For example, a week ago my friend Sarah (no, not Tim's girlfriend, that's Sara) sent me some e-mail telling me:
This weekend, I'm planning to [info deleted, you folks don't need to know what she was up to ;) ]
What're you planning on?
While my Sunday activities were set in stone (Dave Friedman and I were to migrate the gobears mailing list from the SparcServer to a Pentium running Windows NT Server), I had no defined plans for before then. At the time I was planning on finishing the Disneyland trip report, and considering attending the Mountain View Small Brewers Festival that Saturday. Little did I know that none of that was going to happen. Just before 5, my phone rang and something similar to the following conversation took place:
"Hello?"
"Hi Sean!"
"Hi Kim!"
"What are you up to this evening?"
"Oh, I was just going to finish writing the trip report, Why?"
"Well, if you leave right now, you'd be here in time to watch the sunset. Kel's coming over with some Chinese food too."
"Sounds cool. Let me think about this...
"That's ok...If you get here quick enough, we'll pick some up in town."
"All right. We'll have to see what happens since there's bound to be traffic."
"Well, get going now then."
"OK. See you in a bit."
One thing I realized before I left--this was going to be my first visit to Kim's in which I wasn't doing something Disney related.
I took off quickly, but was delayed by a bunch of Raider fans (argh!) and the usual traffic on the Nimitz freeway between highways 238 and 92. When I reached Fremont, I cut over to 680, since it usually goes faster. This was a good choice, as it did. Unfortunately my heart sank when I looked towards "The Summit" and saw that fog was already spilling through gap between Santa Cruz and San Jose. The chances of getting a decent sunset looked slim. Still, what was I going to do, turn back?
When I reached 17, I hit the usual evening backup over the summit; Fortunately, Bear Creek Road isn't that far up 17, so I knew I wouldn't be in traffic too long.
When I first took Bear Creek Road, all of 6 weeks earlier, I was very nervous, but still had the sense to pull over at turnouts and let other cars pass me by. Now that I've been on the road three more times, I'm comfortable enough that I usually drive the speed limit. This time, cars even pulled over to allow me to pass! Unfortunately, I then got caught behind someone who didn't have the courtesy to pull over. I saw the cars that had pulled over for me, line up in my rear-view mirror. By the time we reached highway 9, a train of at least 20 cars had formed. Of course, the inconsiderate driver made a right; the same direction I was going. Oh well, I got to Kim's place a little after 7.
When I arrived, I could hear Kim's dog Zarty barking, but I didn't see or hear Kim. I climbed the stairs and said "Hi" to Zart. Still no Kim. Then I listened a little more carefully, and heard the soft twang of a banjo...
Now before I continue I should point out a few things. Kim plays the banjo, only she had stopped playing when she grew her nails long. During our first trip to Disneyland, she had mentioned that the banjo piece you hear on the Mark Twain is her warm up piece. Later, after the Santa Cruz ba-add meet, Kim had mentioned that she was going to cut her nails so she could start playing the banjo again. She also mentioned that she had gotten two new pairs of contact lenses as part of her new vision care plan...one pair was colored blue. I teased her and said "I'd love to see you with short nails and blue eyes and hear you play the banjo." (I wasn't teasing about wanting to hear her play the banjo.)
But back to our story...so I heard the soft twang of a banjo. I decided to walk around the porch to where Kim has a futon couch and a chair set up. There was Kim, sitting on the futon couch, playing the banjo. I approached, and she said "Hi Sean!". Something was different...and it didn't quite click in my head. Then she said "How do they look?" And I realized that she was wearing he blue contacts. I said "Hmm, it makes your eyes more blue-green rather than blue. They look nice." She played some more, and it was obvious that she was rusty, but I still enjoyed it. She did a much better job than I did...yes she handed her banjo over to me so I could try it out. Now the only instrument I've ever played regularly is the piano, and I haven't done that for eons. Anyway, I only had to pluck a couple of notes to know that this just wasn't going to work. I handed the banjo back to Kim, and she played some more.
By this time, the sun was starting to play hide and seek with the wisps of fog that were drifting up the San Lorenzo Valley. It really didn't look like we were going to get a good sunset, and in the end, we didn't. We didn't go into town for cigars either, since we were waiting for Kelly to show up with the Chinese food (we could have gone to town, but it was comfortable enough sitting and chatting on the porch).
Anyway, Kelly showed up just after "sunset". Kim was still playing the banjo when Kel came up the stairs and went inside. Kel shouted out "Kim? Are you there?" We answered "Out here Kel." but she didn't hear us. Now Kel is one of Kim's best friends. How good of a friend is she? Well, some time ago, Kim was bed-ridden; Kel came over and helped clean the house, and even helped clean out the toilet. I don't think too many of my friends would do that.
