Building your own juggling balls

I always wanted to learn how to juggle. Daniel, a friend of mine, is really good at it, and it’s one of those skills that stay with you and that give you something to do when you are bored (not that that ever happens).

I once went to Cirque du Soleil, and they sold juggling balls in three packs. I bought a set, leather balls filles with lightweight material. I juggled them for a while when in Hawaii, but never got good with them. I can juggle six throws easily, but eight is still elusive.

Cane spider in the car

Have you ever seen a cane spider? They are humongous spiders (well, maybe four inches wide) that live in the grass, actively hunt for food, carry their litter of eggs in a sack on their belly, and otherwise bother me when I have to pee in the grass or, as of lately, in the car.

Someone mentioned there was a cane spider in the car. I paid no attention, having seen none. Tonight, as I was leaving the Home Depot, I noticed something yellowish on the driver’s seat side, but before I could do anything about it, it was gone, crawled up in the console.

Where did the cats go?

Sunday morning, after two years of living by myself with two cats, I sent them off to Minnesota, where they are going to be taken care of (still waiting for pictures). It was quite the moment, with preparations, planning, and trepidation. It’s all over now, and the only aftereffect to date is that at every sound in the house, I think it’s the cats and check out what they are doing.

What happened with my Wells Fargo debit card?

What do you do if in Hawai`i and in need of cash? Lots of cash? Well, of course, you go to the local branch of your bank. Wells Fargo. I got my loan from them, let’s just go to their local branch, no?

The phone book lists a Wells Fargo branch in Hilo: I call her up, and Phil (whom I knew from dealing with the Home Mortgage arm) tells me there is no branch. I can though get a cash advance from any bank, up to the limit set on my card, as long as the bank is willing to do that. All the way up to $7,000!

Record time

The Hawaiian flight from Honolulu to San Francisco made it in record time: 4h 19m! This was due to a generous jet stream that gave us an excellent tail wind.

How unfortunate that said tail wind and jet stream were causing a major storm in San Francisco that forced a shutdown of the airport… In the end, the whole flight took 5 hours, as usual, and I made it home in time to be deprived of sleep by the wind.

The Move

It was Wednesday. First thing in the morning, the phone is disconnected not to be used until the move is over. I go to the gym (thanks, J.P. for the class!) and get back home, just to find a message telling me the guys are going to start moving me around lunch time.

I continue packing, labeling, framing. I put stuff in one corner if I don’t want the movers to take it because it’s too fragile. Then the call comes in, and the three guys from Delancey Street Movers come in. They were the most professional and just plain nice movers I have ever dealt with – so much so that I still remember their names: Edwin, John, and Arturo (who goes by Art).

Met Kevin Caudill

Ah, so this city is not New York or Los Angeles, and celebrities are not as frequently visible as they are there. But we have our own A-list, made up of actors (Robin Williams), directors (George Lucas), singers (Barbra Streisand), tycoons (Larry Ellison), and the like.

Well, ibam forte via sacra, and at the corner of Castro and 18th a random guy calls out my name. I turn around, and it’s someone I have never seen before. He introduces himself: it’s Kevin Caudill, known photographer of male nudes!

Surviving Thanksgiving

I don’t think you could cross my plans worse than happened this year. First, I was looking forward to 6 days in Hawai’i, with invitation to Thanksgiving dinner already extended and accepted. Then I had to move and it was clear I was not going to be able to make it. I thought: no big deal! I can still go snowboarding! Forget about that: this year the season starts late, to make up for the early start last year.

Desperately Trying to Find Apartment

Ok, I am about to give up. My conditions for an apartment are too strict, and I cannot find anything that matches the criteria. Besides, I don’t have time to continue looking: I have to be out of my current apartment by the end of the month, and the Thanksgiving weekend is going to cause a huge hole in my schedule.

I still have a lot of furniture that does me no good. Have to get rid of it, since all apartments I can find are tiny. Must be a San Francisco thing. Or maybe it’s that the bigger apartments have all no cats policies.

2000

It’s a sad moment. After a long series of sad moments. The 2000^th American soldier died in Iraq. Despite the fact that I am not a citizen (yet), I find that deeply saddening. I am just thinking of myself when I was a young and stupid kid, being in the military, and realizing that’s probably who is in Iraq right now.

I remember us being trained in the Soviet Union being about to invade us. We knew that if that was going to happen, all of us would have been toast. And still we went on, happy to be around, happy to have friends – in uniform and without. We were silly, we were serious, but we always knew that it could hit us.