Happy birthday, George!

He's 26! We had blueberry pie & espresso for breakfast!

Today we're *offically* moving out of our apartment in San Anselmo!

Firing California

I keep trying to write witty things about the atmosphere around here today but I'm rapidly running out of ideas and patience. My contacts are drying out, I'm tired, I'm hungry-but-not-hungry. We all feel like crap and it's legitimately not from being stressed about packing.

Smoke from fires sits over Marin (from three days ago) (Also, the fabric store mentioned is just around the corner from the bakery.)

Air quality gets worse in Marin (from yesterday)

Update

I didn't go to Asheville today as planned. We decided that it would be okay not to because a) I was too stressed about finishing up everything here and b) it wasn't absolutely necessary because we've already found a place to live which was the trip's original purpose. I called our new landlord and she was completely understanding (as opposed to those landlords who're mostly understanding,) seriously, this woman is great. One of the best parts about not leaving today is the resulting three-day weekend for yours truly. And we both get to pick James up at the airport! Hooray!

Friday was the best beach day ever. Liz, Yannick and I headed out around noon, grabbed some bad iced coffees on the way, stopped by Yannick's house for cheese and snacks, then went straight on to Shell Beach where it was cooler than town (which was about, oh, 100 degrees) and perfect for beach sitting and even...swimming! We swam out to the raft, we sat around, we ate the food, Liz and I read US Weekly, Yannick slept with a towel over his head, and we took three great pictures. Just three. Then we stopped by the Bovine Bakery (where my boss used to work) and got some cookies (Liz is crazy about the Lemony Snickett), then we stopped at the Olema Farm House for oysters and a beer then came back to town where it was still about 90 degrees at 6pm.

George left Sunday morning and drove down to L.A. where he'll be working for the week. Before he left he found a guy in ...Salinas? with some veggie oil for sale ($1.50/gal!) so he stopped and filled 'er up! He said everything ran great. He'll be getting back just in time to take me to the airport on Sunday then he'll have three or four hours to hang around until James arrives! (These next ... 4 weeks are full of comings and goings, it feels like forever, but I'm sure will zip right by.)

While George is gone I'm taking the opportunity to finish up some projects I moved to California unfinished and pack as much stuff as I possibly can. So far I've packed up almost all the books, the scanner, and am starting on the studio. Things I've found worth noting: that package of rubber bands I bought in college at least six years ago, a tiny jar full of tiny clothespins, all of my missing straight pins, and at least three packages of origami paper.

SOLD!

I posted the Rabbit last night around 9 o'clock and had 5 emails by morning. Brett was so excited about it that he drove out this afternoon, test drove it to the bank, and wrote me a cashier's check for four THOUSAND dollars. That should make the move go a little smoother. I don't know that I actually made any money, considering all the parts I bought, but I may have broken even.

yeehaw!

So cool

Our friend Liz has "tagged" us for one of these silly questionairey thingies! It's like we're "real" bloggers now!

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Predictably, I was fourteen, less than a month away from turning fifteen, and reading my driver's manual over and over and over, dreaming of the day I'd drive a car and where I'd drive it to.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Pack some stuff, work on a couple secret surprises, try to sew the sleeves on that damn sweater again, make granola, get to bed early.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Cheese - duh, chocolate chips, cucumbers, wavy/rippy/krinkle kut potato chips, pretzels

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay some bills, build a sweet house with a bitchin' kitchen, buy some of that fancy european style butter in the ceramic crock

5) Places I have lived:
Greensboro Bend, Montpelier, Plainfield, and Hardwick (Vermont), Chili (pronounced: chai-lie) and Henrietta (New York), San Anselmo (California) and soooooon: Asheville (North Carolina)

6) Jobs I have had:
General office monkey at a circus, short stint as a cashier at a general store, even shorter stint washing pots and pans in a dining hall, sewer/costume repairer at UVM's costume shop, under-appreciated stint as a screenprinter, bread baker, pastry baker.

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:
I'm not tagging anybody because I'm seriously unhip.

Obviously, I can't answer for George, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them.

Four days

That's how long the collar lasted on Boy. Seriously. Four days. What is this cat doing?! This makes the third one! He's putting himself on the fast track to microchipping. I don't have anything against microchipping pets, it's a fairly good idea, it's just that if someone picks this little fella up with no collar what's to say they're going to take him somewhere that can read the chip?

It's official!

Asheville, here we come!



I hope that everybody has a friend as truly magnificent as Hope. See that side mirror in the corner of the picture? That's because it's some drive-by photography of a possible house to rent, this one also came with a picture of the "For Rent" sign and all the phone numbers. Then she even went to the house to check it out and meet the landlords in lieu of us! In more "Hope is incredible!" news, her new book Chiggers is up for sale at Amazon! And it's available in hardcover! Hardcover! I'm pleased to say that all her trouble was well worth it to us: starting July 1 we'll be this little beaut's lucky renters!

From what I hear the interior is pretty spotless and dreamy: yellow living room, gray (that's right) dining room with a gas fireplace, a green bedroom and a beigey bedroom, a laundry room with a ton of storage space and a half bathroom, a normal bathroom with (my dream come true,) a bathtub, clean white kitchen, backyard!, clothesline!, carport!? The house is near an elementary school and pretty close to the neighborhood pool and Hope's!

We're working out little details like when to ship all our stuff, when we're actually going to head out... The idea of leaving is already very very exciting and very very terrifying. And sad. I said it! It'll be sad to go, we really like our neighbors here and I love my job and my boss and my commute, moving away from Liz is going to be by far the most difficult part.

I.D'd!

The cat came back...
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Hooray! He and Girl have shiny new collars, his is red and hers is orange. We're debating whether or not to get Boy a purple one instead, for fashion's sake - I like the red because it's bright, where purple may blend in.

We let him out this morning because he wouldn't shut up, here's hoping he's learned his lesson.

Meow!

Boy's back!

I got home from work, and there he was sitting on the front step. Girl's quite relieved, she keeps sniffing him to make sure he's real. Jenne's in Berkeley, but is also quite relieved. Boy's just hungry. I went around on my skateboard and took down all the posters, and told the local cat lady the good news. She's actually quite nice, not one of those crazy cat ladies.

detectives and oil

I didn't know they really existed, but Hope found us a pet detective. We spoke with her on the phone, and she actually sounds pretty legit. She's coming by tomorrow with her cat tracking dog. If nothing else the dog will be able to tell us where Boy hasn't been. We'll see.


In other news, I finally finished the veggie oil conversion! And the car still runs! (I think the photos get bigger if you click on them)


auxiliary pump and pre-pre-filter at fuel tank. note the shinny new axle behind.


engine compartment. the kit is basically everything attached to the aluminum bracket. the yellow thing on the right is a clear pre-filter. it's attached to the main filter. the metal canister to the left of the bracket is a final filter.


the back side of the bracket. the little black box with 2 wires is a thermostat, epoxied to the heater (a few cast iron pipe fittings, an inlet and outlet, and a glowplug).


left, main filter. right, pre-filter. in between is the on/off switch for the heater, and a couple of fuses to keep the car from blowing up.


this is a bi-valve, which lets the unburnt fuel either return to the tank (as it normally would), or recirculate through the heat chamber (if you're running vegetable oil.)

She's about ready for the cross country trek; a couple more bushings, and some new tires, and one annoying squeal... vacuum leak, i think.