2003-09-09 - 22:42

Arizona Bay

So, I am back in California, at least for a couple more days. Work is keeping me busy. I have been neglecting my writing even more than usual, lately. Let's see if I can recap.

The Labour Day long weekend was a good one. I scaled back my usual big barbecue bash plans and just did a little grilling with Laurie, Aaron, and Loralei. That still turned into a solid feast, with bacon-wrapped scallops, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, potato salad, ribs, and steaks. Proper!

The low point of the long weekend was that my washing machine handled its last load (observe your moment of silence here). When I moved in, the washer and dryer were both quite old, so that failure was only a matter of time.

Fortunately, I had no problem finding a new washer; and I stayed home for the majority of Wednesday waiting for the delivery. As an added bonus, as I was observing the delivery guys, I saw them drop the washer and very barely scratch it, which netted me a fifty dollar discount.

The remainder of the work week was busy, especially since it was only on Friday afternoon that I found out that my flight to San Jose was going to be on Saturday, not Sunday. (Grumble.)

As it was, I already had plans for Friday night, since A Perfect Circle was in town. That was a very strong concert. Openers Pigmy Love Circus gave a varied set of predominantly heavy material, aided by a knowingly goofy stage presence. APC was fantastic, as expected. Maynard started with his silhouette routine, behind a circular screen; but he broke through after three songs.

The set interspersed tracks from the upcoming Thirteenth Step with blocks of songs from the band's debut, Mer de Noms. "The Hollow" got the crowd going early. One of the best moments came when PLC's guitarist Peter Fletcher and drummer Danny Carey (of Tool) joined the band for a great take of "Thomas." All in all, it was a solid crowd--early on there was just a lot of crushing, with no mosh, but I eventually found the good kids who were hoppin' and boppin'. One skinhead guy got a bit snarly with me; but what can you do, eh? At any rate, the concert was very good, wrapping up with a fierce "Judith."

So, Saturday I spent travelling here with Steve (another guy from work). Sunday was supposed to involve a quick trip to our office to confirm that everything that we needed was set up; but that turned into an all-day ordeal. Monday, we started the training that we are offering some customers (which is the reason that we are here); and that has been a challenge. There's a bit of a disconnection between what the people signed up for and what they actually want to see, which makes things awkward, although we've done a strong job of adapting.

There has also been a split in the trainees, with one contingent being more skeptical and negative. I think that I must have taken that as a challenge, since Steve tells that I seemed fired up today and determined to hammer home some points to them. Usually, I attend these sessions to answer the trickier technical questions and do the monkey work; but apparently, I can get vocal, if I need to. Who knew? Heheheh.

The training wraps up after one more day and Thursday I get to fly home. Although it would have been nice to have more time to enjoy the area (mayhap tomorrow), it will feel good to be home again.

J.