Project complete

This was my life for the past six months: I talked to more than 40 people. Wrote more than 20 pages. Had three of my major sources back out. Went through edits and reedits.

This is why this post is devoted to a little shameless self promotion. My project on seniors in isolation ran on yesterday. It's about the the mental health impacts of seniors who are secluded from social contact.

There is a limited edition that ran online. (If you know me, you can find it. Just go to my paper's Web site and click on "search this site," enter seniors and isolation ... or just e-mail me for the link). My blood, sweat and tears went into this.

I was on vacation and haven't even seen the real thing. I'll wait until I do to celebrate too much, but needless to say, it's a relief.

Lesson learned: Some projects come easier than others.

Out at sea

My uncles have the hook up on this island. Today, they were able to con three captains with three different boats to take us out on a tour of the islands nearby. It was the warmest day yet, with temperatures at 80 degrees at 10 a.m.

We all piled aboard at about 1 p.m. Amanda and I paired up with our aunts Anne and Joy, toasting our departure with a glass of wine. We cruised across a channel to an island, where we had a picnic lunch.

We also made a stop at another island, called Cabbage Key, where there is a restaurant with hundreds of thousands of dollar bills taped on the wall. People write their names on them with permanent marker. We, of course, had to make a Wyman wall. This is the place that the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was inspired.


To top off the day, we watched another sunset, with the pelicans diving for fish.

Lesson learned: Oceans and pelicans make for great sunsets.

The family goes to coffee

Our family has the reputation for being incessantly late. My dad grew up in a family of nine kids, and it takes awhile to get that many people together. I have noticed that this is a genetic characteristic that gets passed down the generations.

Case in point: At about four p.m. yesterday Amanda asked me if I wanted to go into downtown Boca for a coffee. She was lagging a little bit after staying up for 36 hours straight the day before. My aunt Anne and uncle Dale decided to go along. When we finally got rounded up and out the door, we decided to take a golf cart (the traditional form of transportation on the island). But of course, we had to make a stop at the other house, where we just happened to arrive in time for the sunset.

We all piled back onto the cart, but only made it a block before we saw Grandpa and Grandpa driving the opposite direction. They were just arriving, so we had to get in the hugs.

At this point, the golf cart was about to die, so we headed to Uncle Jimbo's, who owns the cart. There we ran into some old friends of the family, who we updated on all of the family's whereabouts.

After that, we walked to the restaurant/coffee house. But they don't serve espresso. Our only shot was a bar called "The Temptation," the waitress told us.

This is a popular place my uncle used to work at for years, with numerous liquor bottles and signs lining the walls, including one that said "I can resist everything but temptation." When we asked the bar tender (whose name is "Snake") for a latte, he gave us a withering look and said "Keep on looking." Then he served up four gin and tonics. This was about 8 p.m., four hours after the expedition began.

So much for coffee.

Lesson learned: It's not possible to find a drink like a latte on this island, especially at the rate we move.

Arriving in paradise

I have arrived in Florida and am now officially living it up. It is beautiful here on Boca Grande, an island off the Gulf Coast near Tampa. Two of my uncles and their families live here. The rest of us have rented two houses and a condo to stay at.

I met up with a group at the airport, and we arrived to a large greeting committee on Tuesday night. The next morning a bunch of us went for a run/walk/bike ride. There is no shortage of white sand, palm trees or flowers.


That afternoon, Amanda, my cousin Nick and I made an attempt to go to the beach, but it was a little chilly with the wind. We were more successful today, and spent the afternoon in the sun, swimming and playing frisbee.

Lesson learned: I could get used to this.

Mayday, mayday, we're going down

I am sitting on an airplane right now. Thankfully, this one is not trying to buck us off like the plane I was in during my last flight. Seriously, I have never been more scared on an airplane in my life.

We were taking off when it started sliding back and forth. It took some big drops, until the nose of the airplane was pointing downward as we were making a steep left turn. One particularly sharp drop, everyone on the plane screamed. I was clutching onto the arm rests with both hands (as if that would save me if we crashed). By the time things smoothed out, I was shaking. The guy next to me asked me if I was OK, then consoled me my saying "That freaked me out, too." No kidding?

It was all made okay though, when the flight attendant sang a tribute song to Southwest to the tune of My Girl once we landed.

I'm just glad it's over. I'll feel better when I'm sitting on the beach in Florida.

Lesson learned: Though airplane travel may be safer than driving, its capacity to terrify just doesn't compare. A car can't free fall 50 feet and still be okay.

A Merry Christmas

Merry belated Christmas. I was at my mom's in Truckee this weekend. As usually, she had our activities packed into the weekend. We started off with yen yoga — which is just a slower practice concentrating on relaxing and holding yoga poses — and continued with skate skiing both Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Saturday, we went to a course called Royal Gorge. It was beautiful. We got there pretty early, just enough to see the sun rising over the mountains that circle the meadow the tracks cross. Mom met up with a bunch of her racing buddies, and they did a time trial.

I was content to plod along alone. Skate skiing is one of the best cardio workouts you can get. It uses a mix of muscle groups, and you have to try to balance on a pencil this ski all the while. Needless to say, I was less than graceful. Every once and while, though, everything would start to come together, and I would get into a rhythm. That would last about five seconds.

It was fun to be outside getting worked.

We spent Christmas skiing again and cooking. Mom got me a sweet canon digital camera. That means there will be more photos on this blog. Yeah!

