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December 5, 1989
 
While cruising past the shopping malls on my daily commute homeward along Interstate 5 ... I was struck by a sudden revelation!  Those maxed out parking lots (credit cards?), the burgeoning mass of the Sunday newspaper, those annoying TV and radio advertisements for handy K-TEL kitchen appliances, the incessant seasonal precipitation ... why ... it must be Christmas time approaching!  Oh, no ...  I have to draft my
generic Christmas letter, procure presents for the relations, put up and decorate the tree, string lights on the house ... AAAAHHHHHH!!!  Sorry about the Sam Kinesen impersonation, but December is always a hectic  month.

Reading back through my old Christmas letters, it would appear that I should be done finishing my basement by now. It took several years but I've learned a few lessons here ... 1) never grossly underestimate the amount of time it takes YOU to do something a professional defines as "simple", 2) Murphy's Law (of course) ALWAYS applies, 3) Nothing in an older home is ever square or level, 4) Once you buy a "fixer-upper" the term "spare time" disappears from your vocabulary.  I have one bedroom to finish downstairs and am left with some of the molding, a couple of windows and four doors to stain yet. Finishing touches take FOREVER!  Actually it's beginning to look nicer than the main floor.  I estimate mid-March to completion ... which by past experience will be early July.

I have a roommate now!  He'll soon be moving downstairs to the vacant finished bedroom.  I'm a landlord, yes, the tables are finally turned.  Besides the extra money coming in (bills ARE a reality), it's nice to have someone around to talk to besides the cat. "New Wave" isn't an extremely diverse conversationalist!

In the social activities category: I saw Joan Jett in a leather-clad suit, I was witness to the extraordinary talent of George Winston.  Also attended memorable concerts by R.E.M. and Cheap Trick.  Free tickets to the comedy shops made comedy a frequent form of entertainment.  Season tickets to the Pacific Northwest Ballet lighten my wallet each year, but the performances are articulate and deftly executed.  The Moscow Circus had the most astounding circus acts I have ever seen.  The bears walked upright and carried their props in and out of the rings themselves).  THE WOMAN took me to the Figure Skating Championships in Tacoma ... BACK FLIPS on ice skates (sounds suicidal to me)!  Variety in music and theater keeps life from getting mundane!

Nora and I dashed about on mopeds in Mazatlan ... and jeeped up and down the coastline in Puerto Vallarta. "Chico's Paradise" (outside Puerto Vallarta) was straight out of a dream!  An actual vacation where I didn't WORK ON THE HOUSE!  Ten days of sun, swimming, shopping and survival Spanish! Repeat after me, "Donde esta los banos?" (Where's the bathroom?) and "Quanto questa?" (How much?). These are the essentials, once you master them, you're READY!  Whatever you do DON'T ride the blue buses, they're QUITE the adventure!  I took me a week to stop saying "Gracias" to people once back in Seattle!

SKI-TO-DIE trips this year included the Canadian Tour '89 ("STEEP, DEEP and CHEAP!") and our annual Summer Ski at Whistler Mountain.  NEVER, I say NEVER mountain bike off a cliff on a dare!  The abrasions were minor.  I also made it down to Mt. Bachelor, Oregon and a dozen or so times to Steven's Pass (locally).  This year a group of people I work with decided to attend a ski instructor clinic.  Forty hours of intense lessons for $50.  Who knows, next time you go to Colorado I may be your instructor.  My skiing has improved dramatically. I'll be a blurry streak as I scream down the slopes ... that way no one recognizes me when I crash and burn!  Being an instructor involves quite a time commitment during winter ... we'll see next year if I decide to teach (or if I'm asked to).

Nora took me parachuting on my birthday!  They snap off a photograph of you hanging from the wing strut at 3000 feet, right as you're told to let go!  A close up would surely divulge the true cowardice lurking behind those baby blues!  WHAT A RUSH!  The momentary exhilaration and sensation of total freedom is the only way to describe why people repeatedly subject themselves to the insanity of this adventure.  We jumped AGAIN a few months later.

I was on two softball teams this year.  Neither did very well ... but we scored enough points in tournaments to make the state championships in eastern Washington. Imagine 500 beer drinking softball players in a small town away from the big city.  Yep ... that's exactly what it was like!  My place of employment formed a WHIRLYBALL team and joined a city league.  WHIRLYBALL is played in teams of 5 in bump cars on an electrified court with trac-ball racquets (scoops) and a whiffle ball with motion sensitive goals on either end of the court.  A fairly outrageous sport!  The "Rabid Scoops are 14-7-1.  The competitiveness of some of the teams however really takes away a lot of the enjoyment of the game unfortunately.

The parents worked throughout their annual visit helping me on the house.  Never even had to crack a whip or anything!  Their help has been immeasurable ... THANKS, POP!  The house has doubled in value in four years!  While they were here I took them to a Seattle Seahawks game and yes, miracles do happen ... THEY WON!  Unbelievable!  I switched to a Green Bay Packers fan somewhere during mid-season.

Tonight I invest in a Christmas tree and start typing this in on the PC.  I send out about 90 of these nowadays!  Imagine Jose Feliciano singing in the background as I wish you all "Feliz Navidad 1989"!

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