Victoria or Bust: Saturday, October 11th!

 He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900) 

Chloe Alexis Dunn Cornbread fresh out of the oven, starting to get organized for Monday's stuffing. Mmmm Thanksgiving!!

Hi Elly and Tony! Trust you are both well. Just wanted to give you a bit of an update. Have been enjoying time with Claire and Greg ever since they arrived this past Monday.

Up at 7:45 am this morning to put on a pot of java. Greg came over at 8:00 am to pour two cups and then returned to The Annexe. Before he left I called the seaplane office to determine if flights were leaving. All well, in spite of steady rain so we arranged to leave at 8:15 am. Drove them back to drop-off point and wished them well. If flight was cancelled again, I'd return to collect them as soon as they knew. 

Narcissus spurning Echo and falling in love with himself

Art: John William Waterhouse

By the time I was home, rain had stopped and sun had actually broken through cloud cover so I assumed they were winging their way to Victoria. From the look of things here, they will have a lovely day to explore city. Back at 5:20 pm so I'll pick them up and then we'll have a "quiet" dinner here. Know they'll be tired after a full day of "traipsing" so having just the four of us will be a most pleasant way to end full-time exploring.
 

Cora Lee is standing over me, as I scribe, threatening to attack me with a pair of blunt garden shears if I don't head to my barber, Dino, "immediately"! She is feeling even more superior than she normally does as she is just back from her own hairdresser, having had a trim herself. Given way day has turned out, I'll suit up and cycle to 41st/Arbutus, via UBC, as it will be a good "stretch" ride after yesterday's outing. Fondestos from the Crazed Gardener to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Wednesday's outing to Whistler, Shannon Falls near Squamish; Tantalous outlook on way back from Whistler; and then Thursday's visit to Township 7.

Hi David and Pat! Trust you are both well. Just wanted to give you a bit of an update. Sorry, my mistake, about dates! We wouldn't be arriving until Tuesday, October 28th, at the earliest, as we are staying overnight in Portland on the 27th. If we leave Portland early enough we might knock on your door somewhere between 6:00 pm-7:00 pm, otherwise, next day, Wednesday, the 29th. Will phone during the day, on Tuesday, when we are on the road and have a better idea of whether we can make it to Healdsburg in good time. Hope this is fine.

Thanks for the update. The gate closes at 4 so you won't be able to knock on the door unless you have a tall ladder to hop over :-) . We will expect you here on Wednesday in the morning? I assume you will be here for dinner the 29th and also the 30th? We look forward to entertaining you in the evening but we usually are busy with the winery during to day and that is also the big week when our Wine Club goes out. I assume you are bringing your bike?........Have fun........Dave

[No need to read further, Dear Reader, unless keen to know about our latest exploits!]

Up at 7:45 am to put on a pot of java. Greg came over at 8:00 am to pour two cups and then returned to The Annexe. Before he left I called the seaplane office to determine if flights were leaving. All well, in spite of steady rain so we arranged to leave at 8:15 am. Drove them back to drop-off point and wished them well. If flight was cancelled again, I'd return to collect them as soon as they knew. By the time I was home, rain had stopped and sun had actually broken through cloud cover so I assumed they were winging their way to Victoria. From the look of things here, they will have a lovely day to explore city. Back at 5:20 pm so I'll pick them up and then we'll have a "quiet" dinner here. Know they'll be tired after a full day of "traipsing" so having just the four of us will be a most pleasant way to end full-time exploring.

After I dropped them off, returned home to continue tidying up after Friday night's dinner. Cora Lee was off to have here hair cut and when she returned she stood over me, as I was scribing, threatening to attack me with a pair of blunt garden shears if I didn't head to my barber, Dino, "immediately"! She was feeling even more superior than she normally does, just back from her own hairdresser! Given way day had turned out, I thought I'd suit up and cycle to 41st/Arbutus, via UBC, but by the time I'd finished vacuuming it was too late for a good "stretch" ride. Wasn't too too upset as felt missing a day wasn't a bad thing after yesterday's outing.

Home after having my ears lowered to prepare butternut squash for Coriandre, one of dishes for Thanksgiving dinner, here, on Monday, when Clan Sutherland and rest of their freeloader, hangers-on return from Seattle. Will have about about twelve again so we'll all be able to sit around table. Marvin insists on doing the turkey. He is a great cook so looking forward to his variation of traditional bird. Downtown to collect tourists at 5:20 pm. They really enjoyed exploring Victoria and had some wonderful views, coming and going. 