Lesson learned: I need to get a pair of skate skies. Maybe then I would have a chance at keeping my mom in the line of sight.

Weeklong headaches

Ever have one of those days where every little thing seems to go wrong? I had one of those days — every single day this week. From losing an hour's work due to our new computer program's glitches to delays with the project I'm working on to forgetting my tennis shoes when I went to the gym, I just couldn't seem to kick this string of bad luck.

I was hoping to have an easy week, then slip off for two weeks of vacation. But that was before I agreed to write two large-scale stories, have my project run while I'm gone and write daily stories on top of that. I finally finished everything at about 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Now it's on to packing.

Lesson learned: Don't agree to large stories before vacation.

Almost there

I've scrambling lately to get ready for vacation. After Friday, I'm headed to my mom's for Christmas. Then I fly to Florida to meet up with my Dad and his side of the family. It's a wacky group so I'm excited. It doesn't hurt that it's in a warm place with sunshine. It's been especially cold here the past few days.

After I fly back, I'm going on a cruise with some friends from Long Beach to Baja.

That all sounds just dreamy, but very far away. I have two large stories, the wrap up of my project, and two daily stories to finish up before then, not to mention all the packing and other chores I have at home.

Lessons learned: You pay for vacation.

Eating beans and singing

We have two traditions here called Mut's Bean Feed and the Annual Christmas Sing. This is the stuff that makes me love small towns. One day, someone decided it would be a great tradition to feed the entire town beans, then march them up to the park for a round of Christmas Carols.

It was raining today, but that didn't stop a crowd from lining up for two blocks for Mut's famous beans. There was also a sizable turn out for the Christmas Sing, which our paper sets up each year right after the feed. Various businesses and organizations have sung the same Christmas carols for decades. We haven't changed them for copyright reasons.

The best part is we get paid to do this, and then everyone goes home early.

Lesson learned: The mics at the Christmas Sing are much more powerful than people realize, meaning, you get to hear all the before and after comments people make without them knowing.

Dull men as dating potential

Yesterday at work, I came across an article in the Modesto Bee about a Web site for the Dull Men's Club. This bland grey page is dedicated solely to men who drive under the speed limit, like to watch paint dry and have a certain obsession with cataloguing completely irrelevant facts, such as the number of airport baggage carousels that go clockwise versus counterclockwise. One the site, dull men around the world can add a comment about how to fully take advantage of this insipid lifestyle. If you check it out, read the "a dull man's way of enjoying his new Jag" or the one about liking to download large files on ridiculously slow servers so he can see the status bar creep across the screen.

This seriously cracks me up.

I've always liked a little spice in my men, but this got me thinking that maybe I should change my tactics. There are certain advantages to dull men. You — directed at all my female peers — certainly wouldn't have to worry about a dull man cheating on you. (An affair would be way to stressful for a dull man). Their aversion to conflict would mean that you could always be right. (Women like to always be right). And you'd really never have to agonize over what is going on in his head, because the answer would likely be nothing much. Don't worry, you too would eventually start seeing the fun in watching batteries charge or reading statistics about roundabouts.

So for anyone who thinks these advantages are worth it, this Web site could double as an online dating tool. Have at it ladies.

Lesson learned: Since my friend Sarah has taken to call me an extreme dater — meaning I like my men extreme — something tells me dull men wouldn't work for me, despite the many problems it would solve.

Let winter begin

It is pouring rain outside right now, which means, hopefully, it is dumping snow up high. Last night the shear volume of the water coming out of the sky woke me up. I was worried I would look out side and see my car floating away. But it would be worth it if it meant there was enough snow for Dodge to open. I really want to snowboard right now. I'm about to layer up, strap in and hop around my living room.

It doesn't help that, miraculously, my iPod started working again. I charged it up and now its playing Coldplay like it never quit. I think if I were to turn it off, though, it might not turn back on.

Lesson learned: I'm all ready for snowboarding season, maybe now the weather is too?

Ski movie music

So I have this friend — okay, ex-boyfriend — who is prolific in terms of setting up Web sites (see Nifty Tricks). Jesse's latest is called Ski Movie Music. He has compiled all the sound tracks to ski movies for your listening pleasure while you are making turns on the hill. I asked him why not snowboard video music, since he is a snowboarder. Apparently, that's been done before, so he thought he'd delve into a more uncharted territory. Snowboard video music is to come, though, so just hold on.

And hey Lakes, hope you're having fun in Costa Rica.

Lesson learned: I just might use this. I'm a much better snowboarder to Sweatshop Union or The Roots than if I just go it in silence.

Starting out the season

Last year I decided not to get a Christmas tree because I wasn't going to be here for the holidays. This year, I'm not going to be here either, but I was determined to get one anyway. So last night Sarah and I hauled a tree from the local hardware store into my little apartment. It was supposed to be a small one, but that's what I always say, and this one is probably seven or eight feet.

Today Jenn and Sarah came over, and we had hot chocolate, decorated and listened to Christmas music. It was a great way to get in the mood for the season.

The only problem was that one of the string of white lights I had didn't work. So I ran to Wal-Mart and bought two strings of colored, only to find out when I got back that one of the strings I bought didn't work either.

Jenn's solution was to alternated white and colored lights on my tree. It's no designer tree, but it has character at least.

Lesson learned: Check the lights even at the store — no matter what.