![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Jun. 10th, 2006
Day three of crew class
Jun. 10th, 2006 01:36 pmSOOOO ... no problems getting up "early" today, then it was off to the Lake Union Crew for the day we actually got in the water. Well, as it turns out, this was not SUCH an exciting day, as there is a lot of build-up to getting in the water, because first we have to get the BOAT in the water (see this shot as we make the attempt). This is suprisingly difficult because 1) the boat is approximately the length of an Imperial Star Destroyer and 2) it weighs about as much as an old-growth redwood and 3) everyone is retarded - I mean, newbs - and can't figure it out. Also, any movement is restrained by stress over the threat of "damaging the equipment," which does NOT mean hurting your boy bits because these couldn't possibly be worth as much as one of these boats ($20K).
So our lesson today was 1) how to remove the oars from the racks 2) how to not kill each other with eight foot long paddles as we walked around with them 3) how to lift a boat 4) how to dance around under a boat 5) how to lift a boat over your head (illustrated here) 6) how to roll the boat off of your head and into the water and not break the boat or your foot 7) how to get the oars in the boat without falling in the water (hereby abbreviated wfitw) 8) how to get in the boat wfitw 9) how to "level" the boat (kind of rocking it back and forth) 10) how to get out of the boat wfitw )or breaking your foot) 11) how to put the paddles away (first you dip the handles in bleach, then you actually go in a parade with one person having their paddle facing forward, then the one behind them having their paddle facing behind, then you stack them) 12) how to get the boat out of the water 13) how to get the boat back on the rack without wrenching your back, breaking the boat, or sticking the oarlock through another boat.
Fun, eh? Anyway, it all wrapped up around 11, and we took the opportunity to go to the market and 1) have crumpets and tea (at the crumpet shop, of course) 2) buy some fresh, hot mini-donuts 3) refresh my tea supply 4) wonder at the mystery of gorgeous boots ruined by bad colors (it says "black and charcoal," but it's actually black and GREEN!) and 6) buy super cheap shoes for wearing on the dock at Payless.
Right, that's it for now. On with cleaning the yard! But first... a nap!
So our lesson today was 1) how to remove the oars from the racks 2) how to not kill each other with eight foot long paddles as we walked around with them 3) how to lift a boat 4) how to dance around under a boat 5) how to lift a boat over your head (illustrated here) 6) how to roll the boat off of your head and into the water and not break the boat or your foot 7) how to get the oars in the boat without falling in the water (hereby abbreviated wfitw) 8) how to get in the boat wfitw 9) how to "level" the boat (kind of rocking it back and forth) 10) how to get out of the boat wfitw )or breaking your foot) 11) how to put the paddles away (first you dip the handles in bleach, then you actually go in a parade with one person having their paddle facing forward, then the one behind them having their paddle facing behind, then you stack them) 12) how to get the boat out of the water 13) how to get the boat back on the rack without wrenching your back, breaking the boat, or sticking the oarlock through another boat.
Fun, eh? Anyway, it all wrapped up around 11, and we took the opportunity to go to the market and 1) have crumpets and tea (at the crumpet shop, of course) 2) buy some fresh, hot mini-donuts 3) refresh my tea supply 4) wonder at the mystery of gorgeous boots ruined by bad colors (it says "black and charcoal," but it's actually black and GREEN!) and 6) buy super cheap shoes for wearing on the dock at Payless.
Right, that's it for now. On with cleaning the yard! But first... a nap!
Die, villainous scum!
Jun. 10th, 2006 05:53 pmI spent the last two hours armed to the teeth (well, with rubber-soled gloves and my Kerchief of Head Protection on), doing battle with the vegetation smothering the house. I was very disappointed to find the weeds in the side yard had grown so tall that they were not only flowering, but hiding all of the dog bombs in the yard. Oh, such a sign of neglect! Surely I have let this slide for nigh on two months, and all I can say is Thank God For Giant Garden Clogs. I pulled ivy, I doubled up my gloves and yanked on blackberries, I untwined bindweed from my Fruit-Stripe gum scented rose bush (a St. Cecelia for those who care), I snapped deadwood off of the hardy fuschia and the, um, floofy puff-ball thing. I was dismayed to discover the Oregon grape I did my best to kill last year apparently took its little decapitation as a thumbs-up for rampant growth; it's now taller than I am. Blast!
In more pleasant news, I found one of my hellebores had bloomed/is blooming and has made seed pods! I'm shocked, I didn't even know they flowered! Also ... I had NO IDEA my orphan irises were scented. I breathed in their sweet scent over and over again, trying to mark it in my mind so that the next time I caught the fragrance in the air I'd know right away what smelled so good.
In more pleasant news, I found one of my hellebores had bloomed/is blooming and has made seed pods! I'm shocked, I didn't even know they flowered! Also ... I had NO IDEA my orphan irises were scented. I breathed in their sweet scent over and over again, trying to mark it in my mind so that the next time I caught the fragrance in the air I'd know right away what smelled so good.