To get back to the story, when Kel went inside Kim's house this time, I got up to tell her that we were outside. She was starting up the vacuum cleaner to vacuum Kim's rug. (It didn't look dirty to me) What are friends for, I guess. I greeted Kel with a hug and told her we were outside.
Kim played her banjo some more and we chatted. Kel was looking for a new place to live at the time and joked "So when are you going to become a Creekan (a resident of Boulder Creek)?" (Kim and Kelly have been working at getting me to move since Baycon.) I said "Would you mind me as a room-mate?" "Well, I could use a room-mate. I have found a two-bedroom really close by for $800/month. Just think, you could have been here two hours ago." "$400 would be less than I pay now. It's tempting, but I've got to stay in Berkeley for a while longer." [Kel has since found a place.]
After that it was time to have dinner. Kel brought Chinese food (some rice, chow mein, pork, and chicken wings) Kim used her chopsticks (yes, she owns a set of chopsticks, and unlike the ones I own, they weren't swiped from a restaurant ;) while Kel and I had to resort to forks. Oh well, we enjoyed having dinner on the porch, and it was quite tasty.
After that, we mulled over what to do next. Do we go to Joe's Bar for drinks, or find something else? Kel also mentioned "open mic night. When Kim said "What's the cover?", Kel laughed and said "Oh, no cover, it's just a party at Roger and Stephanie's house." That sounded pretty cool and since several musicians were going to be playing, we convinced Kim to bring her banjo along.
It didn't take to long to get to the house, which was located off of Bear Creek Road. The place was cool. There was an outdoor stage (with lights, amps, speakers, etc); I've seen worse set-ups in a few clubs and coffeehouses I've visited. A band was warming up when we arrived. While that was going on, we warmed ourselves by the campfire. The campfire was actually a small firepit which was surrounded by benches. Throughout the evening we kept playing "avoid the smoke" The wind kept shifting, and for a while it looked like it kept blowing towards Kelly.
A little later into the mello evening, one other person arrived. It was an old guy who brought an even older tenor saxophone with him. Kim wondered how a banjo would go with a sax. I commented that the jazz trio I had watched a week earlier included a sax and a banjo. It sounded pretty good.
Anyway, the evening wore on, and the band eventually stopped playing. Roger and Stephanie then brought out their guitars, and started playing. Kel and I twisted Kim's arm and got her to pull out the banjo. She played along some, but didn't really get into it until her last song (which we all enjoyed). I really hope that Kim plays more often.
After Kim's last song, we decided to take off and stop at Joe's for a nightcap. Kim had mentioned that Virgil, one of the bartenders at Joe's, mixes a great martini. Virgil wasn't working that night, but we had martinis anyway. They were decent. Joe's itself was interesting...most of the folks were seated at the bar. Conversation was pretty lively. And some of them were characters...One woman who was enjoying some tequila shots said hello to me by stroking the back of my neck. She greeted a few women with kisses. She then "locked" a guy in the bathroom. I found all of this quite amusing. Kim said that this was all part of the Creekan experience.
When the bartender said "last call", Kim asked "Are you safe to get home?" I said "Well, even if I don't have another drink, I'm gonna need to crash at your place. So we might as well have another." So we did. After that we went back to Kim's place.
By this time Kel was tired and took off to leave Kim and I to chat, which we did, for oh, some amount of time before deciding that sleep would be a good thing. Of course, did we get to sleep right away? Nooooo. Kim said she wanted to check her e-mail, and I wanted to fire off a message to another friend who I wanted to see if I could drop by and say "Hi" to on the way home.
I took care of my message before letting Kim take over her computer. However, before I got to sleep (downstairs on the couch), Kim said "Hey! I've got a potential client in LA." We ended up talking a while longer. Anyway, I eventually got to sleep at 4. Considering that the couch was a little short, I slept pretty well.
I guess I woke up at around 10 or so. Kim heard me stirring and from upstairs said "Good Morning!" She said that she was awakened by the sounds of her chickens laying some eggs. Since Kim didn't have any coffee we started the day with some tea.
Kim offered a list of suggestions: Coffee at Rainbows End? Breakfast at any number of places? I chimed in with "How about breakfast at the (Brookdale) Lodge?" Before taking off, I checked my voice mail; There were no messages. In the mean time, Kim collected the eggs.
