Dental Convention

Smart Irony, this place was full of it.

This past weekend my friend Weston came to town, it was good to catch up.

He works for a company that makes money on one of the most hated ways to spend money by one of the most hated professionals. The company is called Wykle Research. This company makes amalgams. An amalgam is what is used to fill the cavity in your tooth. There were two observations to me that were interesting when I visited Weston at this dental convention. Before I make these observations I would like to note that the majority of the dentists were male while I never did spot a male hygenist (everone wears tags telling their position).

1 - the many isles of booths were filled with hundreds of people, milling about, who make their living by sticking their fingers into other people mouths. As I passed one vendor selling rubber gloves I thought, "if there is any company that would make any money at this convention it would be this company," that company and the three booths that were selling jewelry to the hundreds of hygenists, these people are smart.

2 - many of the vendors selling products to these professionals were handing out candy.

And so to all the companys at the convention, who know a whole lot about job security, Wykle Research says, "Thank you"

weekend trip

Once upon a time there were two people who liked to do very fun things. So one weekend they decided to go camping in Winthrop, Washington.

The two set out on their trip late on a Friday night just in time to experience the Cascade Mountains by sunset. They arrived at their campsite and put a soft memory foam mattress down right next to the car and fell asleep looking at the stars and listening to the river. What a wonderful drive it had been. The next morning was started with unsuccessful pancakes and tastey turkey jerky, while observing a hot air balloon above. Winthrop was a funny little town designed to look like it was directliy out of an old western. The fun loving people hitched their Honda to a post and looked at all the shops, entering a select few before driving toward home. The road meandered around rocks and trees and snaked through steep hills around Diablo Lake, a very green lake.

The two fun loving people decided the lake was a perfect destination for next years saint patricks day. The views and weather were top notch as the couple wiped sweat from their faces. It was so hot but why wasn't anyone in the lake. Was it contaminated with unusual toxicness that made it green? was it really shallow? was it really hot water. The answer came as Dan dipped his feet in the water and immediately became numb. At first it shocked his toes and immediately it cooled his internal temperature, then promptly began to sting his skin. The water was very, very cold.

As the afternoon wore on the two thrill seekers found themselved once again on I-5 headed for home, having successfully visting Winthrop, Washington and finding out why no one was swimming in Diablo.

end of the road

Well, we found it. Minna and I did, the end of the road. We went on a fabulous drive on one of the more fun packed saturdays that we've ever had. We drove past Granite Falls and Verlot on this a winding road along side a river. The road was packed with trail heads along the sides and some hikers here and there. The pavement ended and we kept going on the gravel that kicked up the dry dust onto the freshly washed car. Oh well it is worth it to wash the car again to see where this road goes. Finally we drove up to a concrete blocker and a "road end" sign. We found it. We hiked a bit on the road and we saw this collection of jumbled rocks and fallen trees that had been over grown by moss, softening the trees to a rotted wonder. I walked up from the road, stepping on the soft jumbled hillside. It felt like there was something underneath, like there was a hidden world of gnomes and hobbits hidding underneath all of it. I was just making flip-flop prints in their ceilings.

Minna took this awesome picture.

The rest of the day consisted of a picnic lunch and driving to a golf course to hit on the range for a bit. It was Minna's first time. She is quite athletic and did a fabulous job of swinging. If she practices a little more I'm dead meat in a round of 9 with her.

swim

tonight I went swimming. by my self. it was amazing. swimming at night has it's amazing qualities. it is first of all, still... the water is picturesque and black. reflecting any lights from yonder near perfect. you can't see anything underwater but close to the shore... where you realized how clear it really is... even in the dark you can see your feet stepping through the water as rises past the belly. the water is cool but not so cold it's unbearable. its just waking temperature. and my body feels alive slipping into the unknown. all I feel is water no ground. I am deeper, I don't know what's below me. but controlling the fear is good practice. I move the water past me and slip away from the shore. it becomes distant and so does everything else. The stars close in and viewing them at night while swimming in the lake rivals that of hearing the silence that falling snow brings to a hillside. further from shore the slightest water movement is very loud, the next state could hear these micro splashes it if they were awake. My own foot surfacing surprises me. I'm out pretty far. it's quite thrilling to think of how deep the water could be. i look around nobody, nothing seems to care I'm there. it's a good thing. the lake though is just as thrilled in it's quiet excitement that I'm learning again how great the stars are from the middle. I tread for a bit, taking in everything, heading back to the shore I'm swimming and focused on the floating buoy I went under when I crossed the swim boundry, and beyond that much further I see the shore. eventually I'll get there again.. I'll just feel the water's quietness for now.

late one night

The other night Minna and I were just crazy right around 10:15 just as we passed a theater. Feeling crazy and a little like celebrating (we were just at a friends wedding reception). We stopped in on a tuesday night and bought tickets to the movie Dodgeball. We were feeling so crazy and spontaneous we even spent money on popcorn and a sprite. I don't think I've ever done that in my entire life. We went into the theater about 30 minutes early and waited around long enough to do a dance and take a picture. No body was there. We were the only people in the theater until about 5 minutes before it started.

It was a spontaneous.

invited back

I've been invited back to New York. This company called JetBlue seems to like me enough to ask me more questions this coming wednesday. Last monday Laura from JetBlue called and I returned her call the same day but seemingly too late for she did not answer her phone. The next morning we talked and I was asked to come back to New York to speak with the department manager Steve. But the best part about this whole thing is that Laura called back and left a message inviting Minna to come along for the trip, if she was available. Of course Minna was down for that! The message also said that she could give Minna a tour and meet some of the people there while I was in my interview. So NICE! who knows what this could mean but the possibility of Minna and I going to New York is so fabulous! We know its expensive rent, that's all anyone says about living in New York. It would be kind of nice to hear about the other nice things that New York has to offer. Were this exciting opportunity to come we would be able to see so many cool things an have so many new adventures. We are amazed at howt this could change our lives.