[Chloe Alexis DunnThere is something to be said for staying in for the night, drinking great wine, watching a fabulous movie ( Chef- watch it!!) and cleaning, except when you clean the toilet so well that you actually cause it to leak now I'm unable to use it... but still great night in!!! Any plumbers out there that wanna come over??

• 

  Chloe Alexis Dunn Yup! I called Dad, he was no help. Thank god the Aussie visitor Greg is plumbing minded.]

We had a "quiet" dinner here and it really was lovely to sit and chat over the course of the entire evening, really getting to know more about each other. Had not had much of chance to do so with so many others around. 

Said goodnight around midnight as we knew we'd have a full day on the morrow. Claire wants to do a few large loads of laundry while Greg and I have to take a look at the cistern on Chloë's toilet. She phoned during dinner last night to say it was leaking. Greg is like Big AL so I handed phone to him and he walked her through all necessary steps to shut water flow off. Not sure if we'll be able to replace bolts, (Chloë thinks they have rusted), or cistern or entire unit! Always something! 

Now get those allusional intuitions behind you. Barbara is out of the country; to approach her whilst she's abroad (again, no snickers!) is a poor strategy, so I will await the return of "Big Rat" before exploring that option. On the other front, Elise needs to check up about Brian's-son-Max's schedule, but didn't rule out your staying there as an inconceivable imposition. That's a good sign. SO, if things work out with Barbara, fine; if not, Elise seems accepting of her fate; should that prove impossible because of logistics, I will fall back upon the "Maginot Line" of other alternatives in our immediate vicinity. We can always inquire up at the castle-whoops, wrong millenium. In short, not to worry. Back to the 9th inning of the Giants Cardinals game. Cacts.

Dear comrades, I hope you are all good. I wish I could join you once in a while in the NRBC to share some time with you. But this situation, I must admit -honesty compells it-, it's quite improbable for me.

I moved to Bilbao. I am renting a little cozy&charming 43,65 Sq.m- apartment at Somera Street. It is located in the Casco Viejo of Bilbao, and is one of the oldest ‘7streets’ of the capital of the world (the Bilbainos are wellknown for being extremely proud of their city; they trully believe this is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most beautiful, the richest and biggest, most elegant, victorious, enjoyable….simply the best place on earth. They are so proud and they never lose a chance to show it; however most of the time they do it in a humorous, and good-natured way. There is even a word in spanish to define such kind of remarks: bilbainadas.

I moved to Bilbao because they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I get a really good job at the Basque BBroadcasting Group. It is a cahllenging, interesting and well paid job... I am so happy. We are just 4 guys doing a program called Azpimarra (Underline). It's a interview and debate based show, and the main topics are politics and economy, albeit we also care about culture, science and other social issues... The environment is quite good and the director of the program is a veteran and respected journalist called Maddalen Iriarte. She is a reference for her impeccable carreer. It's uplifting to see a proffesional who after 3 decades of journalism is still hunger for going all the way and work hard every day to meet the requirements of professionalism and honesty. Many of the colleagues who iare the same age are faded, disillusioned and overall unhappy; investing most of their energy in badmouthing a bout their jobs instead of taking the most of the great opportunities they have. Anyhow all my three new mates have been wellcoming to me, and I am getting back hooked to journalism.

As for my public competitions to get a position as a employee in the radio. The English Test is the only lasting examination. And, honestly I don't know if I still have any chances, but I guess I'm not gonna be far... fingers crossed. I want to go through the damned test for once and for all and focus in enjoying my new live in Bilbao. I want to start to go to the swimming pool, and also I am gonna sign up for a traditional dance course. I have always suffered an uncontainable overwhelming desire for dancing each time I hear trikitixa sound, so now I am determined to to something about that. Salute per tutti, Ci vediamo, Giani

Dear Giani Fred Astaire Gene Kelly from Obaba Artano (aka Jon): Great to hear from you. I am not quite sure but did you get hired by the Bilbainos Mafia as you indicate that “they made me an offer I couldn't refuse”?

I am happy that you are happy. Too few people can manage, like you, to find an interesting and challenging job that pays well. Good for you! I appreciate your positive comments about Maddalen Iriarte. It seems, sometimes, that we are constantly surrounded by ‘deadbeats’ --as you so aptly point out—and are fortunate enough to have a Maddalen show up and save us from MEDIOCRITY.

Study hard and you will do well on the English test. Your friends at the NRBC have faith in you. Ci vediamo, --Kurt