The average weekend

Dear Diary,

Earlier this week I was at my weekly meeting for the large scale project that I'm in charge of at work. Our contractor on the project said that the capstan (essentially a large winch that hauls a vessel into dock) they are installing as part of their project would be complete this week and we were invited to to attend the initial start up on Friday morning. There was some potential in this.

The first step was obvious. I got back to the office and immediately organized a happy hour for that afternoon. At the aforementioned happy hour I mentioned the start-up testing to my supervisor and how it would be a good experience to attend and to see where the capstan was made and to also witness the start-up. With my smooth talking and a few beers I got the okay to attend along with my backup on the project.

So on Thursday night I hopped on a ferry to Seattle. I took my Seattle girlfriend out to a dinner on the waterfront. It's restaurant week and that means I get to go to restaurants I normally can't afford. On Friday I slept in and then went down to the start-up test. The company that built the Capstan was in South Seattle in an industrial area. It was my Camaro and a whole bunch of trucks.

As Frank Sobotka once said "We used to build shit in this country, now we just put our hands in the next guys pocket." We'll this was one of the few times that I actually got to see something actually get built in this country. The company that built the capstan has been around over 115 years, and served America so well that the city of Seattle actually threw them a parade after WWI. We took a tour of their plant and got to see how the piece of equipment was built. One of the great things about the Government is that we demand that every material that we get is produced in this country. It felt really good to see government money getting spent on a much needed piece of equipment that is made by a local company with local materials and local workforce.

What also felt really good was having it take enough time that going back to the office was out of the question. We got done a little before noon and instead of going back to the office I decided to take a few hours of leave and hang out in Seattle. I drove over to Alki Beach for lunch. People don't tend to associate Seattle with beaches, but there are a number of good beaches in the area, and many more places that feel like a beach town.

It was a little chilly at the beach, but it was nice and relaxing. That is my signature picture face, which I entirely resent. I had plans to hang out in Seattle and go to the Mariner's home opener that night. After lunch, I got a call from the bossman asking if I could come in on Saturday for a little overtime. I love me some OT, so I said of course. It was easy work, just watch some guys work. So I cancelled the Mariners plans and drove home.

After I got home, I got a message that I no longer needed to come in on Saturday. So this meant I could get crazy Friday night. I got home right about the time that everyone else was getting off of work. We decided to go down to our local bar right on the waters of Liberty Bay. We drank there and got some dinner. Then we moseyed on down to the next bar and played some pool. I left a little early to go home and watch Full Metal Jacket.

On Saturday, I woke up and decided to tidy up around the house and thought about what flowers to plant this year. In the afternoon I called some buds and had a cookout. I went and bought some pre-marinated meats and hosted a pretty good meat grill. Afterwards we went out to see 21 Jump Street.

Sunday I had planned a Picnic with my girlfriend. We packed a cooler and we went to Fort Ward State Park in Bainbridge Island. The state park used to be an Army Coastal Defense fort and then a Top Secret Radio Listening Post in WW2. The day started a little cloudy, but quickly cleared up to become a terrific day. We played Frisbee and ate sammiches.

It was a freebie 3 day weekend and I didn't do anything crazy, but I still made the most of it. It was the type of weekend that as a mid-20 year old I should come to expect.