Archive for April, 2008

Pedestrians…

About a week ago, I started doing some bike riding to get some exercise. All is going well, the first couple of days were very rough. I am getting a little better everyday. The area around here is quite hilly, typical of Western Washington. I have to either start up the hill, or end up the hill, truly up hill both ways.

Going down the hill takes me to the waterfront of the Port Washington Narrows. At the bottom is Lion’s Field, a complex of softball fields with a path for the pedestrians. The path is paved about eight feet wide and snakes all around the park. At one end is the “pedestrians only” sign. And since I come from the other end, I don’t see it. :)

Yesterday I wasn’t even ON the STUPID path when someone said, of course, “this is for walking only”. I could have stopped and said something, but I kept on riding. About fifty feet later, the area between the fence and the water narrows so that riding through there, I must take the path. I am a very courteous rider and give the walkers plenty of room. But sometimes it just burns me up that people have to say something just to say something. Whether it’s justified or not.

Come on people, don’t you have anything better to do than flap your lips for no apparent reason?

That was the second time in a week. The first time I WAS ON the path, but there wasn’t anyone around, only one angry lady that yelled at me from about fifty feet away. Again I gave her plenty of room. Get a life people.

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Filed under Personal, Road Trippin' : Comments (0) : Apr 30th, 2008

Bar-b-que them ribs…

Yesterday we, mom and I, were invited over to Gary and Marie’s for some bar-b-qued ribs. What I didn’t know was this was a special occaision. Meagan, one of Gary and Marie’s nieces was showing off her new baby, Nora. Nora is named after her grandmother that had passed away many, many years ago. Meagan’s sister Stephanie was there too. Steph works for Symantec in Singapore. And she is VERY cute and unmarried. If I wasn’t already courting someone, I would have been all over that. :) Also there was Granny McKenzie and two of her daughters, Mary and Heather. Mary and Heather are a couple years older than I and are still very hot and very married.

So for a while it was Gary and I and eight girls. How horrible. :P

Mom had to explain to me about Steph and Meagan. You see their mother Nora passed away when Steph and Meagan were very young, less than three years old. So they were raised by their dad. A fine man that was in the Navy at the time. During the summer, Steph and Meagan would spend their time with Gary and Marie. Our families would eventually go camping together. Which means that the last time I saw Steph and Meagan would have been around thirty-three or thirty-four years ago. My how time flies. I was 13 or 14 and Steph, the oldest, would have been 5 or 6. Now we are all grown up and being all adult. Yea right.

All in all it was a great time. The ribs were great and the spread that Marie prepared was excellent. I have a feeling that Marie had once changed my diapers. That’s kinda creepy, but that’s life with the Prentice family.

We put the “fun” in dysfunction. :D

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Filed under Personal : Comments (0) : Apr 28th, 2008

Mom’s house…

Due to circumstances beyond my control I had to move out of my place.  The owner needed to move in and I can’t stand him, so I left.  Only due to the fact that real estate sale STILL hasn’t closed as the original buyer couldn’t qualify did I have to move in with my mother.  The good news is that a new buyer has been found and has the credentials to close the sale.  Until then, it’s mom’s house.  It is nice to have a place to stay.  She is renting a small three bedroom house next to our very good friends Marie and Gary.  They own this place and although it looks small it has enough room for the three of us.  Mom, Lorraine, and I.  Lorraine has been in Phoenix since the end of April, so it’s just been my mom and me.

The place is located in the part of Bremerton, Washington that I grew up in.  My old high-school is less than a mile from here and the family of an old girlfriend still lives about a block from here.  :)    The house sits on top of a cliff and has a magnificent view of the water and the west side of Bremerton.  I can even see Mount Rainier from the corner of the yard.  Mom sets out feed for the squirrels and the birds which keeps us entertained.  There is even a pair of pheasants that roam around the yard constantly.  I haven’t been able to get any good pictures as they spook quite easily.

It’s been quite different living in town now.  I’ve had to learn my way around, again.  It is suprisingly quiet here, considering the main street through town is a block away.  It’s somewhat wooded here so that cuts down on the traffic noise.

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Filed under Personal : Comments (0) : Apr 22nd, 2008

Been there, done that, burned the t-shirt…

On April 11, 1998, I was feeling hungry so I had a beer. And another, and another. Pretty soon I didn’t care much about myself or you for that matter. As the day wore on I kept on drinking. I didn’t eat for almost 36 hours during this particular binge.

As the beer ran out, we needed to get some more. I fired up the 1971 Pontiac Trans-Am and off we went. First stop was the store to pick up another case of Coors. Then that fateful decision to have one last drink at Salty’s on Alki. I was supposed to move to Bremerton the next day. The last beer I had was an Alaskan Amber Ale. Good stuff. As I drove back to the house I blacked out. I thank the powers that no one was hurt or killed. I did a massive burn-out across Admiral Way and one block later ran over a round-a-bout. I ended up scraping a small tree. And totaled the T-A.

I was arrested for DUI. I was issued tickets for negligent driving, no proof of insurance, and excessive speed. Fuck me.

On Monday I met with a lawyer to go over my options. There was only one. The two year deferred prosecution program. Essentially, a two year alcohol rehab. Fine. Whatever I had to do. Eventually, I made it to the end of it. I did everything I had to to stay sober. That included removing myself from the people that were still drinking. The best day of my life to that point was when I went to my last court appearance. The judge said, “All charges dismissed, get the hell out of my courtroom”.

I did.

3653 days later, here we are.

I’d like to thank all of my friends that supported me during this, but I had none. Only my mom and the people of Alcoholics Anonymous were there for me. The rest of you can just go FUCK YOURSELVES. I made it. You haven’t.

Filed under Business : Comments (0) : Apr 11th, 2008

Here we go…

I made a decision some time ago to move out of the place I was living in. Since I was already going to be away from home for three weeks, I though now would be a good time. But, all of this hinged on a real-estate sale that STILL hasn’t closed. In the last week I found out that the buyer hangs around with some ne’redowells in the area. But the real estate agent found a new finance person to help close this deal.

Anyway, in the mean time, my mom TOLD my I could stay with her for the time being. I am so grateful to have such a loving mother. Since I have been here, we’ve spent a lot of time together, and I have been able to reconnect with some of our mutual friends.

Last week my mom’s roommate left for Phoenix until May. And just now my mom left to spend a week at my brother’s place to help him landscape his yard. So it’s just me here for the next 12 or so days.

Can you say PARTAY. I think you can.

:)

Filed under Business : Comments (0) : Apr 3rd, 2008