"Hermits have no peer pressure." - Steven Wright

Happy Halloween

Sorry for my absence lately but the schedule here in Seattle hasn't been conducive. By the time we get back to the hotel room I'm tired and ready for bed, not writing. And in the morning we're out of here a little after 6:30 to meet my dad for b'fast in the Ida Culver House dining room for b'fast. In between ... stuff to be done.

Here's a shot of the area outside the dining room at dinner time. There are more but they wouldn't fit in the shot.

Typical Seattle weather for the end of October. Cool temps and either rain or clouds every day. A far cry from the desert this time of year where the humidity is in the teens or lower and the temp there is 93 as I type this.

You haven't lived until you've helped your mother by underpants.

If you're going to have pizza in Seattle, at least on the north side of the city, it should be at Spiro's on Aurora and 185th.

I'll leave tomorrow morning for the drive back, but first I'll meet my friend Jim for coffee at 7 a.m. That will be the best part of my day. He's a good friend, and our reconnection a few years ago after about 35 years since our H.S. days a very pleasant surprise.

Got a call from my dermatologist yesterday afternoon. The biopsy I had done a week ago came back as melanoma. We figured that was likely because a) this spot on my cheek bore all the tell-tale signs, and b) the experience with melanoma back in the 90's made a recurrence somewhere on my body at least a possibility if not a likelihood. The day after I get back I'll go in so he can carve out what should be enough tissue to get all the cancer cells, but he'll leave the wound open until he gets the all-clear from the lab. If the margins don't come back clear he'll go back and take more until that's the case. Then I'll go to a plastic surgeon to have the wound closed up. I figured that wasn't necessary; don't women find facial scars sexy?
We have every confidence that this will be a simple and straightforward fix, especially because we caught it early. The only thing that bothers me about all of this is preaching on the 9th with a big bandage on the side of my face. Oh well.

OK, what's your best guess? What's this?

I sometimes go look at a site with vintage travel trailers for sale, just for the fun of seeing what's available for restoration. Here's a pic from the inside of an old ... Shasta if I remember correctly. Circa 1955.
That's a fold out/up seat under which you put a bucket. Yep, the toilet seat.
Hey, it works fine so long as privacy isn't important.

I'm eager to get back to work on the truck. Besides the brake lines, the next step is a little more sanding and then sealer, paint, and clear coat on the cab.

Don't know about posting over the next few days. It will depend on when and where I stop on the drive home. I'm hoping to get to the L.A. basin in the middle of the night so traffic isn't thick. And if I arrive during commute hours I may pull over and sit it out until things clear. So apologies if I'm AWOL for another couple of days. I will get back to regular posting soon.