Short Takes (# 3)

Among those even remotely close to me, it is well known that my mind can wander. With what seems like so many different things going on recently, I've decided to write another exclusive, award-winning "Short Takes" exposition.

• Last night - and continuing today - we are experiencing a nasty wind storm. It's nothing compared to the one we had this time a couple years back, but it still sucks. I had to cut my Saturday night short because it wasn't even worth going out in it. And I had a strong feeling that we'd be losing power momentarily, because we always seem to (lots of trees around that love to fall onto power lines). I ended up playing my guitar for an hour or so before going right to bed at about 11:00pm. ...... On the bright side, I got plenty of sleep.... and the power still has yet to go out. That honestly surprises the sweet shit out of me.
• We went up to Everett again - as we usually do on Saturdays - to jam and record some takes. We actually have been recording some of the songs the last few times, but we're still working on trying to get a much better mix. So yesterday we spent an hour or two just testing out each instrument and mic, making sure the levels are where we want them for the best mix. We're getting much much closer now and I'm hoping some of the songs last night turned out pretty well. If they did, I could always send them to some of you who are interested and/or curious. More on that later...
• Later today I'm still planning on trying to get my Christmas shopping started and finished. I'm kind of lucky in the sense that I'm only buying for three people this year. It's not that I don't want to buy more or don't recognize many others I should be buying for... it's the combination of money and time that keep me from fulfilling my obligations this time around. For those of you who don't get anything from me, don't look too much into it. I still hope you all have an amazing holiday season, and I'm thinking of you. And perhaps I'll be making up for it soon...
• On our way home last night in Bellevue (on southbound I-405), we passed about six police cars and an ambulance sitting in the northbound-side, as well as two more cop cars on the overpass above. I asked my dad something like "What the hell's going on here?". Neither of us obviously knew. After returning home and calling my parents to ask if the wind was picking up for them too, my dad told me he saw on the local news that a 27-year-old woman had jumped off the overpass onto the freeway below, where she was hit by a car (likely at a speed of 70+ mph) which did not stop after hitting her. Police apparantly are still looking for the car. It's weird to think that had happened just hours after we had gone northbound in those very lanes. ... And in looking for more information/details just now about the incident, I read a story about a murder/suicide here in Covington a few days ago. It seems a huband apparantly killed his wife, then got out on Highway 18 and intentionally turned into on-coming traffic into an eighteen-wheeler... killing himself instantly with a suicide note in the car with him. ...... 'Tis the season to be merry. A magical time of year indeed.
• But I am feeling better lately. I got paid on Friday and was able to pay off a couple bills that were nagging me. It turns out my medical bills are going to cost me about $450... much less than the $700+ I was expecting, so I suppose in a weird way I'm happy about that. I haven't been going out much at all, and I've been cleaning and trying to take care of some other stuff that I've been putting off instead. I'm getting more and more ready to start a new year with many of my goals realized from this last one.

"We've only just begun..."