Monthly Archive for March, 2006

We went on an errand drive today. We first went to the sharpening store to get my newly restored chisels. I had been accidentally sharpening them on the wrong side (I guess I read the illustration . I mean they were very sharp but weren’t flat. Anyway, I showed ‘em to the guy and he sure was a barrel of sunshine. Of course, I don’t blame him. As he said, “that is the worst thing you could ever do to a chisel.” Anyway, I went in, paid for the chisels and then drove outta there. (I wasn’t driving by the way, Ma was)

By now, it started to drizzle which was good. It was getting too dry. Yesterday, it started to rain and I wanted to walk to the library in the rain but I decided to wait ’till tomorrow (today) hoping it would rain more. Unfortunately, in the morning, it was bone dry outside which was disappointing but seeing it start to drizzle was a good sign. Next, we went to Orchard to get . . . Something. I waited in the car reading up on my Chinese vocabulary (since we might be going to China soon to perform). When Ma came back, she said she was going to See’s Candy to get a Box o’ Truffles for a friend (a contractor who’s helping out with our houses) and wondered if I wanted to come in (since they give out free samples). She said if so, I need to lock the car on my way out. I did, but I forgot that I left the keys in. Of course, I didn’t know that yet and was asking Ma how the broccoli soup was. After getting the candy (and the free stuff) we went back to the car. Ma asked me if I had the keys. That’s when I looked in the window. Oh well. According to the chisel sharpener, nothing was worse than damaging the chisels so apperantly this wasn’t all that bad. Since none of the windows were open (what’d be the point of locking up if we did that?) and the spare key was at home, we went to the bus stop at the Capitola Mall and quickly found a bus going in the direction of Home. On the trip home, we heard a delightful conversation about what somebody ate at Subway.

When we left the bus, it started to drizzle again. Nothing heavy or even light, just a few drops. Five miuntes later, we were home and got the keys. After taking a trip to the bathroom, we were off again! Back on the bus. This time, we were hearing a not-so-delightful conversation between these to ladies trying to talk to either the people on the bus or the bus itself. Fortunately, I had some of my articles to look over but they were yelling “AAAhHh You look ssooo Keeeeewwwwttttt (that’s how they pronounced it, I know how to spell ‘cute’)!!!!!! AAHAHHHH!!!!! Don’t put so much make up on me. AAAAHHHHH Hi bus driver!!!!!!” Then they were singing “The Wheels on the Bus Go Round ‘n Round.” After that, they were trying to get everybody to clap. Boy, from where I was sitting, if I gave both of ‘em a whump on the head with my umbrella, I would’ve gotten a rousing applause and standing/lying down ovation! (they would first be standing up and then I think they’d fall when the bus accelerated) Anyway, it was a long ride back. Fortunately we got there just when it started pouring like rain. Even though I had the car turned part-way on, it was still running! Whew!

Afterwards, we went to Costco.

So all ‘n all, it was an adventure!

After that, it still was pouring rain so I got on the poncho and went to the library. Part of the CD case (of the cd I was returning) broke off somehow when I was putting it in my pocket. They didn’t charge me for it . . . yet. (maybe they’re waiting for a little interest to accumulate before telling me) Then I went home. The funny thing about the poncho is that the hood keeps going over my eyes. Each time I pull up the hood a bit, a few steps later, it’s down again! Maybe I’m supossed to wear a helmet underneath or something to make my head bigger.

After that, I got started on planing the wood. Boy! I never used a plane that good. It just shaved the wood off like cheese off a cheese grater. It was fun and the wood shavings were buttery and felt good on the feet.

During Yoga this morning, I noticed that it was raining pretty hard. I’ve been wanting to take a walk in the rain for a while but each time I think about it, the rain seems to stop soon after. This time, I noticed it was goin’ down hard and Ma was gonna go take a walk so I decided to come along (after doing some yoga). Besides, I needed to fully test out the poncho.

It was really coming down when we left and I was nice and dry. Since I didn’t have any rainpants on, my bottom edges of my shorts were getting pretty wet. About a quarter way there, my feet were freezing. Not just that, it started to hail! A few were pea sized. So, it feels much worse walking on rough ground when your feet are cold/numb than when your feet are at normal temp. After a while, when my feet had enough, I burrowed down in the poncho and warmed my feet with my hands (my hands were in my pockets so they were pretty warm) which warmed ‘em up pretty good. That felt much better.

As we walked, we saw that the whole soccer field was flooded. It’s made of astroturf so it’s understandable. Later on, we saw the street was flooded and the water went up to the sidewalk. The reason was the water came down from the hill which added more water.

We kept walking along the coast. After a while, it stopped raining so we turned back.

When, we got home, I carefully warmed up. The past times we’ve came back from walking in the cold, we dunked our feet in warm water. That always didn’t feel good. It made our feet really itch and didn’t help much. Plus, when we dunked our hands in, it felt like the skin under our fingernails expanded which didn’t feel too good either. So this time, I warmed my feet by the heater which was so much better. My legs were pretty itchy but I think that was because they were rubbing against the wet fabric of my pants.

I made a piping hot cup of cocoa after.

So, today we went with our semi-chinese teacher (I say semi ’cause she’s not the only way we are learning Chinese since we are learning from books ‘n other people too) to the Farmer’s Market to get some veggies and to wait for a friend of hers who speaks Mandarin too. After getting carrots and cabbage, her friend came and we all spoke while going to Trader Joes. It took a little while to get used to speaking Chinese or to get into the frame of mind but I got in it. People were looking at us a little funny while we spoke at Trader Joes.

Afterwards, we all walked back to her apartment. After taking the grand tour of the place, she let me hear some Chinese Er-Hu (the Chinese bendy fiddle) music ‘n all. We all prepared the stirfry. Actually, it wasn’t quite a stir fry. As she was cooking it, I had all of these things I wanted to do (like put in the tofu first) come into my head but I didn’t mention them. It still tasted pretty good. By this time, my head was a little tired from speaking Chinese. A little while later, Her’s friend’s friends came over to speak Chinese and eat (as well as hang out I guess) one of the friends was Japanese and was speaking Japanese to one of the people. Boy, having somebody speaking Chinese to me in one ear and hearing Japanese in the other was nuts! It got pretty confusing. A little while later, we left. Luke’s head was really hurting. I don’t blame him. Later, we found out he had a fever. I guess that didn’t have to do with multiple languages flying around the room.