cypress coast storm damage

just a quick update on conditions here on the central california coast.

i'm on dial up. i'll not be posting pics until we get power back up. i have around 100 pics, so far, and they say the tidal surge is going to be sever. so. i hope to have more dramatic wave pics, in addition to the ones i already have.

we have no damage, here at the castle. but, there is much around us. a power pole, about feet from us, snapped in half; many trees are down, a wall at a home on the 18th-hole of the pebble beach golf links was completely crushed from an oak tree - just missing the house; not only kelp and driftwood are being tossed up onto the 17-mile drive (1/4-mile from where i not type this, dear friend), but rocks the size of rocks are strewn across the road and scenic turnouts; the waters just off downtown monterey and cannery row is full up floating debris..

power lines are down everywhere. pg&e is nowhere in sight. it could be days before we get power back. at least it is not cold here; high of 55; low of 45; not much cooler than summer.
a few surfers and powered-surfers (whatever they call riding waves in a jetski) are braving (or is that stupiding?) the giant waves.

when i left here this morning i was treated to the sight of a 40 foot wave.

they are supposed to get bigger as the tide comes in.

mother nature is so cool even with her violence!

1/2 dozen oysters and nothing to celebrate!

i paid another visit to dr. homy this week – spent almost 2 hours in the chair! my mouth is still a little tender.

now, i have to get used to smiling again with an opened-mouth and not covering it up with my hand.

i still have to wonder: what happened to that tooth cap, anyway?

i do not know if i will ever be able to eat vietnamese food again just from the association of what i was doing when it left my mouth.

i never realized those things have a life expectancy of 30-years.

i guess that means the new work is good until i’m in my 80s.

we wrestled some more today with the dragon; we only have a few doors and holidays left to paint and we’re done.

but, before we could thrust the blade into the beast, it reared it’s ugly head: the swivel joint on the spray gun exploded and shot paint all over the room and up my armpit.

but, ron’s story of buying the last of the paint changed my mood.

the woman the paint-genius was helping at home depot (have you ever noticed that there is no customer service department at home depot? there’s a reason for that! lowe’s is just as bad!) secure the lid of the magenta paint he was mixing and sent the pigmented liquid flying all over the paint department.

then the woman asked if she could buy just half a can.

that would have been worth having to come into the store!

i barbecued t-bones last night up at the dollhouse for susie, ron and myself, replete with sautéed mushrooms and maui onions. not as good as the 1 ½” steaks we bought a couple of weeks ago at costco (who knew the meat was so good there?), but they were still pretty tasty!

on our way back to the beach house, driving the new lincoln mkx crossdresser (almost-suv) that we are evaluating this week we noticed that the stars were shining through the moonroof, and took the long way home, via the 17-mile drive. by the time we reached the bottom of huckleberry hill, however, the fog was too thick to see much more than a few feet above the car. we could barely see the turnout to our morning meeting location as we drove by.

# # # # #

ron and i just returned from cannery row, where we had drinks and oysters at some loud, trendy restaurant/martini bar. being the unfashionable-guy i am: i had jack daniels, neat.

hanging out at the bar while we waited for our table was kind of interesting: ron gave the bartender a 50% tip and the two little-hotties we were standing behind immediately became interested in us and offered us seats.

money talks!

they were without working brain cells so i quickly lost interest. the cleavage was nice, however.

we didn’t stay long as the table we were sat at was next to the window, which meant that every cigarette-smoker within a mile was perched just on the other side of said window. despite it being closed, the smoke wafted in like it was the incoming tide. we quickly sucked down the oysters, had them box-up the quesadilla and split.

i wonder if john steinbeck ever envisioned cannery row to be what it has become?