be hanging out in Fremantle (a smaller city near Perth) to go to the West Coast Blues and Roots Festival. Great concern with lots of good bands. I will try to take lots of photos and collect all the non-sensical stuff possible for distribution when I get back home! Here are some photos of this weekend...

I almost forgot about this one...