I am still running:
I did have to back off considerably for a while due to nagging issues from my little "get off" and subsequent collision with a guardrail at speed. Fun stuff but I digress. So, for the past couple of months I have been trying to rebuild the base miles and seem to have finally gotten over the hump. Now begins the fun of building up to the really big miles in preparation for a spring marathon. Not sure why I do these damn marathons. No matter how much I train they just plain hurt. I use the excuse that it forces me to stay in shape but guess what? I could do just as well holding a steady 30 mile per week base and lifting a few weights. I damn sure don't need to run 26.2 miles in one effort to stay in shape. Stupid, I say.
PGS is still in business:
As a matter of fact, things are actually looking fairly promising for the winter. We have a bigger backlog of work for this winter than we have had in several years. We are a smaller group so it does take less work to create a backlog but we have a backlog none the less. The work we are doing these days is really interesting and ties into our niche market more than in the past. The projects are also larger than they were in the past. What is missing from our work load is the smaller private clients that we used to do a lot of work for and without their return it is going to be hard to truly stabilize for the long term. On another bright note, we have actually been profitable again for the past few months. It is nice to see the bank account balance rising rather than being on the steady decline that we had become accustomed to. Yep, things are looking promising indeed.
El Edmonds Castillo:
Finished! And we have moved in.... well at least mostly moved in. We still have a lot of organizing and figuring out what to do with things and I'm still working on the whole permanent financing thing, but we do live here now. The house really is a work of art and I have come to respect my architect more and more. He and I worked hard to make this house what it is and I believe that there is a big piece of both of our souls in the finished structure. It is so wonderful to wake up in the morning and look out upon the Puget sound and the Olympic mountains from my bed. Everything about this house is just relaxed and peaceful...... finally!
Motorcycle travels:
I was able to get a couple of really fun motorcycle trips in this fall. The first was a birthday trip with my son and Steve over the mountains and a lot of dirt between Leavenworth and Winthrop. Let's just say wet and cold is an understatement but an absolute fun trip with some amazing roads I didn't even know existed. The next one was a 5 state trip I did with a really good buddy, Steve. We covered a good part of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon and a good part of that on dirt, A stretch across Idaho and into Montana called the Magruder Corridor which is one of the most remote and longest continuos dirt roads in the US and a big part of the Oregon Desert that was the most deserted piece of road I have ever experienced..... and rough! Another trip was with my son. We used the excuse of picking up a motorcycle lift from my pal JW at the Bearcat lodge to haul the dirt bikes down to Seneca for some dirt exploring. And explore we did! I had a great time just trying to keep that kid in sight. Not an easy task.
Well those are the highlights of my life for the time being. Not much but enough to keep this old dog happy.
Until next time,
Cheers!
