camping, exiled, suddenly sushi, in charge

For Father’s day last weekend I joined my parents, my sister, and her family for a camping trip at Deer Creek State park. I went down early Saturday morning and had breakfast with them. Then we went on the dam tour. Some folks asked a lot of dam questions and there were a lot of dam stairs. We had a pretty cool tour guide and one of the most comically ill-behaved children I’ve even encountered. Well, it was comical later on – during the tour the kid was a trouble-maker.

We rode bikes, played on the playground with my nieces, and hung out around the campfire. I also had a minor injury on the playground.  I went down the slide after my niece and she didn’t pop-up and take off at the end – she just sat there.  I was already on my way down the slide and slammed my arms out to get myself stopped so I didn’t kick her in the head – and got plastic burns.

Playgrounds are dangerous.  To adults, at least.

On Sunday, I helped get things packed up and we headed out after lunch.

One funny bit was the GPS. It insisted that I turn onto a road near the campground – a road that did not at all exist. And when I didn’t drive over the ditch and into the trees, it added 2 minutes to my destination time. When I was leaving, it tried to make me take that same road that did not exist and added time to the clock when I stubbornly stayed on the real roads. There was a bit of swearing on my part – but I made it home safely.  And then took the mother of all showers to get the bug spray, sweat, and multi-day non-showering off of me.

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One of my colleagues is in an unusual situation in that his contract did not get renewed this last time around – but that he’s still working here. He got a new title, a new office across campus, and a new assignment. While it all looks good on paper, it sort of amounts to a kind of exile. I hadn’t talked to him in a bit so I decided to make some cool origami for his office and drop by for a visit.

The new office is far off the beaten path in a building that is not terribly well organized. I had the office number and got close – but it wasn’t until I heard him on the phone in an unmarked office that I realized I was in the right place.

I gave him the origami and we talked for a bit about how things were going and his job prospects. I don’t know the whole story – and didn’t ask – but he seemed okay with things and in good spirits. I didn’t stay long since I had to get back to the office – but it was good to check in and I think he appreciated the visit.

I understand this is business and all the rules, regs, and politics that go along with that – but it still kinda sucks.
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I was set to meet up with some friends on Friday evening at Cilantro – a nice restaurant downtown. Except it wasn’t for Friday – it was for last night. Some of the planning got skewed and half of the group thought it was Friday and half were already there and wondering where we were. I had already eaten and was just in my shorts at home playing a video game when I got the text that dinner was, in fact, on for that night. I got dressed quickly and went to pick up the rest of the group.

I had just intended to have dessert and hang out with the crew – but the sushi on the menu sang a siren song and I ordered a salmon roll.

And it was astonishingly good.

I mean, this might have been the best thing I’ve ever eaten. And it was just a piece of raw salmon, rice, and a seaweed wrap.

It was a pretty good sized roll and I was able to eat it slowly and enjoy it. I could have eaten my body weight in those rolls – they were that good.

The evening was fun, but it was a school night and I had to head out early.
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I’m on a committee for work and found out yesterday that the chair and secretary – and now the treasurer – will all be gone for the meeting today. I’ve been scrambling a bit to get things organized and set an agenda.

I’m not a great leader – I tend to rush things, not follow the rules of order, and sort of plow through ineffectiveness. Which actually doesn’t sound that bad, but it comes across as ruling with an iron fist [Obey the fist!].

We’ll get through it – hopefully with no injuries – and we’ll all we wiser for the experience. Vice-chair? Sure. Chair? Errr… no.