By the time we got to the pancake house at the lodge, it was past noon and the place was pretty empty. This was a good thing because my clothes smelled like scrap wood. ;) Anyway, the pancake house at the lodge serves a decent breakfast. I was hungry and opted for the loggers breakfast (scrambled eggs, home fries, sausage, and pancakes). The pancakes were light and fluffy, as were the scrambled eggs. The home fries were also tasty (but not as good as the ones at the Homemade Cafe in Berkeley, which are my favorite). Our waitress did a good job at keeping our coffee cups full enough. One of the funnier parts of breakfast (though it was after noon by this time) was watching the folks outside (There go some tourists. There are a few local kids. Why does that guy keep packing down his cigarettes?) Then a guy drove up in a pick-up truck with all sorts of antennas on it (at least six). The guy stepping out had a UNIX book in his hand, which made me laugh. It figures. Kim had an idea of who the guy was, but we never asked.
After breakfast, we went over to take a peek into the Brook Room. The Brook Room is so named because a brook goes right through the room. Tables are terraced on both sides of the brook and a balcony overlooks one long side and both short sides of the rectangular room. The room itself is accentuated by plants and a glass ceiling. Imagine the Garden Court at The (Shereton) Palace in San Francisco with a brook in the center, and you have some idea of what the Brook Room is like. I would love to dine there sometime.
After exploring the Brook room and a few other parts of the Lodge, you would have thought I was ready to go home. Nope, I was still in the mood to relax, so we went back to Kim's place and hung out on the porch until late into the afternoon. Kim then suggested going to the pub. I had checked my voice mail again, and there were no messages, so I said "works for me. Do they take plastic?" Kim said "They should."
Before leaving for the pub, we fed Kim's chickens. When I looked in the coop I saw another egg. Kim was pleasantly surprised. She's considering entering them in the Santa Cruz County Fair. I hope she does; All four of them are fine birds. After I finished feeding them some maple leaves, we took off for the pub.
The White Cockade is a good Scottish pub (they have bumper stickers that say "If it's not The White Cockade, its craaap") with a couple of tables and a small bar (there's also a back room, but I didn't explore it). The menu was very inviting (sure, it was standard pub fare, but I like pub fare), but we weren't that hungry. We opted for Guinness and chips (fries, if you don't know what I mean).
It was here that I got to complete my Creekan experience. John, the cook, came out from the back and said "Hi Kim. So is this your boyfriend?" Both Kim and I laughed. Kim introduced me by saying "No, this is my friend Sean.". John then had to go back to the kitchen, but he came out every so often to chat with us and some other customers. The Guinness was nice and smooth, and not as cold out of the tap as I've experienced at other places. The chips were wonderful, firm but not crispy...the potato cuts were large, and included the skin. And yes there was salt and vinegar to go with them.
Anyway, after the good beer and wonderful chips, it was time to pay the pubmaster. It was then that we found that the pub did not take plastic...Neither Kim nor I had any amount of cash on us, and we had both left our checkbooks back at her place. Still, we didn't have to do dishes, or have one of us remain as a "marker" while the other went to get cash. Instead, the owner said "Oh, you'll be back tomorrow won't you?" While I wasn't going to be there, Kim said "Sure." "Ok, just bring the money tomorrow then." Even if they hadn't been so nice, I'd still recommend this place (yeah, I know, they get points with me just for having Guinness on tap). I am going to go back so I can try the food.
I had already hung out and watched the sunset, sat around a fire made of scrap wood, had breakfast at the lodge, fed some chickens, and now I got to see an example of Creekan hospitality. I couldn't think of a better way to top off my day as a Creekan. So, after a little more chatting at Kim's, it was time for me to head on home.
I had no idea going into the weekend that I was going to spend half of it relaxing, but I sure did appreciate it the next day.
In my opening paragraph I said "Little did I know that none of that was going to happen." This even applied to the mailing list migration the next day.
Dave and I met for breakfast (no, the Durant Cafe doesn't hold a candle to the Brookdale Lodge) before tackling the machine. First we had to get the web server to work; That took a while Then we had to figure out the mailing list software (List Caster); That took more time. Then we had to ftp the mailing list over. Then we found out that there was no simple way to import an exiting mailing list into List Caster, so we hacked a solution to convert the mailing list into a database that List Caster recognized...at least so we thought. But then we found that something didn't work. At that point we decided that we needed to call List Caster's tech support and see what they said. That had to wait 'till Monday, so I did not accomplish anything I had set out to do that weekend. (To finish off the List Caster saga, their tech support said "No, you can't import an existing mailing list...You'll have to re-enter the names by hand." Are we going to re-enter over 800 names? No way! So the change isn't going to happen.)
The thank yous on this would be much to long to write. Everyone involved in helping me be a Creekan for a day deserves thanks. The only additional thanks go to Kim for getting me to write this, and to you for reading it.