 |
March 18, 2000 |
|
I awoke rather late today. About 12:30pm to be precise. I made plans to
go to Pam's today. I wanted to do my regular
Saturday run before I went. I had some brief thoughts about skipping it.
It wouldn't have been a big deal really, as far as the health benefits are
concerned. The problem would be consistently missing them. I had skipped
my workouts last weekend. I knew that
I would feel misearable if I were to miss them again, and worse, I would
probably, to some degree, resent Pam for it, and I
knew I didn't want to do that. I normally allow myself to skip a number of
days (three) each month; I already burned two for March.
I called Pam shortly before going to the gym. We
had planned for me to arrive about 2pm. I was running late and wanted to
make sure that she would know. We also had dinner plans tonight with my
friend Trudy and her husband, but that
wasn't until fairly late. She wasn't home; so I left a message.
And I ran. Lately my muscles have not been agreeing with me though and
doing the longer runs have become a bit tougher. I told myself that I
could shorten the fourty-five minute runs back down to thirty minutes for a
little while. I told myself that I could wait a couple of weeks to get
back on track. At least I wasn't cutting back on running the intervals,
which I still hate with a passion, but manage to continue doing. It
doesn't take much to encourage me, I simply remember the physical shape I
was in a mere year ago and it's enough to keep me on track.
I ran into Carlos at the gym. He
shows up to the kickboxing class on occasion and asked how it was going.
It's going pretty well, though I encourage him to show up more frequently.
We also talked about the origin of the picture he sent me on IO-mail. He seems to
believe that it dates back to his intern days, when I don't think it goes
back quite that far. I'll have to find some evidence. He wanders off
after a few minutes.
After showering and getting dressed, I called Pam
again. She had just gotten back from the gym as well, and I told her that
I would be arriving momentarily.
We had not seen each other for a week and were happy to see each other. We also had a few hours to kill before dinner. We… Uhmm, improvised. I could say a number of things, but I'll just list her comment…
"We suck at regular sex."It was a light-hearted comment; we both laughed about it. We also discussed what else we could do this evening. There had been something which I was considering… a piercing. I was debating a navel or nipple, but was leaning more towards the nipple piercing. No, I'm not making this up.
We had dinner reservations for 8:15pm at a place called The Flying Fish. Trudy mentioned that we could simply walk from her place, since it wasn't too far away. We were planning to take the bus to Trudy's. Either of two buses could get us there, and since Pam takes the bus frequently, she was able to point out which ones. Our destination was First Avenue and Madison. She made the keen observation that it was actually quite the distant walk between The Flying Fish and Madison, but I figured that Trudy knew best. I trusted her.
And Trudy did indeed know best. Especially, since I had mistaken the cross-street; it wasn't Madison; we were about a dozen blocks off. Pam and I realized this shortly after we got off the bus, fortunately, we managed to get on the bus going back the direction we came a mere seconds, after we realized my mistake. It's a good thing I carry a cell phone. I was also foolish enough to think that I could endure the Seattle weather that is actively trying to smite me… or maybe I'm just daring it to?
We arrive at Trudy's a few minutes later. I have never been to her home in Seattle, and was anxious to see it. Wouldn't you know it? I, an engineer, have problems with the call phone downstairs. I'm such a goofball. I do eventually get it working and Pam and I were buzzed in.
Trudy's home is absolutely stunning. It has a breathtaking view of Elliot Bay, and they have absolutely exquisite taste. Their place was furnished efficiently and elegantly. Granted, I felt a bit out of place, but you have to remember, my ideas of viable home funishings are neon signs and arcade games. The only home essentials to me are electronic gadgets.
We walked down to The Flying Fish. The winds seem to be particulary chilly and gusty this evening. I did my best to shield Pam from the cold despite the fact that I was only wearing a single shirt. I really wasn't that cold, or at least that what I was telling myself. We were even early for our 8:15pm dinner reservations; however, they weren't. We waited over thirty minutes for our table while we watched the array of different patrons get seated. Did I mention that all I had to eat today was a peanut-butter bagel at Pam's?
We were eventually seated. It was a nice booth as a matter of fact, and they ordered us an appetizer to make amends, I believe it was the Thai Springrolls, which were exceptional. They may not manage their reservations well, but they have exceptional food. We ordered the Crabcakes as additional appetizers, which were also excellent. I particularly liked the texture, they had a good consistency that held its shape, but seemed to melt in your mouth. The sides of what I could only speculate were spinach leaves in a light dressing and the peeled tangerine (or were they orange?) slices were a nice touch.
The waiter went into some pretty fine detail describing each fish in terms of texture, oil content, flavor, and color. Having been a waiter for a number of years, I was mildly impressed.
Pam was fidgeting during part of dinner. Part of the reason was because she had a slight backache, but it was probably more so, because I was trying to distract her with my hands… under the table. She was speculating that either Trudy or her husband had noticed at some point and was tactfully looking away. Okay, I'm mildly embarrassed.
What did we talk about? Well, naturally, we talked about where each of us were from, and what we did for a living, which I won't get into, for the purposes of maintaining their privacy.
Now, I haven't had many girlfriends, and despite the fact that Trudy has known me for close to nine years, this is the first time I introduced anyone as my girlfriend. So naturally she was amused. And she asked if Pam had seen my place. I'm a slob, I mean not your normal everyday slob. I'm an exceptional slob, take a look at my office if you have doubts; my home is worse if you can imagine that. I speculate that if Pam were to see my place in its current condition she would dump me.
Trudy and her husband ordered the Sea Scallops and the Corvina, respectively, and so did Pam and I. I could go into explicit detail of the dinner, but that's not really what you want to hear, is it? Suffice it to say that it was an excellent dinner, the problems with the reservation non-withstanding. I'd easily go again, though I'd be inclined to show up late.
I think it was during dessert that I managed to ask Trudy if she knew of any local tattoo parlors, and naturally, she asked why. This is where Pam openly blurts out…
"Frank is thinking about getting his nipple pierced."Oh, Thank You. Now, it's not the kind of thing I would hide, but it is the kind of thing that I would gradually bring in to the conversation, particularly since Trudy and her husband seem to be a bit more reserved than I am. Not that I'm all that embarrassed; I don't embarrass easily.
Most tattoo parlors also do body piercings, so thus the connection. I actually already had a place in mind. It was the same place I got my tattoo. I liked the guy and he was able to address all my questions about safety and otherwise quite adequately, so there's a certain comfort there. Still, I would've liked to have been able to look around a little and downtown Seattle was the prime place to look.
I think we lingered after dessert in order to be a little spiteful in light of the entire reservation fiasco. It still wasn't unusually long, but long enough to be noticed. We walked back to Trudy's place; Pam was particularly cold and I was doing what I could to shield her from the wind. It was a chilly couple of blocks and the gusts of wind weren't helping.
Since we were due to take the bus back to Pam's place. Trudy's husband offered us a ride, which was awfully kind of him. The ride was only a few minutes, but it saved us from having to stand out in the wind waiting for the bus.
Thank You.
For both the ride and a wonderful evening. I hope we can do it again soon.
March 18, 2000